REGION

REGION

Jersey World to open

NILES — Jersey World, the Boardman-based sports clothing store, is moving to a 2,400- square-foot location in the Eastwood Mall and is set to open in mid-October. Jersey World features licensed professional and collegiate sports apparel, accessories, memorabilia and souvenirs, and has jerseys from every team in Major League Baseball, the National Hockey League, National Football League and National Basketball Association and many college teams.

First Financial dividend

CINCINNATI — Claude E. Davis, president and chief executive officer of First Financial Bancorp, said the board of directors has declared a quarterly cash dividend of 17 cents per share payable on Oct. 1 to shareholders of record as of Sept. 5, 2008. First Financial Bancorp is a Cincinnati-based bank holding company with $3.5 billion in assets. Its banking subsidiary, First Financial Bank, provides retail and commercial banking products and services, and investment and insurance products through 80 retail banking locations in Ohio, Kentucky and Indiana.

Vanity opens at mall

NILES — Vanity, a clothing store for young women, opened for business at the Eastwood Mall on Aug. 21. Vanity offers “cutting-edge fashion and its own premium denim line at nonpremium prices,” said Jodi Tollefson, director of marketing.

The store carries sizes 0-17, 25- to 34-inch waist sizes, up to 37-inch inseams, and XS to 2XL. The company, with headquarters in Fargo, N.D., has 200 stores in 24 states.

NATION

Sears’ downbeat news

NEW YORK — Sears Holdings Corp. offered a downbeat outlook recently, predicting that sales and gross profit margins will likely continue to be pressured for the rest of the year amid a challenging economy.

The Hoffman Estates, Ill-based retailer, which operates Kmart and Sears, Roebuck and Co. stores, added that for the full year, earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization, or EBITDA, will be comparable to, but no longer exceed, last year’s results.

The outlook came as the company reported a 62 percent drop in second-quarter profits as it struggles to attract customers to its stores. The current EBITDA estimates reflect same-store sales that are expected to be anywhere from flat to down modestly for the rest of the year. Same-store sales are sales at stores opened at least a year and are considered a key indicator of a retailer’s health.

Deere & Co. to invest

MOLINE, Ill. — Deere Co. said it will invest nearly $180 million in United States and Brazil plant expansions to meet rising global demand for its tractors and other farm machinery.

The agricultural equipment maker said it will invest $97 million to expand high-horsepower tractor manufacturing capacity by about 40 percent in Waterloo, Iowa. The equipment is exported to more than 130 countries.

About 103,000 square feet will be added to the drive train operation and improvements will be made to Deere’s foundry, engine and drive train operations. Part of the investment also will be used for improvements at a plant in Coffeyville, Kan., where transmissions and other drive train components are built.

The spending for the Iowa plant is the second announced by Deere this year. It said in February it will invest nearly $90 million to increase manufacturing capacity at Waterloo. The two projects are expected to be completed by early 2010.

Vindicator staff/wire reports