Rutter's

Bentonville, Ark. – Wal-Mart Stores has reportedly tested more than 200 factories with which it does business in Bangladesh and found safety issues at 32 of them. According to Reuters, Wal-Mart sent out an email saying that 30 of those 32 factories have corrected the issues since their discovery.

Bentonville, Ark. – A glitch on the U.S. website of Wal-Mart reportedly provided consumers with enormous discounts for a short time on the morning of Nov. 6. According to Reuters, treadmills that normally cost hundreds of dollars were selling for $33.16 and widescreen computer monitors were selling for $9.

Wal-Mart has not said how many discounted items were sold before the glitch was discovered. The retailer has also said it will not honor any sales resulting from the glitch, but will give those consumers a $10 gift card.

New York -- Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz had resigned from the board of mobile payments company Square Inc., Reuters reported.

Square, founded in 2009 by Twitter Inc co-creator Jack Dorsey, named David Viniar, most recently the CFO of Goldman Sachs Group, as a replacement.

Schultz joined Square's board in August 2012 by investing $25 million in a deal to use its technology to process debit and credit card payments at the coffee chain's stores.

New York -- The attorney general of the state of New York is investigating Macy's and Barneys following complaints from black customers that they were stopped by police after making expensive luxury purchases, according to the New York Daily News. The local New York media has dubbed the practice “shop-and-frisk.”

New York -- J.C. Penney Co. on Monday reassured investors that sales trends are improving and reaffirmed its forecast calling for positive same-store sales results in the third quarter, Reuters reported.

The comments were made by Myron Ullman, Penney’s CEO, at the Women's Wear Daily conference on Monday.

Pleasanton, Calif. – Several buyout firms are reportedly considering attempting a partial or total purchase of Safeway Inc., with Cerberus Capital Management LP among the potential bidders, according to Reuters.

Safeway has retained Goldman Sachs Group Inc. as an advisor, the report said.

Dhaka, Bangladesh – Owners of garment factories in Bangladesh are reportedly prepared to raise the minimum wage they pay workers from 50%-80% and ask retailers to pay at least some of the extra cost.

According to Reuters, factory owners have offered a minimum wage of about $46 per month. Workers have requested a minimum wage of about $102 per month, and the government is expected to order an increase in a middle range of $54-$66 per month. Current minimum wage is about $39 a month.

Normal 0 false false false MicrosoftInternetExplorer4

Issaquah, Wash. – Costco Wholesale Corporation is reportedly cooperating with the U.S, Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) in an ongoing investigation of prescriptions for controlled substances. According to Reuters, the DEA served Costco with warrants and subpoenas related to the investigation.

Costco announced its cooperation in an SEC filing and has made no other public comment. The DEA has been investigating pharmacy chains and distributors across the country in regard to prescription drug misuse and abuse.

 

Bentonville, Ark. – Kenyan retailer Naivas reportedly will not sell a controlling interest in the company to Wal-Mart’s South African subsidiary Massmart. According to Reuters, a Naivas executive said the retailer no longer plans to sell 50% plus one share of its stock to Massmart.