Show BUSIN Business Editor 625-424- 4 www standard net 10A Standard-Examine- r 4401 at 984008V Dow - 488 at 193770 Nasdaq S&P 1 1 3 at 113328- - Saturday January 26 2002 PtsiGii full-lin- First step in major restructuring of the retail giant malls Each of the five Sears stores in anchored at indoor By DAVID TROESTER Utah laid off from three to five emin Ogden’s Sears OGDEN - Layoff notices were giv- ployees Mall asoperates well as in Salt Lake Newgate en out this week at Sears department City Murray Provo and St George stores in Utah and across the nation Notices were given to employees the first step in a major restructuring Wednesday and Thursday Sears has at the retail giant 1350 full- - and part-tim- e employees in Sears officials seek to double prof- Utah including more than 150 at the its to more than $80 billion at stores Ogden Sears and service operations in the next Positions cut were held by salaried two years Stiff competition from dis- employees “Those typically would be count retailers Wal-Ma- rt Target and the head of a department” said Jan Cohl’s have prompted the restructurDrummond spokesperson for Sears & Roebuck Co owner of Sears departing This week’s announcement of ment stores as well as Sears HardKmart Corp's bankruptcy reorgani- ware Sears Auto Centers and Nationzation makes the plan even more poi- al Tire & Battery For the most part Sears stores are gnant officials say Standard Examiner staff e the performance Of our stores They have been lagging in terms of their profit contribution” Drummond said shopping discount competitors like and Target typically are located at strip plazas “We have serious competitors that have emerged over the last decade that have much lower-cooperating structures” Drummond said Sears plans to reorganize store interiors to remove cashier checkouts from individual clothing departments to centralized locations Sales staffing in apparel will be’ restructured “We are going to a model” Drummond said Staff will continue to be available for customer assistance in tools appliances and home electronics “The purpose of it is to improve while Wal-Ma- rt st self-servi- 2001- 2000 Business services and sales' 1 decreased S from 1st qf 2000 to 1st qtr 2001 Annual revenue at all Sears outlets is about $40 billion Sears department stores account for about $23 billion a year Founded as a catalog store in 1886 by Richard Sears sales at the company grew quickly as rural America ordered goods through the mail Alvah Roebuck became a partner in the late 1880s in Chicago The company’s first retail store opened in 1925 - JV J' - Home sales rise despite recession Sears in 1993 closed its general catalog store Some specialty catalog and online stores remain in operation including Craftsman Tools and which sells toys and gifts - Wish-boo- k -- WASHINGTON Luted by low mortgage rates ' Americans pushed sales of ' ’ previously owned homes to a new record last year eVetti' as the country suffered ' y through a recession The National Association" 1 of Realtors reported Frrday' f 1 that 525 million existing ' in 2001 were sold homes That surpassed the previdisv sales record of 521 milliofi v ' set in 1999 The record 525 miillpn jr' represented a 27 joercehf rise from the 511 millipiuf homes sold in 2000 rT 4 Low mortgage rates are-y “one of the fundamehtal factors in the favorable market conditions that w6&t ‘ expect to prevail for this? u year as well” said David Lereah chief economist for' the National Association Realtors ‘ Kmart restmcturing in stiff competition prises which ruled teen apparel retailing with 800 stores at its heyday in the late 1980s and early ’90s but ended up liquidating in 1996 Other store bankruptcies display perils As Conor Reilly a senior The Associated Press NEW YORK - Would miss if it went away? Capri DeMarco a mother of three from Duanesburg NY has a frank answer “No Their customer service rots” she said “We have has taken over" Shoppers like DeMarco offer proof that the nation’s discounter -Wal-Ma- rt third-large- ator Wal-Ma- rt st squeezed by Wal-Ma- rt low-pric- e oper- and cheap chic purveyor Target -needs to change dramatically and fast as it reorganizes in Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings If it doesn’t analysts say Kmart could find itself joining the retail scrap heap that’s expected to pile higher in this recessionary environment Bradlees and Montgomery Ward tried to use Chapter 11 bankruptcy to restructure but ended up liquidating after failing to come up with a new formula that would set themselves apart from their rivals And analysts believe Ames Department Stores which filed for bankruptcy last August - its second time around - might meet the same fate In December it announced it would close another 54 stores leaving it ld with 333 Ames hopes to exit bankruptcy by the second quarter partner at the New York law firm Gibson Dunn & Crutcher who specializes in bankruptcy puts it “I just don’t think consumers will miss Kmart in its current format If they don’t have a big plan they just won’t come out” of bankruptcy intact In announcing the Chapter 11 filing Tuesday Kmart offered few clues as to what exactly the restructuring would entail It only said it will evaluate store performance and lease terms by the end of the first quarter of 2002 and will close unprofitable or underperforming stores Kmart also said it would reduce staff Analysts say Kmart with sales last year of $37 billion could close anywhere from 250 to 700 of its 2100 stores Plenty of competitors are available to fill the void With Merry-Go-Round- ’s have disappeared include discounter Caldor which called it quits in 1999 and Enter d dis- appearance rivals like Gap Abercrombie & Fitch and American Eagle Outfitters quickly moved in Meanwhile such powerful players as Target and Kohl’s snapped up real estate from Bradlees and Montgomery Ward But unlike many of its discount rivals which lacked powerful exclusive brands Kmart does have several unique attributes analysts note For one the retailer has exclusive partnerships with such names as Martha Stewart its brand Sesame Street and Jaclyn Smith For some customers like Michele Tekler of Wausau Wis Martha Stewart is the “No 1 priority” at Kmart Wal-Ma- now-extin- rt ct top-selli- Other big names that Merry-Go-Roun- ’ ofr "'fk Hotel and center to be connected- - OGDEN - Crowne Plaza Hotel and the David EcCles'lj Marcie Gunsberg lifts weights in an exercise room after work in Parsippany N J Thursday She said she has had to change her cell phone number three times in the past year because she changed phone companies The Federal Communications Commission has given wireless companies until November to let customers take numbers with them when they switch carriers “wall-breakin- t Act keeps cell digits constant tel Communications and San Diego’s Leap Wireless - support number portability figuring they’ll gain customers Number wouldn’t change when switching carriers “local number porta- The Associated Press YORK - bility” would help customers NEW Change defect to other carriers and wireless carriers and your divert investments needed to cellular telephone number bolster networks and introdisappears Must it be that duce d services way? “There’s billion dollars to a Not if the Telecommunications Act of 1996 is carried spend” said Tom Wheeler president and CEO of the Ceout as intended llular Telecommunications & The Federal Communicaintions Commission has given Internet Association an “Do group advocacy dustry wireless companies until November to let customers take you want to spend it on an numbers with them when unneeded regulatory idea or to improve service?” they switch carriers But the A majority of CTIA’s wireless companies biggest who have fought the FCC member carriers including mandate for years are now Verizon Wireless Cingular asking the FCC to banish the Wireless Sprint PCS and idea or at least further delay AT&T Wireless are against the FCC requirement it But two companies - Nex- The say companies high-spee- ‘ ii merest — ante Pu now The FCC is expected to rule on the request first made by Verizon within a month or two For Marcie Gunsberg 32 of West Orange NJ who switched from Verizon Wireless to AT&T Wireless then returned to Verizoft last year “the pain in the butt was having to change numbers three times in a year” For a person who uses a cell phone for business changing a phone number isn’t taken lightly - especially since most carriers don’t allow a person who drops service to leave a forwarding message for errant callers as wireline carriers do igmmiimife Conference Center Will pe y connected Monday durjng p j ceremony The event will be A 4 p attended by Onden Mayor Matthew Godfrey Weber7 County commissioners arid rj Weber State President Pad! Thompson The connection will provide indoor access the conference center and the Egyptian Theater i a took atthe PE raSo ftnd protected PE ratio lor several Hue ohp stocks Shown mmivm PE proPE- - last perpnoa defy nil change dnd jected 7 cent change m price Here Is r MCRAIN PRICESOM For Friday ’ POCATELLO -- White wheat 330 (up 4) barley 430 (up 10) 14 percent 'J spring 321 (steady) ordinary winter 304 (up 4) ' OGDEN - White wheat 345 (steady) barley 45Q (down 10) 14 percent spring 3 06 (down 8) 11: percent winter 326 (up 4)v PORTLAND - White wheat 368 (steady) barley 9600 (steady) 14 percent' 7 A spring 396 (steady)1 1 1 percent winter 382-38- 7 (up CALDWELL - White y 7 wheat cwt 497 (up 1) barley 450 (steady) - Standard-Examine- r staff ' and wire services tag: 5 ‘ V 4 tommoditi FytUBES iw c— - Contract Seme y YID 71 8 00 Z9&233 3 114960 25 482 242178 458 451 448 444 424 439 485 427 S3 41 5 '2379 144138 192334 437 -- 20 Boeing ’ 12 American Express 30 UnedTeohnologies17 AT&T Procter S Gamble 34 Goodyear JOrJHL iiS -- 22- 2S -- 54 407 4 71 -- 114 -- 91 42 45 Coca-bol- a 34 2645 15 493 -- 486 General Electric 28 233828'" 4 71 -- 536 umonCsrttde Listings of mutual funds Dilbert vag dgrtTel Disney - cue PPE Philip Mortis £25- 11 - Nana ' 172390 4 90-1- 44 I - Naa NYMX Board of Tent UaiunSa Enheng Trade CSC aOwago Mem Naw York Board d Trade C&rrl 0csd Ba t can be found in the Sunday Standard Examiner rI NTBT 3 By Scott Adams |