Word: retailing
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...industry that has the largest number of employees in the US is not automotive. It is retail. If the economy does not recover quickly, there is a case to be made that one or more large retailers could face problems not unlike those being faced by GM. The largest retailers have two advantages over car companies. For the most part, they do not have crushing debt loads. Secondly, they do not have the legacy labor costs that are a result of UAW negotiations with The Big Three, although some have pension plans that are not completely funded...
...kits, which will debut in Britain in May and retail for $50, include a syringe that allows users to extract half a milliliter of barbiturate solution without breaking the sanitary seal. "Clearly, sterility doesn't matter given that death is the desired outcome," Nitschke says. But the solution deteriorates slower in a sterile environment, allowing those with painful conditions to "lock it away in the back of the cupboard in case things gets too bad." The extracted sample is then mixed with chemicals from the kit; a color change indicates a lethal solution. (See pictures of suicide...
...Hopeful signs have indeed appeared. Retail sales are still growing at a robust 16% annual rate. The Purchasing Managers Index, an indicator of the health of the manufacturing sector, rebounded into positive territory in March after falling for months, indicating that industrial output may be expanding again. Home sales are also showing signs of recovery, as is lending. Even the stock market, which had plunged by some two-thirds from its peak in 2007, has clawed back 25% in the last few months. (See pictures of China's investment in Africa...
...According to the SportsOneSource, a research firm that tracks the sporting-goods industry, firearms sales in large retail outlets are up 39% this year. Shops across the country are reporting ammunition shortages because stores can't meet demand for bullets. Data from the FBI's National Instant Criminal Background Check System, which the industry uses as a proxy for overall firearms sales, are also revealing. From November 2008 through March 2009, FBI background checks, which are required every time a federally licensed gun dealer makes a sale, rose 29.3% over the same period a year earlier. In November alone, checks...
...violent felons from buying body armor - which can cost anywhere from $200 to $2,000 - but as far as investigators have found, neither Wong nor Poplawski previously fit that criterion. With laws varying from state to state, the gear can often be bought off the Internet or at specialist retail outlets. (Posh London department store Harrods recently began carrying a line of "high-security fashion" by Colombian designer Miguel Caballero...