Consolidation

Good-bye Famous-Barr, Filene’s, Foley’s, Hecht’s, Kaufmann’s, Meier & Frank, Robinsons-May and Strawbridge’s.

Hello Macy’s.

(May Company stores Lord & Taylor and Marshall Field’s are expected to keep their name.)

Retailing Giant Takes Shape as Federated Agrees to Buy May.

Thousands of layoffs are also expected, although other merchants, including Kohl’s, J.C. Penney and Nordstrom, are reportedly already lining up to take over some of the locations that Federated may jettison.

Once again, the small-minded people win

From BBC NEWS:

US food giant Kraft has decided to halt production of sweets shaped like roadkill - animals run over by cars.

Animal rights activists criticised the product, fruit-flavoured Trolli Roadkill Gummi candy, saying it encouraged acts of cruelty.

New Jersey’s Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (NJSPCA) had threatened petitions, boycotts and letter campaigns to stop the product.

OK, so this wasn’t the best idea Kraft ever had, but why do people take this stuff seriously? Are little kids going to go out and run over puppies and kittens because of their candy? I don’t think so. They may go out and run over puppies and kittens because lots of kids are sadistic little monsters, but their candy is probably not a factor.

B & O

From Today in History from the Library of Congress:

On February 28, 1827, the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad became the first U.S. railway chartered for commercial transportation of freight and passengers. Investors hoped a railroad would allow Baltimore, the second largest U.S. city at that time, to successfully compete with New York for western trade. New Yorkers were profiting from easy access to the Midwest via the Erie Canal.

Construction began at Baltimore harbor on July 4, 1828. Local dignitary Charles Carroll, last surviving signer of the Declaration of Independence, laid the first stone.

The initial line of track, a 13-mile stretch to Ellicott’s Mills (now Ellicott City), Maryland, opened in 1830. The Tom Thumb, a steam engine designed by Peter Cooper, negotiated the route well enough to convince skeptics that steam traction worked along steep, winding grades.

Bronze and steal

From Sideline Chatter:

The Utah Jazz plan to honor John Stockton and Karl Malone with dual statues — 1½ times life size — about 20 feet apart outside Delta Center.

Added Sam Smith of the Chicago Tribune: “No word on whether there’ll be a statue of Michael Jordan between them stealing the ball.”

It’s the birthday

… of Gavin MacLeod. The captain of the Love Boat and Mary Tyler Moore’s wisecracking news writer is 74.

… of Dean Smith. The hall-of-fame basketball coach is 74. Knew when to retire, too.

… of Mario Andretti. He’s in the left lane with his blinker on at age 65.

… of Bubba Smith. The football star turned actor is 60.

… of Bernadette Lazzara, known to us as Bernadette Peters. The star of stage, screen and television (beginning at age 3) is 57 today.