

By Cathy Ruse
Birth control mandate a sin against liberty
Independent voices from the TWT Communities
:For the 2009 Federal Trade Commission case see In the Matter of Sears Holdings Management Corporation. - Source: Wikipedia
LAYOFFS
What do these brand-name American companies have in common: Eastman Kodak, Penn Camera, Borders bookstores, Blockbuster Video, Sears and Kmart?

Sears Holding Corp., which owns the two ubiquitous retail names Sears and Kmart, announced this week that it would shutter 100 to 120 stores, citing poor holiday-season sales. The move came as little surprise to retail strategists who say the issue wasn't simply weak 2011 sales.

Sears Holdings Corp. plans to close between 100 and 120 Sears and Kmart stores after poor sales during the holidays, the most crucial time of year for retailers.

Under the threat of losing thousands of jobs and two prestigious employers to other states, Illinois officials are on the verge of approving a tax-relief package meant to keep retail giant Sears and the Chicago Mercantile Exchange from leaving the state. But now they face another question: Who's next?

Three years after favorite son Barack Obama bolstered his home state's profile and led a "Yes, we can!" victory celebration in Chicago's Millennium Park, Illinois is mired in an economic funk that has nearby states poaching businesses and big-ticket employers such as Sears pondering a run for the border.
As the run-up to holiday shopping intensifies, Target Corp. said that its stores will open at midnight Thanksgiving night, beginning the traditional "Black Friday" shopping day four hours earlier than it did last year.
In a first for a wireless carrier, AT&T Inc. said Monday that it will use its phones' location-sensing ability to target text ads with coupons and other offers to participating subscribers in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago and San Francisco.
Not all Americans tucked into turkey with their families on Thanksgiving. Some were out shopping, hitting sales ahead of the crowds expected Friday.

Retailers are pumping still more energy this year into trying to get shoppers to loosen their purse strings early for Christmas with sparkly ornaments, holiday music and special prices -- in July.