BUSINESS DIGEST ||

Walmart to donate

BENTONVILLE, ARK.

In response to the severe weather impacting the country, Walmart is committing up to $10 million in additional support for 2017 U.S. hurricane relief efforts.

This will bring the total committed by Walmart to hurricane relief efforts this year to $30 million, building on the support provided in response to Hurricane Harvey that hit the Gulf region 21/2 weeks ago.

Tesla to add charging stations to city centers

NEW YORK

Tesla Inc. is building electric charging stations in city centers to attract urban buyers who don’t have a garage to charge in.

The first two stations – in Boston and Chicago – opened Monday. The Chicago station can charge 10 vehicles at a time, while the Boston station can charge eight.

A map on Tesla’s website shows urban stations planned for New York, Philadelphia, Washington and other cities before the end of this year.

The new stations take up less space and are easier to install than Tesla’s previous Supercharger stations, which are mostly along highways or at hotels. Tesla said it’s locating the stations near grocery stores and shopping areas, so owners can run errands while they charge.

The urban stations can deliver 72 kilowatts of power to each car, so it will take about 45 to 50 minutes for most drivers to fully charge their vehicles. Tesla’s highway Superchargers deliver up to 120 kilowatts; they can charge up a car in 30 to 40 minutes.

Nordstrom to open concept store that has no inventory

SEATTLE

Nordstrom is opening up a store that doesn’t have any inventory. The luxury department-store chain says its Nordstrom Local concept store will open in Los Angeles next month.

The Seattle-based company says the store will be staffed with personal stylists who can order merchandise for customers. Nordstrom says customers can also buy online inside the store or pick up online orders the same day. The store will offer tailoring and manicure services.

The store is just 3,000 square feet. That compares with the average 140,000-square-foot size of a full Nordstrom store.

Russian cyber hacker pleads guilty in identity-theft case

las vegas

A Russian cybercriminal identified as a leader of a $50 million identity theft and credit-card-fraud ring has pleaded guilty in Atlanta to helping to steal millions of debit-card numbers and swiftly loot accounts in cities around the world, federal authorities said.

Roman Valeryevich Seleznev pleaded guilty Thursday to conspiracy to commit bank fraud in Atlanta, and to participating in a racketeering enterprise in the “carder.su” case in Las Vegas, federal prosecutors in Nevada and the U.S. state of Georgia said.

Seleznev’s defense attorney, Igor Litvak in New York, said Monday his client accepted responsibility for his actions and looks forward to sentencing Dec. 11. He could face up to 24 more years in federal prison under terms of his pleas. Seleznev, 33, is serving 27 years for his conviction last year in Seattle in a wire fraud and computer hacking case.

Wire reports