THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, July 10, 1996 TAG: 9607100332
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: D1 EDITION: FINAL
LENGTH: 108 lines
Owners of 292,860 1996 and 1997 General Motors cars will be asked to take them to dealers to fix a problem that could make the cars refuse to start or even cause an engine fire, the automaker said. The recall includes some 1996 Pontiac Bonneville sedans, Oldsmobile Ninety-Eight and Eighty-Eight luxury cars, Buick Park Avenue, LeSabre, Riviera and Regal models and some 1997 LeSabre sedans that have 3.8-liter engines. Also Tuesday, Toyota Motor Corp. said it would recall 257,000 Corolla and Sprinter cars in Japan to repair a faulty safety feature in the transmission. (Associated Press)
Dominion Resources merges investment units
Dominion Resources Inc., parent of Virginia Power, has merged its customer stock purchase and dividend reinvestment plans. Under the new plan, called Dominion Direct, participants can buy stock twice monthly, as well as continue using a monthly installment plan allowing them to accumulate money for stock purchases. The new plan also will let participants choose how much of their dividend checks they want to use to buy stock. (Knight-Ridder/Tribune Business News)
Help-wanted listings on Internet attract business
Labor Secretary Robert Reich said Tuesday that International Business Machines Corp. will begin listing all of its job openings - about 24,000 a year - on the Labor Department's Internet job bank. America's Job Bank, (http://www.ajb.dni.us) lists more than 500,000 openings, up from 78,000 when it went on-line last year. The job bank collects openings from private companies and placement agencies, lists them for free and updates items as positions are filled. Nearly all of the positions posted are for full-time jobs in the private sector. (The Wall Street Journal)
Regulators say Prudential knew of agent abuses
Insurance regulators propose a record $35 million in fines against Prudential, saying the insurer's managers knew about widespread sales abuses by agents but failed to control them. The state regulators say Prudential has agreed to a restitution plan for up to 10.7 million policyholders. The task force said deceptive sales practices included misleading consumers about the cost of policies they bought. Under the plan, policyholders will be able to file for a remedy that consists of preferred-rate loans or the chance to buy more life insurance or annuities. (AP)
United to fly Hong Kong to Chicago nonstop
UAL Corp.'s United Airlines said its nonstop, round-trip service between Chicago and Hong Kong, the longest nonstop route in the carrier's history, will begin next week. United said it will fly Boeing 747-400s in each direction three days a week. The planes seat about 300 passengers. A round-trip, economy-class ticket will cost $1,548, United said. The flight will take 15 hours and 55 minutes from Chicago and 15 hours from Hong Kong. The first departure will be from Hong Kong on July 15. (Bloomberg Business News)
Rite Aid to open, expand or renovate 40 stores
Rite Aid Corp. said it will construct, renovate or relocate 40 stores in Baltimore over the next 18 months at a cost of $33 million. The nation's largest drugstore chain, which operates 2,793 units, opened the first store in Baltimore's Market Center, which is part of a federally designated Empowerment Zone. This fiscal year, it plans to open 125 stores, relocate 200 stores and enlarge 100 stores. Rite Aid is in the second year of a three-year plan to open, relocate or expand 1,000 stores. (Bloomberg) Viacom's Nickelodeon to grow in Europe, eyes Asia
Viacom Inc.'s Nickelodeon cable network is doing what the kids who watch it eventually do - get bigger and look for new places to play. Nickelodeon wants to launch one or two children's channels or channel blocks in Europe in the next year, said Jonathan Miller, managing director of Nickelodeon International. Nick already has full channels in the United Kingdom, Germany and Australia, and has announced plans to start a 24-hour Latin American service in the fourth quarter. Miller wouldn't say where the new European ventures will be. After Europe, Miller is eyeing Asia for 1997 or 1998. Nick is very active in India and Japan. Nickelodeon has about 24 million overseas subscribers. (Dow Jones News Service) Hertz to install navigation units
Hertz Corp. said Tuesday it will install at least 7,500 navigation units made by Rockwell International Corp. in its rental cars for about $23 million. The devices use a four-inch color monitor and computer-generated voice prompts to provide directions within a defined area. Customers who want the system will be charged an additional $6 a day. Hertz, a subsidiary of Ford Motor Co., said it expects installation to be completed by October. With the new units, Hertz, of Park Ridge, N.J., said it will have more than 8,000 navigation units installed in its U.S. fleet of 500,000 cars, including units purchased earlier from Rockwell. (Dow Jones News Service) Liz Claiborne to unveil value-priced line this fall
Liz Claiborne Inc. said Tuesday it will unveil a new Emma James line of women's apparel in September, and the clothes will hit the stores by next spring. The New York-based apparel company said the new line will include casual, formal and business clothing ranging in price from $26 to $118. The company also said it plans to change its Villager and Russ labels into more casual styles. (Dow Jones News) CORRECTION
Due to production problems, the cover of Monday's Business Weekly listed stories that did not appear in the publication. by CNB