It’s the end of the traditional crib that has cradled millions of babies for generations.
The government outlawed drop-side cribs on Wednesday after the deaths of more than 30 infants and toddlers in the past decade and millions of recalls.
It was a unanimous vote by the Consumer Product Safety Commission to ban the manufacture, sale and resale of the cribs, which have a side rail that moves up and down, allowing parents to more easily lift their child from the crib.
Deere & Co., the world’s largest maker of agricultural equipment, will invest $50 million in a new manufacturing plant in China to make construction equipment. Get the full story »
U.S. factory output grew for the fifth straight month in November, adding to evidence that manufacturing remains an engine of growth.
The Federal Reserve said Wednesday that output by the nation’s factories, utilities and mines increased 0.4 percent last month, after falling 0.2 percent in October. Get the full story »
Dannon Co. has agreed pay $21 million and drop some health claims for its Activia yogurt and DanActive dairy drink under pressure from state and federal regulators.
The food company has claimed in its marketing that its Activia yogurt helps relieve irregularity and that its DanActive drink helps people avoid colds or the flu. Get the full story »
Credit-card delinquency rates fell at major U.S. lenders in November as fewer consumers fell behind on their bill payments, signaling that they are recovering from the stress of the financial crisis.
But consumers are also avoiding racking up more debt on their credit cards, even during the holiday shopping season, in a sign that lenders will be struggling to rebuild their businesses for some time. Get the full story »
Navy Pier, like other enterprises, is finding the use of daily deal site Groupon to be a mixed blessing.
The pier sold 7,500 Groupons for the beginning days of its annual Winter WonderFest, an 283 percent increase from its first venture into discounted sales via Groupon last year. Get the full story »
A company that makes and distributes copper and copper-alloy products is considering moving its headquarters from southwestern Illinois to Kentucky. Get the full story »
Kraft Foods Inc. raised list prices on its well-known Maxwell House and Yuban coffee brands in the United States, effective Dec 14, a company spokeswoman said Wednesday. Get the full story »
U.S. consumer prices rose slightly less than in November, while prices excluding food and energy edged up for the first time since July, according to a report on Wednesday that implied virtually no inflation pressures amid an anemic recovery. Get the full story »
A British judge has ordered retailers to pay hundreds of people who suffered burns and respiratory ailments from toxic sofas. The 408 victims became ill after using leather sofas made by Chinese companies that used dimethyl fumarate, now banned in the EU. Get the full story »
Illinois Tool Works Inc. reported an 11-percent sales increase in the three months through November, citing strength in markets like welding, electronics and automotive. The company, whose products include industrial fasteners and professional kitchen equipment, reiterated a prior outlook calling for per-share profit from continuing operations of 74 cents to 82 cents for the fourth quarter and $2.99 to $3.07 for the full year. Get the full story »
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg. (AP/Paul Sakuma)
Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg has been named TIME magazine’s Person of the Year. Rick Stengel, the magazine’s managing editor, made the announcement Wednesday on NBC’s “Today“ show.
Zuckerberg created the widely popular and influential social networking site, which reflects a major transformation in the way people communicate and do business.
“Facebook has merged with the social fabric of American life, and not just American but human life: nearly half of all Americans have a Facebook account, but 70 percent of Facebook users live outside the U.S. It’s a permanent fact of our global social reality. We have entered the Facebook age, and Mark Zuckerberg is the man who brought us here.“ Get the full story »
The Irvine Co. is close to an agreement to buy the 49-story Hyatt Center in Chicago for about $625 million from the Pritzkers, the storied family whose business empire includes a majority stake in the Hyatt Hotels Corp. chain, according to people familiar with the deal.
The sale of the curved tower at 71 S. Wacker Drive in Chicago, which contains about 1.5 million square feet of office space, could close as early as Friday, people said. The deal could still collapse, but if completed, the building would be one of the largest Windy City properties to trade this year. Get the full story »
McDonald’s Corp. plans to double the number of its restaurants in China to 2,000 by 2013, a senior executive said on Wednesday as it speeds up expansion in the fastest growing major economy.
The top global fast food chain, which opened its first outlet in the southern boom town of Shenzhen 20 years ago, is facing fierce competition with Yum Brands Inc., the parent of Pizza Hut and KFC, which has roughly 3,700 outlets in China. Get the full story »
