Roundup: Bon-Ton closing Butler, W.Va. stores; CMU acquires building; more
Bon-Ton to close 2 stores in Pa., W.Va.
Bon-Ton Stores Inc. is closing two stores in Pennsylvania and West Virginia.
The department store operator said it is closing its Clearview Mall store in Butler — one of its five locations in the Pittsburgh region — which has 38 workers. Also being closed is an Elder-Beerman store in Beckley, W.Va., where 39 are employed. Leases expire Jan. 31 at both stores.
The York-based company said Tuesday that workers will be offered interviews for available positions at other Bon–Ton or Elder-Beerman locations, or they can receive career transition benefits including severance.
Remaining open are Bon-Ton stores in Westmoreland Mall in Greensburg; Crown Center in Washington County; Uniontown Mall, Uniontown; and at 2334 Oakland Ave., Indiana. There are Bon-Ton stores in Oil City, DuBois, Johnstown and Warren.
Bon-Ton operates 273 stores in 26 states including 10 furniture galleries. There are Elder-Beerman stores in Morgantown Mall in Morgantown and in St. Clairsville, Ohio.
Bon-Ton CEO and President Kathryn Bufano said in a news release that the company decided to close the stores because of performance reviews.
CMU buys innovation center building from RIDC
Carnegie Mellon University has decided to exercise its option and acquire the Robert Mehrabian Collaborative Innovation Center on its campus from the Regional Industrial Development Corp. of Southwestern Pennsylvania.
The option was initially installed in a land lease CMU provided in 2003 to RIDC to build the center for companies looking to collaborate with the university in technology areas.
The center, the initial home in Pittsburgh for Google Inc., which has expanded at Bakery Square in Larimer, is fully leased and has attracted Apple, Disney and Intel plus other university-related tenants.
RIDC, which received a $350,000 developer's fee on Sept. 30 — there was no real estate transfer tax paid — built the 127,636-square-foot research building along with a parking garage at 4720 Forbes Ave., Oakland. RIDC was reimbursed for its funding of the buildings from rents of lease tenants, said Tim White, vice president of development.
AT&T employee improperly viewed customer accounts
AT&T has informed about 1,600 customers that a rogue employee accessed account information that might have included Social Security numbers and other personal data.
AT&T said the employee failed to follow its privacy rules and no longer works for the company. The company said the employee might have had access to driver's license numbers and information about the types of services the customer purchased.
AT&T said it's offering free credit monitoring and has notified federal authorities. A copy of the letter to customers was posted online by Vermont's Attorney General's Office.
Securities industry continues to downsize, N.Y. official says
New York's state comptroller said the securities industry in New York City tallied $8.7 billion in profits during the first half of 2014, 13 percent lower than the same period last year as it continues to deal with the fallout from the 2008 financial crisis.
Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli on Tuesday said his analysis shows that despite its profitability over the past five years, the industry continues to downsize in New York. It had 162,400 jobs in August, 15 percent fewer than before the crisis. It shed 2,600 jobs the previous year.
DiNapoli said the average bonus, which rose to $164,530 last year, is likely to rise again in 2014, including deferred payments.
SodaStream's run at Coke, Pepsi losing steam
SodaStream said it isn't winning over enough new customers in the United States and reported preliminary sales that fell short of Wall Street expectations.
Over the past year, its stock has lost more than half its value. CEO Daniel Birnbaum said Tuesday that the Israeli company's U.S. business underperformed in the third quarter because of lower-than-expected demand for its soda makers and flavors. While it successfully established a base of repeat users in the country, Birnbaum said SodaStream isn't attracting new users at the rate the company would like.
SodaStream International said revenue for the third quarter is expected to be about $125 million. That's down from $144.6 million a year ago, and below the $153.6 million analysts expected, according to FactSet.
The company is scheduled to report final results for the period Oct. 29.
Consumer borrowing increased $13.5B in August
Consumers increased their borrowing in August in the category that covers auto loans and student loans but cut back on their credit card borrowing.
The Federal Reserve said overall borrowing rose $13.5 billion in August from a revised $21.6 billion increase in July. The gains have pushed total consumer debt to a record level of $3.25 trillion.
The category that includes auto loans and student loans increased $13.7 billion in August, while the category that covers credit card debt declined by $208 million, the first drop in this area in six months.
— Staff and wire reports
