REGION

REGION
Stein Mart to closeits Boardman store
BOARDMAN -- Stein Mart, a Florida-based retailer, intends to close its Boardman store about the end of March. The store, which opened in 1997, did not meet the company's performance standards, said Susan Edelman, company spokeswoman.
The store employs about 50 full-time and part-time workers. Stein Mart, which sells clothing and gift items, also is closing a store in the Atlanta area but opened 12 stores this year. It has 265 stores. In its most recent fiscal year, Stein Mart reported earnings of $21 million on sales of $1.4 billion.
Restart of plant raisesoptimism at FirstEnergy
AKRON -- FirstEnergy Corp. announced Tuesday it expected the restart of its damaged Davis-Besse nuclear plant to boost 2004 earnings and allow the company to meet Wall Street expectations.
The Akron-based utility has been losing millions in replacement power and maintenance costs associated with the outage of the nuclear plant near Toledo. The company said it expected the plant to restart by Dec. 31.
The company predicted 2004 earnings of $2.70 to $2.85 per share. A Thomson First Call survey of 15 securities brokers produced a consensus estimate of $2.70 to $3 per share for the year.
Vindicator staff and wire reports