LOCAL BUSINESS
Acme ceremony in Green
Acme Fresh Market officials will gather with area officials today at 11 a.m. in Green to break ground for its first new grocery store in 20 years.
The $10 million store will be 73,000 square feet. The store will front Massillon Road at Graybill Road and will be part of the Heritage Crossings of Green development.
Albrecht Inc., the developer of the store, is spending $20 million on the development.
The new store will give the company a presence in an area that has been underserved by Acme and will bring the best of what Acme has to offer, said Executive Vice President Jim Trout.
It is scheduled to be done by the end of the first quarter of 2014.
Job fair on Tuesday
The Akron Beacon Journal and The Job Center are sponsoring a job fair from 10 a.m.-1 p.m. Tuesday at the center at 1040 E. Tallmadge Ave. in Akron.
Organizers announced that 29 employers are expected to attend: Akron Testing Laboratory and Welding School, Ltd.; Brown Mackie College; Bryant & Stratton College; the City of Akron; Express Employment Professionals; FedEx Ground; Great Work Employment; Hattie Larlham; J&K Subway; Kent State University; Kimble Cos.; Marc’s; Mast Trucking Inc.; Multiband; Odyssey Health System; Ohio Army National Guard; Oriana House Inc. of Ohio; Pine Valley Care Center; PlusOne Communications; Saber Health; Select Staffing; Smithers-Oasis Co.; Sterling Jewelers Inc.; StoneMor Partners; Summa Health System; The Callos Cos.; Thrivent Financial; VXI Global Solutions, and Waste Management.
For information, call 330-630-4606.
B&W gets contract
Babcock & Wilcox Co.’s Power Generation Group subsidiary will design and build natural gas and oil-fired boilers for a Virginia manufacturer. The dollar value of the project was not disclosed.
The boilers will supply steam for power generation and industrial processes at Celanese Corp.’s manufacturing facility in Narrows, Va. The dual fuel boilers will replace coal-fired units at the plant. Boiler components will be manufactured in B&W PGG’s West Point, Miss., facility and are scheduled for delivery in April 2014.
AUTO INDUSTRY
Hyundai workers strike
Union members at Hyundai Motor Co. staged a partial strike Tuesday that cost the automaker $39 million in lost output, with plans for another work stoppage today before resuming wage negotiations. The four-hour walkout by the South Korean company’s 45,000 union members resulted in lost production of 2,106 vehicles, according to an email from the firm. The union said Monday it would hold another partial strike before resuming talks with the management Thursday. The strikes take place as the weaker yen gives Japanese automakers an edge in cutting prices or offering better incentives.
EARNINGS
Best Buy’s profits up
Best Buy earned $266 million, or 77 cents per share, for the period ended Aug. 3. A year earlier it earned $12 million, or 4 cents per share.
Earnings were 32 cents per share excluding one-time items, much better than the 12 cents per share that analysts had been looking for, according to a poll by research firm FactSet.
Revenue fell slightly to $9.3 billion, from $9.34 billion last year. Analysts expected $9.13 billion. There will be some pressure during the second half of the fiscal year due to price cuts and marketing costs, said Chief Financial Officer Sharon McCollam, as well as a temporary increase in mobile warranty costs and changes in its private label credit-card agreement with Capital One. Best Buy has been shuttering underperforming stores and revamping others to offset tough competition from discounters and online retailers. Under CEO Hubert Joly, the company has instituted a price-matching policy, opened more in-store areas for manufacturers such as Apple and Samsung and invested more to train employees.
Home Depot’s earnings rise
Home Depot Inc. said it earned $1.8 billion, or $1.24 per share, for the quarter ended Aug. 4. That compares with $1.53 billion, or $1.01 a year ago. Revenue for the Atlanta company climbed more than 9 percent to $22.52 billion, from $20.57 billion. Analysts polled by FactSet expected earnings of $1.21 per share on revenue of $21.79 billion. Home Depot now foresees fiscal 2013 earnings of $3.60 per share, with revenue up about 4.5 percent. The chain previously predicted earnings of $3.52 per share, with revenue rising approximately 2.8 percent. Based on 2012’s revenue of $74.75 billion, the new guidance implies $78.1 billion. Wall Street expects full-year earnings of $3.64 per share on revenue of $77.57 billion.
Compiled from staff and wire reports.