Business in brief: Boeing suspends work on 787-3

Boeing Co. has temporarily suspended work on the short-haul version of its new 787 jetliner, a move aimed at keeping it on schedule to deliver the first of two long-range models to customers by early 2009.

Boeing has received only 43 orders for the 787-3, which is designed to have a range of 3,500 miles and capacity of 330 passengers.

The original plan called for the first of those planes to be delivered to Japan’s All Nippon Airways Co. in mid-2010, but Boeing spokeswoman Lori Gunter said Thursday it’s too early to tell whether the company will meet that target.

Gunter would not disclose how many people who had been working on the 787-3 have been reassigned to the 787-8, the first model coming off the assembly line.

Boeing’s 787 program has been dogged by a series of delays caused largely by work that had to be done on the final assembly line after it was not handled at supplier factories as planned.

– Associated Press

Spokane Valley

Newest Kohl’s opening March 13

Doors to the Kohl’s in Spokane Valley are scheduled to open March 13.

The store, 16301 E. Broadway Ave., brings about 150 jobs, according to a news release.

“We are excited to open the doors to the new Spokane Valley location,” Mike Whatley, district manager, said in a statement. “Like all Kohl’s stores, we will offer exclusive and national brands at a value customers can appreciate.”

Menomonee Falls, Wis.-based Kohl’s Department Stores in October opened stores at NorthTown Mall in Spokane and in north Coeur d’Alene.

– Parker Howell

Seattle

Starbucks CEO discloses layoffs

Starbucks Corp. said Thursday it has laid off about 220 support staff who worked at its headquarters and in field operations, and will leave about 380 open jobs unfilled.

Chairman and chief executive Howard Schultz announced the 600 job cuts in an e-mail to Starbucks’ more than 170,000 employees, calling it a difficult decision aimed at sharpening the company’s focus on customers.

“We realize that we are operating in an intensely challenging environment, one in which our customers and (employees) have extremely high expectations of Starbucks,” Schultz wrote. “And we have to step up to the challenge of being strategic as well as nimble as our business evolves. Unfortunately, we have not been organized in a manner that allowed us to have a laser focus on the customer.”

The vast majority of laid-off employees worked in the United States – about one-third at the company’s Seattle headquarters and the rest in regional field offices. Support staff include people who work in marketing, finance, human resources, communications and supply chain management.

The cuts don’t affect baristas or store managers, and none of the jobs being left open are store employees or district managers, who oversee store operations, the company said.

– Associated Press