Circuit City Stores files Chapter 11

Circuit City Stores Inc. filed for bankruptcy protection on Monday heading into the busy holiday season as analysts question whether the nation’s second-biggest electronics retailer can survive.

The company said it decided to file for bankruptcy protection because it was facing pressure from vendors who threatened to withhold products. The company also said it cut 700 more jobs at its headquarters, after announcing a week ago that it would close 20 percent of its stores and lay off thousands of workers.

Circuit City filed for Chapter 11 protection, which will allow it to hold off creditors and continue operations while it develops a reorganization plan. Shares in Richmond, Va.-based Circuit City fell 14 cents, or about 56 percent, to 11 cents on Monday before being halted.

Portland

Dasani might sell Willamette water

Filtered water from the Willamette River may soon be bottled and sold by Dasani.

The Oregonian reports that Coca-Cola Bottling of Oregon plans a $35 million expansion of its suburban Wilsonville plant near Interstate 5 to include Dasani water.

Bottled water is not without controversy.

Critics say that filtering and bottling tap water, as Dasani and some other brands do, just packs landfills with bottles when people could simply turn on a faucet in their homes.

But the American Beverage Association says bottled water goes through additional filtering. And for Dasani, Coca-Cola adds its own brand of minerals.

New York

McDonald’s reports big sales increase

Consumers worldwide who are watching their spending bought more burgers and chicken breakfast biscuits at McDonald’s in October, leading to a big rise in sales at established locations for the fast-food leader.

McDonald’s Corp. said Monday its global same-store sales were up 8.2 percent during the month. That beat the company’s own prediction for a rise similar to the one it recorded in its last quarter, when same-store sales, or sales at locations open at least a year, jumped 7.1 percent worldwide.

The results were a bright spot in what was a dismal month for most restaurant operators.

Same-store sales rose 9.8 percent in Europe and grew 11.5 percent in the Asia-Pacific, Middle East and Africa regions. Demand was particularly strong in Australia, the company said.

From wire reports