Business news in brief

— QUOTE OF THE DAY

“Automakers are kicking off the year strong, staying true to disciplined incentive spending as many curtailed their spending in January.”

Kristen Andersson, TrueCar.com analyst Article, 1D

Middleby lays off 140 in Viking unit

GREENWOOD, Miss. - Viking Range Corp.’s new owner is laying off one-fifth of the company’s workers.

Middleby Corp., based near Chicago, said it laid off about 140 of Viking’s 700 employees Thursday.

Also, Viking founder and Chief Executive Officer Fred Carl Jr. announced his retirement. Carl had earlier said that he probably would lead the company for several more years and cited Middleby’s pattern of leaving managers in place after buying companies.

Layoffs were effective immediately, with a majority in Viking’s hometown of Greenwood. Spokesman Darcy Bretz said she doesn’t know if fired workers are receiving severance pay.

Viking cooking schools in Ridgeland, Miss., and Memphis will close.

Bretz provided no explanation of why Carl stepped down. She also didn’t say who would lead the Viking unit.

Middleby announced Dec. 31 that it was buying Viking for $380 million from shareholders including Carl and Arkansas’ Stephens family.

The purchaser aims to increase Viking’s sales and profits while cutting costs. Bretz says layoffs were spread across the company but were heavier in some departments. Viking’s sales had fallen to $200 million from a peak of $400 million in 2006-2007, Middleby told its investors after the purchase.

Carl and Viking have worked to revitalize Greenwood’s downtown, including the Alluvian Hotel and a cooking school there. Those operations will stay open.

U.S. rig count grows by 11 to 1,764

HOUSTON - Oilfield services company Baker Hughes Inc. says the number of rigs actively exploring for oil and natural gas in the U.S. increased by 11 this week to 1,764.

The Houston-based company said in its weekly report Friday that 1,332 rigs were exploring for oil and 428 for gas. Four were listed as miscellaneous. A year ago, Baker Hughes counted 1,997 working rigs.

Of the major oil- and gas-producing states, Texas gained seven rigs, Oklahoma six, Alaska and California gained three and North Dakota two.

Louisiana lost three rigs, while Arkansas, Pennsylvania and Wyoming each lost one. The count in Colorado, New Mexico and West Virginia was unchanged.

The rig count peaked at 4,530 in 1981 and bottomed at 488 in 1999.

  • The Associated Press

Kraft suing Cracker Barrel over name

NEW YORK - Kraft Foods is suing Cracker Barrel Old Country Store over the restaurant chain’s plans to use the Cracker Barrel name on packaged ham, bacon and other foods.

Kraft said that it started using the Cracker Barrel name on cheese in 1954. Cracker Barrel Old Country Store Inc., which is based in Lebanon, Tenn., and operates 620 locations around the country, was established in 1969.

Kraft says it never took any formal legal action because the chain sold a very limited number of mixes, candies and sauces through its shops and website. But Kraft says Cracker Barrel Old Country Store’s recent licensing agreement to sell foods including “assorted lunch meats, glazes, jerky and summer sausage” could give the products a much broader audience at supermarkets and retailers such as Wal-Mart Stores Inc. and confuse consumers.

Kraft said that could harm the reputation of its “award winning” Cracker Barrel cheese, which has generated sales of more than $100 million a year since 2000.

A representative for Cracker Barrel Old Country Store wasn’t immediately available for comment.

  • The Associated Press

Bank of America’s online site crashes

NEW YORK - Bank of America said its online banking website crashed Friday, leaving customers unable to access their accounts.

From late morning Friday, customers trying to log on saw a message that said the site was “temporarily unavailable.”

Bank of America, the second-largest U.S. bank by assets, said it was working on the problem, but wouldn’t elaborate on what caused the system failure.

“We’re aware of the online banking issue and addressing as quickly as possible,” Mark Pipitone, a spokesman for the bank, wrote in an e-mail message. “We’re also working closely with our customers to help alleviate any concerns.” - The Associated Press

LaHood: No pressure to let 787s fly

U.S. aviation regulators are “not feeling any pressure” to get Boeing Co.’s 787 Dreamliner jet back in the air quickly and won’t let the jet resume flights until they’re certain it is safe, Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said.

The Federal Aviation Administration grounded the Dreamliners in service on Jan. 16 after an All Nippon Airways Co. 787 made an emergency landing in Japan because one of its lithium-ion batteries smoked and became charred. That followed a Jan. 7 fire involving a lithium-ion battery on a Japan Airlines Co. jet that was on the ground in Boston.

The Transportation Department will look at the entire plane and not just its batteries, LaHood said Friday, speaking to reporters after a speech in Falls Church, Va.

  • Bloomberg News

44,000 apply for Delta attendant jobs

Delta Air Lines Inc. has received 44,000 applications for 400 flight-attendant positions, showcasing demand for jobs with the U.S. unemployment rate mired near 8 percent.

“We received an incredible number of applications for these positions,” Chief Executive Officer Richard Anderson said in a weekly recorded message to employees. A panel of flight attendants already working for Delta will begin interviewing candidates next week, he said.

The surge in applications means would-be employees have a 1-in-110 chance of being hired. Delta said in December that 22,000 people applied at a rate of two per minute in the first week the jobs were posted outside the Atlanta based company.

The flight attendants are being hired so they can be trained and ready to fly in June when the peak summer travel season begins.

Business, Pages 30 on 02/02/2013

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