Business Briefs

Pee Dee mill closes under ailing owner

A Pee Dee textile plant with 150 employees has closed after its bankrupt owner was ordered by a judge to liquidate its assets. Blumenthal Print Works Inc. said the 28 people who work in its New Orleans headquarters and about 150 at its plant in the Pee Dee town of Marion have been laid off.

CEO Ralph Blumenthal said the company, which specialized in mattress ticking and embroidered upholstery, had trouble adjusting to a changing market.

"Chinese imports also started to capture a much larger portion of the market," said Blumenthal, whose grandfather founded the company.

The shuttered South Carolina plant is in an area with high unemployment. For October, the jobless rate in Marion County was the fourth highest statewide at 20.7 percent.

Tirekickers said to be looking at Saab

STOCKHOLM -- A spokeswoman for General Motors' Saab unit says several potential buyers have expressed interest in the Swedish brand after specialty car maker pulled out of a deal to acquire it.

On Tuesday, a group led by Sweden's Koenigsegg Automotive AB dropped out of a deal to buy Saab that had been in the works since June. Saab spokeswoman Gunilla Gustavs said a few potential buyers have approached Saab after the deal fell through. She didn't identify the potential suitors Friday but said Saab was in close contact with more than one.

A person briefed on GM's plans said Wednesday that it hasn't talked to any potential buyers. Saab has been in a court-protected restructuring since Feb. 20.

Wal-Mart wins in store closing case

TORONTO -- The Supreme Court of Canada said Friday that Wal-Mart Stores Inc. was entitled to close a store in Quebec in 2005, seven months after workers voted to become the first Walmart in North America to unionize.

The highest court in Canada ruled 6-3 that the multinational had the right to shut down the outlet in Jonquiere, Quebec, and lay off 190 employees.

Justice Ian Binnie wrote for the majority, saying that the court had "endorsed the view that no legislation obliges an employer to remain in business." And that, "the closure did not constitute an unfair labor practice aimed at hindering the union or the employees from exercising rights under the labor code."

Internet gambling rules are delayed

WASHINGTON --The Treasury Department and the Federal Reserve are giving U.S. financial institutions an additional six months to comply with regulations designed to ban Internet gambling.

The agencies said Friday that the new rules, which were to take effect Dec. 1, would be delayed until June 1 of next year. The rules seek to curb online gambling by prohibiting financial institutions from accepting payments from credit cards, checks or electronic fund transfers to settle online wagers.

The financial industry complained that the new rules would be difficult to enforce because they did not offer a clear definition of what constitutes Internet gambling. They had sought a 12-month delay in implementing provisions of the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act that Congress had passed in 2006.