Federated stores may acquire May

New York May Department Stores Co. shares rose almost 9 percent Thursday after a published report said the big retailer was in preliminary talks to be acquired by larger rival Federated Department Stores Inc.

A deal between the two companies would create a retailer with $30 billion in combined sales and nearly 1,000 department stores including Bloomingdale’s, Macy’s, Lord & Taylor and Marshall Field’s.

The Wall Street Journal, citing unidentified people familiar with the talks, said the discussions are at a delicate stage and cautioned that there is no guarantee a deal will be reached.

Federated’s spokeswoman Carol Sanger and May spokeswoman Sharon Bateman both declined comment Thursday.

Yoke’s to open Richland store next year

Yoke’s Fresh Markets said it would open a 56,000-square-foot grocery store in Richland, Wash., in early 2006.

The newly constructed store will be the Spokane-based chain’s 13th.

Yoke’s said its stores typically employ about 100 to 120 people.

The new store will “feature a new design concept on both the exterior and interior of the building,” Yoke’s said in a press release. It will include departments standard to Yoke’s stores such as the Cheese Shoppe, the Wine Cellar, Pier 39 Seafood and Yoke’s Cattle Company meats.

The employee-owned chain was founded in 1946.

AOL to enhance search functions

NewYork America Online Inc., seeking to boost traffic to its free Web site as its paid subscriber base declines, said Thursday it is enhancing its search functions.

Search queries will now generate a group of results called “snapshots” — editorial content and relevant information for a wide range of topics including local movie showtimes, sports statistics and current events. It will include options to find a flight or a restaurant.

AOL’s searches can now group relevant results by topic.

The company is also introducing a tool to help users narrow their search queries. For instance, a user who types the word “eagles” can select from such options as “The Eagles” (the band), “The Philadelphia Eagles” (football team) or “eagles” (the bird).

EU productivity lags behind US.

Brussels, Belgium Productivity in the European Union grew last year, but still lags behind the United States, according to a report by a New York-based research group.

Productivity in the 25 nation EU grew from 1.3 percent to 1.6 percent in 2004, The Conference Board said in a study released Wednesday.

The United States improved labor productivity at about double the EU growth rates, the report said.