Business news in brief

Target to hire 100,000 holiday workers

Target Corp., hoping to rebound from last year's disappointing Christmas performance, plans to hire a record 100,000 seasonal workers.

The goal is more than 40 percent higher than the 70,000 workers signed up last year, Target said Wednesday. The company will accept applications from Oct. 13-15 at all of its 1,816 stores.

Target's move last week to permanently lower prices on thousands of products is a sign that this Christmas season will be competitive as the retailer looks to win back shoppers from Wal-Mart Stores Inc. and Amazon.com Inc. Same-store sales in the final two months of last year fell 1.3 percent at Target, the company's worst holiday results in three years.

Additionally, 4,500 temporary jobs will be filled at the Minneapolis-based company's distribution and fulfillment centers, according to a statement.

-- Bloomberg News

Buyout-funding report lifts chain's stock

Shares of Nordstrom Inc. climbed the most in three months Wednesday on a report that private-equity firm Leonard Green & Partners may help fund a buyout, setting the stage for a transaction by the retailer's founding family.

Family members are close to picking Leonard Green to help with the deal, CNBC reported late Tuesday. The firm would provide about $1 billion to help take Nordstrom private, according to the business-news channel.

The stock rose $2.69, or 6 percent, to close Wednesday at $47.74. Nordstrom had slid 6 percent this year through Tuesday's close, hurt by a broader slump in the department-store industry. At the same time, the cost to protect against a default by the department-store chain jumped the most in three months late Tuesday on the prospect that the company could be loaded up with debt to fund a buyout.

The Nordstrom family first said it was considering a buyout in June. The idea is to continue its turnaround plan outside of the glare of public markets, giving them an opportunity to improve sales and test new concepts with less scrutiny.

Leonard Green, based in Los Angeles, declined to comment to Bloomberg News, as did a representative for the family. The company didn't respond to a request for comment.

-- Bloomberg News

Producer price index up 0.2% in August

WASHINGTON -- Higher energy costs led to prices at the wholesale level rising in August at the fastest pace in four months.

The Labor Department said Wednesday that its producer price index, which measures inflation pressures before they reach the consumer, rose 0.2 percent last month. It was the largest monthly increase since a 0.5 percent gain in April. Inflationary pressures have largely been subdued in recent months. Much of the increase in August came from a 3.3 percent surge in energy costs. Food expenses slipped in August, including a sharp 20.6 percent decline in wheat prices.

The survey was taken before Hurricanes Harvey and Irma struck the southern part of the United States, events that will likely cause prices to further rise in the coming months as the rebuilding process begins. Ian Shepherdson, chief economist at Pantheon Macroeconomics, said he is "braced" for a temporary "spike" in producer prices because of the hurricanes.

Core inflation, which excludes volatile food and energy costs, rose 0.1 percent last month. Over the past 12 months, wholesale prices are up a moderate 2.4 percent while core prices have risen 2.0 percent.

Despite the monthly increase, relatively low inflation has been a constant throughout the recovery from the recession. For the past five years, inflation has stayed below the Federal Reserve's target of annual price gains of 2 percent.

-- The Associated Press

Pirch to close stores during overhaul

Pirch, a high-end appliance and kitchen chain, is planning to close most of its locations as it overhauls operations.

The business, known for its in-store chefs and try-before-you-buy ethos, is refocusing on its profitable stores in California, a representative said in an emailed statement. The closely held company, which is backed by private-equity firm L Catterton, has already closed its showroom in Austin, Texas -- despite the store only opening in May.

Pirch is in discussions with landlords at its remaining five locations on the East Coast and in the Midwest, the San Diego-based company said.

"Pirch has made the strategic decision to refocus its footprint and pace of expansion," it said in the statement. "Our California stores are performing well and profitable, and we remain focused on growth in this region."

Pirch is in the the process of closing its locations in Dallas, Chicago and Atlanta, which are currently scheduled to close Sept. 30. Though negotiations continue, the company's stores in Paramus, N.J., and New York's SoHo neighborhood are also scheduled for closure at the end of the month.

-- Bloomberg News

Hurricane plays havoc with orange trees

Thousands of unripe oranges littered the ground Tuesday at the Bereah Grove in Frostproof, Fla. Some trees were split, ripped from the ground or flooded in Hurricane Irma. The grove is one of many owned by Alico Inc., the nation's largest citrus producer, that were in Irma's path.

Joel Rivera, 65, an irrigation worker for Alico in Frostproof, said his biggest concern was the amount of fruit on the ground. "I'm not too worried about the trees themselves," Rivera said. "One tree is down here, one is flooded there, but the hurricane took a lot of fruit off these trees."

The storm that ravaged the state over the past week may have stripped off half the fruit on Florida's trees, according to the state's biggest citrus-growers organization, further reducing a harvest that was expected to be the smallest in 50 years. That could spell trouble for production next season in Florida, the biggest American source of juice oranges.

-- Bloomberg News

Business on 09/14/2017

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