Wal-Mart to add 115 stores in China
Wal-Mart Stores Inc. will add 115 stores in China by 2017 and has committed to additional upgrades for 50 current stores by the end of the year.
Chief Executive Officer Doug McMillon announced the expansion plans, and additional investments in e-commerce and food safety, during an appearance Wednesday in Beijing. McMillon said the company's goal is to become an integral part of the nation's economic development and "build on our position as a trusted corporate citizen in China."
Wal-Mart's plan calls for creating an additional 30,000 jobs in China. The retailer also is planning to open seven new Sam's Club locations.
"Over the next three years we will increase investment across our diverse business operations in China," McMillon said in a statement. "We'll build new stores and invest in our existing estate, bolster our capacity for e-commerce, invest in food safety and [freshness] to ensure the highest quality products and continue to build on strong partnerships with our Chinese suppliers."
Wal-Mart currently operates more than 410 stores in China. McMillon was making his third visit to China in 15 months.
-- Chris Bahn
Simmons to buy Missouri financial firm
Simmons First National Corp. has agreed to buy Ozark Trust and Investment Corp. of Springfield, Mo., for $20.7 million in cash and stock, the Pine Bluff bank said Wednesday.
Ozark Trust has more than 1,300 clients and accounts and $1.1 billion under management.
It is Simmons' first acquisition of a fee-only financial firm.
"Wealth management is an important growth business for us, and we are excited about this strategic opportunity," George Makris, Simmons' chairman and chief executive officer, said in a statement.
-- David Smith
$2M added to build rice-seed study unit
The Arkansas Rice Research and Promotion Board is contributing $2 million toward the $8.6 million cost of a new seed research facility at the Rice Research and Extension Center in Stuttgart.
The board announced its commitment Tuesday to the Foundation Seed Facility, which will be used to help develop rice varieties with higher yields and improved quality. Construction on the facility is expected to begin this summer and be complete by mid-2016. The center and the new facility are part of the University of Arkansas System Agriculture Division.
The new facility will be able to handle more than 25 rice, soybean and wheat varieties each year. It will be able to clean seeds to meet state Plant Board standards, as well as allow research into both genetically seeds as well as unmodified ones.
The release said the contribution comes from money generated for domestic rice research from the U.S.-Colombia Trade Promotion Agreement, which established an annual tariff-rate quota for U.S. rice exported to Colombia. The Arkansas Soybean Promotion Board and the Arkansas Wheat Promotion Board have also made contributions to the new facility.
-- Glen Chase
Truckers group honors safe Searcy driver
Ken Jones, a veteran driver with Wal-Mart Transportation, was named the Arkansas Trucking Association's driver of the year Wednesday.
Jones was recognized during the first day of the association's business conference in Hot Springs. Arkansas Trucking Association President Shannon Newton said the 59-year-old has not been charged with an accident for more than 35 years.
Jones, who will celebrate his 30th anniversary with Wal-Mart in June, has logged 3.7 million accident-free miles with the company. Jones, who operates out of Searcy, drives a blue truck, which signifies his safety record with Wal-Mart.
"When you go work in wrecks and you see things, you see what happens, it sticks in your mind," said Jones, who began his career by driving a tow truck. "I still remember seeing things that happened back then."
The Arkansas Trucking Association's business conference will continue today with Gov. Asa Hutchinson and oil tycoon T. Boone Pickens scheduled as keynote speakers.
-- Robbie Neiswanger
Cost KOs fight at Buffalo Wild Wings
Buffalo Wild Wings has decided not to show Saturday's Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao fight at most of its U.S. locations because of the price, about $5,100 per restaurant.
"We did not feel comfortable with the cost," Chief Operating Officer James Schmidt said during a conference call to discuss first-quarter earnings Tuesday.
A handful of company-owned restaurants are showing the fight and will charge a $20 cover, the first time the chain has taken that step, Schmidt said. About 70 franchises plan to air the bout and charge admission, he said. The chain has about 1,080 restaurants, almost entirely in the U.S., and in January opened a location in the Philippines, Pacquiao's home country. That restaurant will show the fight.
Live sporting events are pivotal for Buffalo Wild Wings. The company's restaurants are filled with high-definition televisions.
-- Bloomberg News
Less crude at Cushing after 21-week rise
Crude stockpiles at Cushing, Okla., the delivery point for futures traded in New York, fell for the first time since November, ending a record increase.
Cushing inventories slipped 514,000 barrels to 61.7 million in the seven days that ended Friday, the Energy Information Administration said. The decline followed 20 weeks of gains, the longest stretch since the agency began tracking supplies at the hub in 2004. Nationwide crude stockpiles climbed to the highest level in 85 years.
"There's been a consensus that Cushing would soon be overflowing," John Kilduff, a partner at Again Capital LLC, a New York-based hedge fund that focuses on energy, said by phone. "There's going to be a recognition that refineries are at high rates, resulting in demand for a terrific amount of oil."
Inventories at Cushing rose to a record 62.2 million barrels in the week ending April 17. The hub has a working capacity of 70.8 million, according to the Energy Information Administration.
-- Bloomberg News
Pending U.S. home sales rise in March
WASHINGTON -- More Americans signed contracts to buy homes in March, the third-straight month of gains.
The National Association of Realtors said Wednesday that its seasonally adjusted pending home sales index rose 1.1 percent to 108.6 last month. The index has climbed 11.1 percent over the past 12 months after dipping in 2014. The number of signed contracts are at their highest level since June 2013.
Pending sales improved in the South and West. But the number of signed contracts fell in the Northeast and Midwest, two areas that many economists expected to show rebounds after a harsh winter hurt sales at the beginning of 2015. The overall figures suggest strengthening demand from would-be buyers, even though there are relatively few new listings on the market and sales prices are rising at a faster rate than wages.
The increase in signed contracts also indicate that robust hiring and low mortgage rates are encouraging more Americans to buy houses after years of waiting to save for down payments and rebuild credit.
-- The Associated Press
Business on 04/30/2015