Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, July 30, 1993 TAG: 9307300218
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: A-5 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE:
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Sears, Roebuck & Co. said Thursday its stores would begin Sunday accepting Visa, Mastercard and American Express cards for purchases, ending its policy of taking only its own card or the Discover card.
The company has been testing other credit cards since November in 140 of its Sears stores, some specialty stores and its home repair and maintenance programs in four markets. Based on the results, Sears decided to accept the three cards in all of its 1,800 stores. - The New York Times
Judge cuts Altman's charges by half
NEW YORK - A judge on Thursday dismissed half the charges against Robert Altman, a serious setback for prosecutors trying to prove the lawyer helped the now-failed BCCI illegally gain secret control of a major Washington bank.
Four months into Altman's trial, Judge John A.K. Bradley ruled there was insufficient evidence to prove a key count of bribery and three of falsifying business records. Altman still faces one charge of participating in a scheme to defraud regulators and three counts of offering false documents for filing with regulators.
Prosecutors allege Altman allowed the scandal-plagued Bank of Credit and Commerce International to gain secret control of First American Bankshares Inc., the District of Columbia's biggest bank, where he was senior executive. - Associated Press
Small businesses show steady growth
WASHINGTON - While large and medium-sized companies suffered, businesses employing fewer than 10 people grew in number and many avoided the plague of recession during 1991, the Census Bureau reported Thursday.
The bureau said the number of small businesses grew about 1 percent a year from 1987 to 1991, the latest year for which statistics were available.
Large businesses, employing 100 or more, had been growing at an annual 3 percent but declined 1.7 percent in 1991. Medium-sized businesses, 10 to 100 employees, declined 0.2 percent in 1991.
In Virginia, there were 149,317 businesses operating in 1991, down 0.3 percent from 1990, the bureau said. - Associated Press
NAFTA nations say they're near accord
WASHINGTON - Top trade officials from the United States, Canada and Mexico expressed optimism Thursday that they soon will agree on labor and environmental policies the Clinton administration thinks will bolster shaky congressional support for a continent-wide free-trade zone.
The key sticking point has been a U.S. demand for trade sanctions if a country fails to enforce its laws on labor and environmental standards. Mexico and Canada both have rejected the use of sanctions to enforce the side agreements, contending it would infringe on national sovereignty.
The proposed agreement, known by its acronym NAFTA, would create the world's largest and richest free-trade zone, removing virtually all barriers to trade and investment among the three nations. - Associated Press
Ga. textile firm joins bidding for Fieldcrest
CHARLOTTE, N.C. - The owner of a Georgia textile firm emerged Thursday as one of the bidders for Fieldcrest Cannon Inc. as analysts and insiders said the competition for the nation's largest towel maker among about a half dozen tight-lipped suitors could last another week or longer.
Thomas C. Foley, chief executive officer at Bibb Co., of Macon, Ga., has bid for controlling interest in Fieldcrest, based in Eden, N.C. Foley declined to confirm the report.
Fieldcrest also operates a plant in Fieldale, Va. - Associated Press
by CNB