Finance & Capital Management

PLEASANTON, Calif. — Safeway's annual fundraising initiative to benefit breast cancer research once again has commenced.

Washington, D.C. -- Retailers and their customers will save billions of dollars when new Federal Reserve regulations cutting debit-card swipe fees roughly in half take effect this weekend, the National Retail Federation said.

Columbus, Ohio -- Information sharing,  expense benchmarking, innovative technologies, energy management systems, disaster preparedness and international facility management were ranked as the most important agenda topics by attendees at FacilitySource’s 5th annual Leadership Symposium, on Sept. 19-22.

Reduced fees for debit card transactions go into effect on Monday and the architect of the authorizing legislation, Senator Dick Durbin from Illinois, was feeling a lot of love from a retail industry that's convinced ample justification remains for even deeper fee reductions.

Washington, D.C. -- A report released Friday by the Commerce Dept. showed that consumer spending in the U.S. slowed in August, impacted by falling incomes and sporadic hiring.

Commerce Dept. figures showed that purchases edged up 0.2% after a 0.7% increase in July. However, a 0.2% increase in prices wiped out the slight spending gain. Incomes dipped 0.1%, the first decline since October 2009.

Toano, Va. -- Flooring retailer Lumber Liquidators said Friday it will acquire certain assets of Sequoia Floorings in order to strengthen its mill-direct relationships and shore up its long-term sourcing strategies.

Sequoia, a trading company, had provided product quality and development services on approximately 40% of Lumber Liquidators’ 2010 merchandise purchases, primarily those in Asia.

Washington, D.C. -- A report released Friday by the Commerce Dept. showed that consumer spending in the U.S. slowed in August, impacted by falling incomes and sporadic hiring.

Commerce Dept. figures showed that purchases edged up 0.2% after a 0.7% increase in July. However, a 0.2% increase in prices wiped out the slight spending gain. Incomes dipped 0.1%, the first decline since October 2009.

New York City -- Commercial and high-rise residential buildings, along with federal buildings, must now meet requirements in the ASHRAE/IES 2007 energy standard after rulings issued by the Department of Energy.

Prior to the new rules, federal and commercial buildings had to meet requirements in the 2004 standard.