Information-storage firm opens in LR
Iron Mountain Inc., an international storage and information management services company, has opened a new information management facility in Little Rock. The 23,000-square-foot building at 11205 Otter Creek Road South will have a storage capacity of 200,000 cubic feet of records and 260,000 data tapes, the company said in a news release. The company will employ at least five people at the site, which represents a $1 million initial investment and “will scale to grow,” according to Christian Potts, a spokesman for Iron Mountain. The facility will serve the greater Little Rock and central Arkansas business community, the company said in the news release. “We chose Little Rock because of the combination of our local existing customers and the opportunity to grow our presence in Arkansas,” said Jim Dodson, the company’s senior vice president and general manager for records management, Iron Mountain. Iron Mountain also operates a facility in Bentonville, which the company said serves Northwest Arkansas and southwest Missouri.
— Noel Oman
Dillard's offers cookbook for charity
Dillard's Inc. is offering a special edition of the Southern Living Christmas Cookbook to benefit Ronald McDonald House Charities.
It's the 10th year the Little Rock-based company is offering the 280-page cookbook, which includes 175 new recipes and Christmas decorating ideas. The cookbook is available in all Dillard's stores and online at dillards.com.
Ronald McDonald House Charities provides families with a place to stay while their children receive treatment at nearby hospitals. Dillard's has raised more than $13.6 million to benefit the organization since 1994, according to a news release.
"Our continued relationship with [Ronald McDonald House] gives all of us at Dillard's an enormous sense of pride. We look forward to another successful fundraiser this year and are honored to support the Ronald McDonald Houses in our communities," Denise Mahaffy, senior vice president of Dillard's, said in a prepared statement.
-- Robbie Neiswanger
Whole Foods reports credit-data hack
NEW YORK -- Whole Foods said Friday that the credit and debit card information of customers who bought meals or drinks at its in-store restaurants or bars were exposed to hackers.
The grocer, which was recently acquired by Seattle-based online retailer Amazon.com Inc., said the data breach did not affect its main checkout registers or any Amazon.com shoppers.
Whole Foods did not say which of its 470 stores were affected, and a spokesman declined to answer questions. The Whole Food stores that have in-store restaurants and bars tend to be in or near cities.
Whole Foods said it is investigating the hack.
-- The Associated Press
VW boosts extended warranty plans
WOLFSBURG, Germany -- Volkswagen AG, seeking to lure back U.S. buyers two years after the emergence of its diesel emissions scandal, will broaden the availability of longer warranties to the majority of its namesake brand's lineup.
Most 2018 Volkswagen models will offer a six-year or 72,000-mile limited warranty, according to a company statement. The automaker is extending the offer, which roughly doubles the duration of coverage, to more cars and sport utility vehicles after announcing the longer warranty would be available on the 2018 Atlas and Tiguan SUVs in April.
Volkswagen admitted in September 2015 to systematically cheating U.S. air pollution tests with software that enabled diesel engines to activate pollution controls only when they were undergoing testing. After slumping last year, the company's U.S. sales have ticked up 6.4 percent during the first eight months of 2018.
-- Bloomberg News
IMF chief defends virtual currencies
LONDON -- Christine Lagarde, the head of the International Monetary Fund, has a message for the world's central bankers: Don't be Luddites.
Addressing a conference in London on Friday, Lagarde said virtual currencies, which are created and exchanged without the involvement of banks or government, could in time be embraced by countries with unstable currencies or weak domestic institutions.
"In many ways, virtual currencies might just give existing currencies and monetary policy a run for their money," she said. "The best response by central bankers is to continue running effective monetary policy, while being open to fresh ideas and new demands, as economies evolve."
The most high-profile of these digital currencies is bitcoin, which like others can be converted to cash when deposited into accounts at prices set in online trading. Its price has been volatile, soaring over recent years but falling sharply earlier this month on reports that China will order all bitcoin exchanges to close. One of the world's most high-profile investment bankers has also called bitcoin a fraud.
-- Bloomberg News
Sources say Amazon seeks Irish office
DUBLIN -- Amazon.com Inc. is searching for office space in Dublin that could hold as many as 800 employees, according to two people with knowledge of the matter.
The e-commerce giant is looking for as much as 80,000 square feet of office space in the Irish capital, said the people, who asked not to be named because the information is private. Amazon declined to comment.
Last year, Amazon said it would bring another 500 jobs to Ireland, adding to more than 1,400 people in Dublin. Amazon's search may add to a squeeze in the Irish capital's office market as companies from JPMorgan Chase & Co. to Barclays PLC expand in the city after the U.K.'s decision to depart the European Union.
While the office vacancy rate in Dublin stands at about 9 percent, the figure falls to less than 1 percent for top-quality buildings in prime areas of the city, Savills PLC said last week. A number of older office buildings were demolished this year, adding to the shortage, the broker said.
-- Bloomberg News
Business on 09/30/2017