NY cafes crack down on free wi-fi

Many coffee shops are losing money because customers spend too long online, so they are covering sockets, banning laptops and charging for internet access.

As big chains like Starbucks offer free wi-fi, smaller business are struggling to survive.

Jonathan Blake's Video Report from BBC.

Christmas memories jogged as UK's Woolworth Stores Close

I have fond memories of Woolworth's. They had a lunch counter that couldn't be beat. Eating many a tuna fish sandwich "cut 4 ways" and they had a banana split that couldn't be any better.

They had a long-time marketing plan on those banana split. Balloons hanging over the counter included a slip of paper with a price of your banana split written on it. I believe the prices ranged from a penny to 99¢.

While I was looked after by friends of Mama, who worked behind the counter, my parents shopped for just about anything that was needed in the house, including Christmas toys for me.

Years later, I purchased my first color TV from Woolco, a subsidiary of F. W. Woolworth Company. That TV lasted longer than any other TV I have ever owned. In fact, when in the Navy, Mama and Daddy used it and never gave it back. In the early 80s, Woolco was closed. It was devastating to us in Key West, as it was the last discount store and Woolco offered many items not offered anywhere else.

In Fredericksburg, VA (where I grew up), Woolworth's eventually moved into a smaller store at the Mall and closed its downtown store. That beautiful building, built on the property where the Fredericksburg Opera House had once stood is now a mixture of antique stores "under one roof." The Woolco building became K-Mart and is now a Burlington Coat Factory store.

By Woolworth’s 100th anniversary in 1979, it had become the largest department store chain in the world, according to the Guinness Book of World Records. Today, all that is left of this mighty business is The Foot Locker, Inc.

This all brings me to today's news:

Woolworths to close in January

Administrators at Woolworths say that all 807 stores will close by 5 January.

The first shops will shut on 27 December and all 27,000 permanent and temporary staff will lose their jobs if no last-minute buyer is found.

The administrators said there was still interest in parts of the business but admitted they had "not come close" to finding a buyer for the firm.

A range of food, clothes and "value retailers" have made offers to take over the leases at about 300 stores. And efforts would be made to put Woolworths staff who were losing their jobs in contact with these potential employers, the administrators Deloitte said.

Deloitte's Neville Kahn said it was unclear how much of its debts would be paid, but added it was "clear that the creditors and suppliers will not get paid in full".

— BBC News Report

Auto Dust Biting

Chrysler To Close All Plants For One Month

Chrysler says it will close all 30 of its manufacturing plants for a month starting Friday.

The company needs to match production to slowing demand and conserve cash.

Tighter credit markets are keeping would-be buyers away from their showrooms, Chrysler says.

— Full NPR Story

Fed unveils plan to fund some business loans

Pressure is growing on U.S. to take new steps to stem economic crisis.

WASHINGTON - The Federal Reserve announced Tuesday a radical plan to buy massive amounts of short-term debts in a dramatic effort to break through a credit clog that is imperiling the economy.

The Federal Reserve, invoking Depression-era power under “unusual and exigent circumstances,” will buy “commercial paper,” a short-term financing mechanism that many companies rely on to finance their day-to-day operations, such as purchasing supplies or making payrolls.

The $99.4 billion daily market for this crucial financing, which relies on investors rather than banks, has virtually dried up. Most investors have become too jittery to buy paper for longer than overnight or a couple days.

— Full MSNBC/AP Story