Issuu

Business editor: Chris Cashman • ccashman@shawmedia.com

THE MARKETS 44.00 13,910.42

11.35 3,142.31

5.88 1,501.96

OIL

$98.00 a barrel +$0.06

Lulu’s merges stores

Breaking news @ www.NWHerald.com 8BIZ BUZZ

Six Flags to hire 3,000 seasonal workers

Monica Maschak - mmaschak@shawmedia.com

Cindy McDonald, of Huntley, browses the sale racks of the Lulu’s Wiggin Out store in downtown Crystal Lake.

THE STOCKS Stock

Abbott Labs AGL Resources Allstate Apple

AptarGroup AT&T Bank of Montreal Baxter CME Group Coca-Cola Comcast Covidien Dean Foods Dow Chemical Exelon Exxon Facebook Ford General Motors Google Hillshire IBM JPMorganChase Kohl’s Kraft Foods Group Live Nation McDonald’s Microsoft Modine Moto Solutions OfficeMax Pepsi Pulte Homes Safeway Sears Holdings Snap-On Southwest Air. Supervalu Target United Contint. Wal-Mart Walgreen Waste Mgmt. Wintrust Fincl.

Change

33.22 41.62 44.21 456.83 51.86 34.48 63.28 67.90 58.12 37.50 39.03 62.82 18.08 34.61 31.25 90.67 31.24 12.93 27.94 753.83 30.26 203.52 47.13 45.73 46.71 10.15 94.67 27.85 8.29 58.69 10.51 73.21 21.05 19.16 46.39 81.63 11.24 3.91 60.98 24.08 69.75 39.87 36.05 36.93

-0.11 -0.06 +0.39 -1.44 -0.06 -0.20 -0.29 +0.55 +0.20 +0.08 -0.08 -0.54 -0.04 -0.12 -0.08 -1.09 +0.45 -0.21 -0.51 +0.15 -0.24 -0.38 +0.01 +0.21 -0.34 -0.09 -0.25 -0.16 -0.38 -0.25 -0.25 +0.27 -0.06 -0.14 -1.00 -0.88 -0.09 unch -0.36 +0.12 -0.14 -0.19 -0.26 -0.09

COMMODITIES Metal

Gold Silver Copper

1675.90 32.015 3.75

Change

-4.00 -0.162 unch

Grain

Corn Soybeans Oats Wheat

740.25 1478.75 362.00 787.00

Livestock

Change

Live cattle Feeder cattle Lean hogs

133.225 148.975 89.10

+0.30 -0.125 -0.15

Monica Maschak – mmaschak@shawmedia.com

Wig specialist Dana Ratzek straightens a wig on a mannequin at Lulu’s Wiggin Out in downtown Crystal Lake. The shop recently merged with the Algonquin store and will be selling all merchandise out of the Crystal Lake location.

Lulu’s Wiggin Out remodels, consolidates

GURNEE – Six Flags Great America is hiring more than 3,000 seasonal employees ranging from entry-level to management-level positions, including paid internships. Hiring events are scheduled from 10:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Feb. 9, Feb. 23, March 9 and March 23 at the park’s employee entrance, 542 N. Route 21. Candidates are encouraged to apply online at www.sixflagsjobs.com prior to arriving. Positions are available in a variety of departments including guest relations, admissions, rides, park services, retail, food service, security, paramedics, landscaping, games, aquatics and entertainment. Employee perks include competitive pay, free park admission private employee events, reward programs, scholarships, flexible scheduling and health benefits. Six Flags also is seeking male and female actor/singers with strong live singing capabilities for lead roles in the all-new nighttime event, igNIGHT – Grand Finale. Candidates can set up an appointment to audition on Saturday by calling 847-2491776 ext. 7469. Six Flags Entertainment Corporation is the world’s largest regional theme park company with more than $1 billion in revenue and 18 parks across the United States, Mexico and Canada.

–Northwest Herald

U.S. investigators ask Boeing for battery history

NORTHWEST HERALD CRYSTAL LAKE – Lulu’s Wiggin Out has expanded its selection of women’s fashion, accessories and wigs at its downtown Crystal Lake boutique, 63 N. Williams St. In addition to designer clothing and accessories, the store is now one of the premier Chicago area locations for wigs. Lulu’s closed its Algonquin store after eight years to consolidate its operations under one roof. “We have brought all of our services to a single location to better serve our customers,” said owner Luann Bauer. “Our downtown Crystal Lake store is a popular location, easily accessible, and offers the room to expand our collection of women’s accessories.” A breast cancer survivor, Bauer opened her first Lulu’s Wiggin Out in 2005 in Algonquin. She later added a collection of women’s clothing and accessories, and now carries many sought-after designers. “I was committed to helping women feel beautiful while undergoing the difficulties of cancer,” Bauer said. The back of the Crystal Lake store is dedicated to

★ ★★

★★

Thursday, January 31, 2013 Northwest Herald

★

FICA tax increase catches some by surprise. Page D2

SECTION E

★

Business

Paula Dorion-Gray

Monica Maschak - mmaschak@shawmedia.com

Store manager Ashly Bauer, left, chats with wig specialist Dana Ratzek in the newly remodeled area of the Lulu’s Wiggin Out store in Crystal Lake. Since merging with the Algonquin location, the Crystal Lake store will now carry all merchandise. A ribbon cutting will be held on Thursday, Feb. 7 for the remodel of the back of the store.

Lulu’s Wiggin Out What: A boutique featuring designer clothing, accessories and wigs Where: 63 N. Williams St., Crystal Lake Information: 815-356-9900 or luluswigginout.com wigs, and includes a privacy area for fittings. The shop offers a wide selection of synthetic and natural hair wigs with the option to custom order. A licensed cosmetologist is

on site to help customers with their wig selection. The store also sells hats, scarves, turbans and other items to help cope with hair loss. Store manager Ashly Bauer, Luann’s daughterin-law, said wigs are priced $130 to $400 for synthetic hair, and $500 to $2,000 for human hair. She said the store deals mainly with synthetics, but also provides human hair wigs for customers. “Synthetic is much easier to maintain,” Ashly Bauer said.

“It keeps its shape and look. Curls stay no matter what the weather is like outside. Real hair you have to blow dry and style every day.” In addition to Wigs, Lulu’s Wiggin Out offers a twist on classic feminine apparel. The boutique features clothing, hats, jewelry, handbags, gifts, home décor and more. “We pride ourselves on the personal service we offer to help our customers find the perfect wig, accessory or gift,” Luann Bauer said.

TOKYO – U.S. investigators said Wednesday they asked Boeing Co. to provide a full operating history of lithium-ion batteries used in its grounded 787 Dreamliners as Japan’s All Nippon Airways revealed it had repeatedly replaced the batteries even before overheating problems surfaced. National Transportation Safety Board spokesman Peter Knudson said the agency made the request after becoming aware of battery problems at ANA that occurred before two recent incidents involving the planes batteries. Boeing has already collected some of the information, he said. All 50 of the Boeing 787s in use around the world remain grounded after an ANA flight on Jan. 16 made an emergency landing in Japan when its main battery overheated. About a week before that, a battery caught fire in a 787 parked at Boston’s Logan International Airport. ANA said it had replaced batteries on its 787 aircraft 10 times because they didn’t charge properly or connections with electrical systems failed, and informed Boeing about the swaps.

–From wire reports

Change

+10.75 +27.00 +2.00 +10.00

Stay connected To sign up for the Northwest Herald Business Update weekly email newsletter, select Business Update at NWHerald.com/newsletter.

Business blog The Business Scene blog is your connection to McHenry County’s business information today. Visit NWHerald.com/ blogs/business.

RIM unveils new BlackBerrys

Charter schools now big business By ELEANOR CHUTE

The Associated Press

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

NEW YORK – A new generation of more versatile BlackBerry smartphones is finally about to hit the market after excruciating delays allowed mobile devices made by Apple, Samsung and others to build commanding leads in a market that is redefining society. BlackBerry maker Research in Motion Ltd. formally unveiled its long-awaited line-up of revamped smartphones and software Wednesday at simultaneous events held in New York, Toronto, London, Paris, Dubai, Johannesburg, Jakarta and Delhi. In a move underscoring the stakes riding on its make-or-break product line-up, the Canadian company used the occasion to announce it is changing

PITTSBURGH – The early charter schools in Pennsylvania were largely the product of passionate parents or community groups, who sometimes planned their dream schools around the kitchen table. But the picture has changed dramatically since the charter school law was passed in Pennsylvania in 1997, with an expansion of education management organizations that bring big money and clout into the picture. While some of the early charter planners succeeded -- such as the Manchester Youth Development Center on the North Side, which then offered an after-school tutoring program and started the Manchester Academic Charter School – many schools never materialized, with some planners saying it was harder than expected to come up with the necessary capital

AP photo

A woman uses a new BlackBerry Z10 smartphone. its name to BlackBerry – a pioneering brand that has lost its cachet since Apple’s 2007 release of the iPhone reset expectations for what a smartphone should do. The first devices in the new crop of BlackBerrys will be called the Q10, which will feature a physical keyboard like previous versions of the phone, and the Z10 will have only

a touch-screen keyboard, like Apple’s trend-setting iPhone and other handsets running on Google’s Android software, including Samsung’s popular Galaxy. They will run on a redesigned operating system called BlackBerry 10, which the company began working on after buying QNX Software Systems.

See BLACKBERRYS, page D2

and expertise. That was before so many businesses aimed at providing curriculum, management and facilities entered the scene, including organizations that don’t just assist but help initiate support for a charter school. Charter schools are public schools that have their own boards and are chartered by a local school district in the case of a bricks-and-mortar charter or by the state for a cyber charter. School districts pay a fee set by the state for their residents to attend. Increasingly, locally elected school officials are finding their districts competing against charter schools allied with big organizations with big money and their own ideas. “It’s had a large impact on the growth of charter school reform,” said Gary Miron, an education professor at Western Michigan University.

See CHARTER, page D5