New Marshalls store opening Thursday

National apparel retailer Marshalls will open its new location Thursday in NorthTown Mall.

The company is one of the country’s larger off-price retailers offering apparel for men, women and children. Its Spokane store will be 26,300 square feet in the space formerly used by the Nordstrom Rack.

This is the first Marshalls store in Spokane, a company spokeswoman noted.

On Thursday this week the business will open at 8 a.m. Regular store hours are 9:30 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. Monday-Saturday and 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Sundays.

The store has added about 60 full- and part-time workers.

Staff report

U.S. service sector sees strong growth

WASHINGTON – U.S. service companies expanded in February at the fastest pace in a year, helped by a rise in new orders and job growth.

The Institute for Supply Management said Monday that its index of non-manufacturing activity rose to 57.3, up from January’s 56.8 and the third straight increase. Any reading above 50 indicates expansion.

The trade group of purchasing managers surveys roughly 90 percent of U.S. companies in all sectors outside of manufacturing. That includes retail, construction, financial services, health care and hotels.

Fourteen of the 18 industries that the survey tracks expanded in February.

Anthony Nieves, chairman of the ISM’s survey committee, said most of the comments from the group’s members “reflect a growing level of optimism about business conditions and the overall economy.”

Associated Press

Greek bond holders agree to debt plan

BRUSSELS – A dozen banks, insurers and investment funds holding Greece’s bonds will participate in a massive debt relief plan for the country, the group representing the private creditors said Monday as the deadline for the deal draws near.

The statement from the Institute of International Finance comes amid concern that not enough investors will voluntarily swap their Greek government bonds for new ones with a much lower face value, longer repayment deadlines and lower interest rates.

Without the debt relief, Greece won’t get a second, $172 billion bailout from the other euro countries and the International Monetary Fund, and would face a messy default on its debts later this month.

Associated Press