Zumiez Inc.’s co-founder and other significant owners of the Everett retail company’s stock announced Thursday they plan to sell 2.4 million shares. The sale could generate nearly $81 million for the sellers, with none of the proceeds going back directly to the company. Brentwood-Zumiez Investors, a private equity investor, is offering all 1.6 million of their shares, while company co-founder Tom Campion, a trust in Campion’s and chief executive officer Rick Brooks are selling portions of their sizable holdings.
Microsoft Corp. will offer a premium license for the upcoming version of its Exchange e-mail server that will let users do things such as retrieve voice mails from their e-mail in boxes or give their computer a voice command to check their calendar or alert co-workers they’re going to be late for a meeting. The “enterprise” version of the licenses a company buys for each user on its system will cost extra.
Toyota Motor Corp. and Honda Motor Co. saw double-digit U.S. sales increases in May as consumer demand for more fuel-efficient vehicles grew, the automakers reported Thursday. Rising fuel prices hurt domestic manufacturers, which rely more heavily on sales of trucks and sport utility vehicles. General Motors Corp. said its sales were down 12 percent for the month, while Ford Motor Co. said its sales were down 2 percent and DaimlerChrysler AG’s Chrysler Group said sales were down nearly 11 percent.
The U.S. economy appears to be shifting into a lower gear with residential construction falling sharply and manufacturing activity slowing. The big question: Will the slowdown come in time to keep inflation from heating up? Investors got mixed signals on inflation in a raft of new economic data on Thursday, with a key gauge of wage inflation posting an improved reading while a barometer of manufacturing prices posting a sharp increase. Wall Street chose to focus on the benign inflation reading and strong May sales gains reported by many retailers. The Dow Jones industrial average rallied for a second session.
H.J. Heinz Co., one of the world’s largest food companies, said Thursday its fourth-quarter profit fell 19 percent, and that it planned to slash 2,700 jobs and exit 15 plants as part of an effort to cut costs and boost profit. The company’s stock hit a new 52-week high.
From Herald staff and news service reports
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