THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, June 12, 1996 TAG: 9606120671
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: D1 EDITION: FINAL
LENGTH: 93 lines
Talbots Inc. said all of its suppliers must have subcontractor monitoring programs to ensure they are complying with the Fair Labor Standards Act. Last month Talbots and several other national retailers were cited by the U.S. Labor Department for buying goods that were manufactured under conditions violating minimum-wage and overtime laws. J.C. Penny Co., which was also cited in May, said recently it would suspend business with any supplier if a state, federal or foreign regulatory agency reports that the supplier is violating labor laws. (Bloomberg Business News) MCI, Intel team up to sell Web product
MCI Communications Corp. and Intel Corp. teamed up Tuesday to sell a combination of products and services that will help businesses publish information on the World Wide Web. MCI will chiefly market the product, called networkMCI Webmaker, to small and medium-sized businesses. At a starting price of about $10,000, businesses may purchase pre-configured computers, based on Intel's Pentium Pro chip, and software to establish a secure Internet presence. MCI and Intel hope to save companies the trouble of assembling various communications links. (AP) Gibson recalling stuffed bears, cats
Gibson Greetings Inc. said Tuesday it is voluntarily recalling 69,700 stuffed bears and cats because a small plastic part had fallen off five of the items. Most of the toys were distributed nationwide at grocery stores, card shops and specialty retailers from March 15 to April 22. The recall affects only the bears and cats. The company said it had received no complaints from consumers. Gibson does not expect the recall to affect its earnings because the manufacturer, Fine Toy Co. of Korea, had assumed responsibility. For more information, call Gibson at (800) 345-6521. (AP) Toshiba Corp. reduces memory-chip production
Toshiba Corp. said Tuesday it will cut production of computer memory chips, joining other large manufacturers who have scaled back after a sharp price drop. Toshiba will cut monthly production of 4-megabit DRAMs to 2 million chips from the current level of 5 million chips. It will scale back a plan to increase 16-megabit DRAM production. The company produces 6.5 million such chips a month and had planned to push that up to 10 million chips a month. Instead, it will increase only to 8 million chips per month. Memory-chip prices have fallen more than 50 percent since October. (AP) No. 2 broker says ``yes'' to no-load fund
Smith Barney Inc. wants to have it both ways - selling no-load mutual funds in addition to the load funds that are every brokerage firm's bread and butter. The brokerage firm plans to offer clients access to no-load mutual funds. Effective July 15, Smith Barney, a unit of Travelers Group, will add 400 no-load mutual funds from 28 fund families to the panoply of funds it already offers. Broker-sold funds have been losing market share to no-loads, and Smith Barney feels driven to go with the tide. Moreover, brokers who steer clients into no-loads won't go hungry. They will get annual fees. Among the fund families on the list are Berger Associates, Dreyfus Group, Founders Funds, IAI Funds, Invesco Funds, Janus Group, Loomis Sayles, Neuberger & Berman Management Inc., Oakmark Funds, PBHG Funds, Scudder Funds, Strong Funds, SteinRoe & Farnham and Twentieth Century Securities Inc. (The Wall Street Journal) Marriott International plans hotel expansions
Marriott International Inc. plans to expand its international hotel operations, primarily through franchising and joint venture agreements, Chairman and President J.W. Marriott Jr. said. It has no immediate plans to buy a hotel chain, he said. Marriott, a Washington-based lodging and hotel management company, plans to add 50 international hotels over the next four years, giving it more than 100 by 2000, Marriott told the Bloomberg Forum. The company was reported to be interested in buying Granada Group Plc's Meridien hotel chain several months ago, but Marriott said it only considered buying a few of the chain's hotels and not the brand name or the chain. (Bloomberg) Netplex Group changes OTC symbol to NTPL
The Netplex Group in McLean, Va., formerly known as CompLink, Ltd., said the trading symbol of its common stock on the OTC Electronic Bulletin Board will he NTPL rather than NPLX as previously reported. Netplex is a leading professional technical services firm specializing in Networked Information Systems. Netplex's depth of expertise includes network and systems management, help desk systems, LAN integration, Intranet deployment, wireless communications, disaster recovery planning, systems security, and database integration. (Staff) by CNB