BJ Wholesale Club Inc., the Natick retailer that operates 184 warehouse club stores, said that August sales for stores open at least a year fell 6 percent.
Sales at stores open at least a year are known as same-store sales – or “comparable store sales” – and Wall Street analysts consider them as one of the most reliable barometers of a retailer’s performance.
Analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters expected BJ’s same-store sales to drop 8 percent, the AP reported.
BJ’s reported that total August sales decreased by 1.9 percent, and it said that …

DUBLIN–(Business Wire)–
Research and Markets
(http://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/f277b0/2009_worldwide_sma) has
announced the addition of the “2009 Worldwide Small Electrical Appliances
Manufacturing Industry Report” report to their offering.
The Worldwide Small Electrical Appliances Manufacturing Industry report,
published annually, contains timely and accurate industry statistics, forecasts
and demographics. The report features 2009 current and 2010 forecast estimates
on the size of the industry (sales, establishments, employment) for the 47
largest world countries, including United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy,
Spain, Russia, China, Japan, India, Australia, Canada, Mexico, Brazil, Argentina
and South Africa. The report also includes industry definition, 5-year
historical trends on industry sales, establishments and employment, a …

HOUSTON, Aug 31 (Reuters) – The California electric grid operator on Monday called on additional power plants to be ready to run as a deadly wildfire expanded near Los Angeles, increasing the threat to high-voltage power lines serving the city.
The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP) asked customers to limit electric use Monday as the fire raging in the Angeles National Forest has the potential to damage two 500-kilovolt lines northeast of the Acton area, the municipal utility said in a release.
Those 500-kv lines are critical to importing …

A London-area electrical utility, whose workers are on strike, is asking the public for help to stop the “sabotaging” of its power lines.
Erth Corp., parent company of small utility-related companies serving about 14,000 customers in Aylmer, Ingersoll, Central Elgin, Norwich and several other municipalities, says police are investigating four incidents in which lines and other equipment was vandalized, including a traffic light.
“With the strike, we’re short staffed and we want to keep the lights on and to have someone fooling with the system is a problem,” said chief executive officer …

The Station Fire is not only threatening homes across the region and broadcast towers on Mount Wilson, but also the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power’s two 500 KV transmission lines northeast of the Acton. “These high-voltage power lines are critical to maintaining a steady supply of power to the city, especially as demand for energy rises throughout the day,” the department made in a statement noting that all in-basin power plants have been activated to generate energy.
Although the system is functioning normal, officials are concerned that the combination …

ST. JOHN’S, Newfoundland, Canada 9/2/09 (PennWell) – Transmission lines from the Lower Churchill hydropower project in western Newfoundland will not run through Gros Morne National, said Newfoundland Premier Danny Williams.
Williams told the Energy Council of Canada that the province will need federal help to map a path around the national park. Plans to build 40-meter high power lines through the national park were met with strong opposition.
The plan would have created an “eyesore” in one of Newfoundland’s best tourist attractions, Williams said. He said the route around the park will …

Alberta’s energy minister announced a few weeks ago that he’s given the go-ahead for two power companies to apply for approval to construct and operate new transmission lines in the Calgary-Edmonton corridor.
The power lines will augment and relieve pressure on the six existing lines in the corridor that are currently operating at or near capacity because of Alberta’s explosive growth over the last few years.
The new lines could pass somewhere near Airdrie and are set to be built by ATCO Electric and Calgary based AltaLink LP, who will now begin …

Utility lines were knocked down across US-40 highway just west of the Douglas/Shawnee County line Wednesday evening when a car veered off the road to avoid a collision with the driver of a truck whose tire had blown out, said Shawnee County sheriff’s Cpl. Kelly Jordan.
Theo Hall, who was traveling west on US-40 in a 1987 Ford Mustang GT, rounded a corner as the tire on a GMC utility flatbed work truck traveling east blew out, causing the truck to veer into Hall’s lane. Hall, attempting to avoid a collision, …

Biking for electricity!
If you’re a sports fan, you’ve doubtless seen those commercials on ESPN.  A sportscaster is trying to work in his little cubicle, but the overhead light flickers.  He gets up, walks down the corridor, opens a door marked Generator Room, and inside is bicyclist Lance Armstrong, taking a break.  “What’s up?” says the sportscaster. Armstrong apologizes quickly and starts pedaling again.
Last year, the TV series Bones gave a similar example, when a “green enthusiast” offered to make the two main characters a fruit smoothie.  He places the ingredients …

Orange County Business Journal Staff
TTM Technologies Inc., a maker of circuit boards for networking gear and the military, is set to close two California factories and move some of the work to its headquarters in Santa Ana.
TTM said after the close of trading on Tuesday that it’s set to close its Hayward and Los Angeles facilities “due to continued weak demand in North America for commercial printed circuit boards and backplane products.”
The move is expected to save about $14 million per year, the company said.
The circuit board manufacturing that was …