Wal-Mart's chief executive, H. Lee Scott Jr., said yesterday that he "doesn't care" if the company ever conducts business in New York city, pointing out that it's too expensive and too exasperating. Local labor unions, with support from democratic members of the city council, have created much of the resistance keeping the retailer out. The unions say Wal-Mart's wages and benefits are so skimpy they leave workers below the poverty line, and force suppliers and competitors to do the same. Mr Scott's view is that "you have people who are just better than us and don’t want a Wal-Mart in their community." Meee-ow.
Hewlett-Packard filed suit yesterday against Acer, the number four PC maker worldwide. HP claims Acer has breached five of its U.S. patents, and aims to stop the Taiwanese company from selling certain media centers, desktop, and notebook computers in the U.S. Analysts see the legal action as a move to slow down Acer's momentum in North America. Shares in Acer fell 2 percent today.
Ben Bernake, Federal Reserve chairmain, said today that he sees no need to cut interest rates in view of the recent indicators of economic slowdown. He reiterated the Fed's concerns about rising inflation, which lower interest rates could exacerbate. The Fed chairman said also that the magnitude of the recent slowdown has been larger than expected, and the central bank is not as confident in the economy as it was a few months ago.
Circuit City, America's second largest electronics retailer, announced that it plans to fire 3,400 members of its sales force and replace them with people willing to work for less. Analysts believe the replacement will come with a significant learning curve, which may have a "dramatically negative impact" on sales. The company also has hired Goldman Sachs to study the sale of 900 Canadiaan stores, which have been hard-hit by competition from the number one electronics retailer, Best Buy.