News In Brief

Kmart Corp., battling sluggish sales and low stock price, unveiled a sweeping restructuring plan that will include the closure of 72 stores. The shutdowns, most of which will occur by Nov. 1, represent about 3 percent of all Kmart stores. About 5,000 workers will be affected, although employees will be given the opportunity to transfer to other stores, a spokesman said.

Nortel Networks said it would invest just under $2 billion in expansion in New England, much of it in a division reportedly being pursued by fiber optics rival Corning Inc. The Brampton, Ontario-based company plans to build a 100,000 square-foot addition onto an existing plant in Wilmington, Mass., and a new "optical system house" in neighboring Billerica, Mass., adding 1,825 employees to its payroll. Nortel and Corning would not comment on a report about their negotiations for the sale of a division that makes lasers. The Wall Street Journal said such a transaction could be worth more than $100 billion.

Lucent Technologies announced a $1.3 billion stock deal in which it will buy Spring Tide Networks, a provider of switching gear for the Internet. Lucent, the world's largest maker of telecommunications equipment, is based in Murray Hill, N.J.; Spring Tide is in Maynard, Mass.

In a deal valued at $4 billion, the largest privatization in post-Iron Curtain Eastern Europe, France Telecom and a partner will buy a 35 percent stake in Poland's state-owned phone company, Telekomunikacja Polska SA, it was announced in Warsaw.

(c) Copyright 2000. The Christian Science Publishing Society

You've read 3 of 3 free articles. Subscribe to continue.
QR Code to News In Brief
Read this article in
https://www.csmonitor.com/2000/0726/p20s4.html
QR Code to Subscription page
Start your subscription today
https://www.csmonitor.com/subscribe
CSM logo

Why is Christian Science in our name?

Our name is about honesty. The Monitor is owned by The Christian Science Church, and we’ve always been transparent about that.

The Church publishes the Monitor because it sees good journalism as vital to progress in the world. Since 1908, we’ve aimed “to injure no man, but to bless all mankind,” as our founder, Mary Baker Eddy, put it.

Here, you’ll find award-winning journalism not driven by commercial influences – a news organization that takes seriously its mission to uplift the world by seeking solutions and finding reasons for credible hope.

Explore values journalism About us