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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Business in brief: Networking group to meet at the Fox

LaunchPad Inland Northwest will host a quarterly networking event Thursday from 4-9 p.m. at the Martin Woldson Theater at the Fox, 1001 W. Sprague Ave.

Bill Kalivas, a co-founder of LaunchPad INW, said the event will showcase services the for-profit company is using to advance business education and community development.

The featured speaker will be John Dickson, administrator of WorkSource Spokane. At 7 p.m., attendees will be invited to watch a rehearsal by the Spokane Symphony, one of the event sponsors. Wine and appetizers will be provided by Vino! and the Glover Mansion.

Admission is $15 in advance or $25 at the door. For more information visit www.launchpadinw.com.

Wal-Mart plans small urban stores

NEW YORK – Wal-Mart Stores Inc. is planning an aggressive push into urban markets with a new small format that’s a fraction of the size of its supercenters.

The expansion, expected to be spelled out next month at the retailer’s meeting with analysts at its headquarters in Bentonville, Ark., aims to pump up sluggish U.S. sales.

Real estate executives said that over this past summer, the world’s largest retailer has been scouring for small locations, around 20,000 square feet, in urban areas including New York City and San Francisco. That size is larger than a typical drugstore but smaller than a supermarket.

Associated Press

Briefcase

From wire reports

  • Mark Hurd, the ousted CEO of Hewlett-Packard Co., has settled a lawsuit brought by his former employer that sought to stop him from working at rival Oracle Corp. Under the terms of the settlement announced Monday after the stock markets closed, Hurd agreed to relinquish stock he was given in his severance package. The shares are worth nearly $14 million, based on Monday’s closing price of $39.39. HP and Oracle said in a joint statement that Hurd will be able to perform his duties as an Oracle co-president without spilling HP’s trade secrets.

• Spirit Airlines aims to raise $300 million with an initial public offering. Spirit said half the money from the IPO would go to its current owners to repay debt and to exchange its private shares. The other half will be used for general corporate purposes.

• IBM Corp. said Monday it has agreed to pay $1.7 billion for Netezza Corp., a company that helps businesses sort through data on corporate servers.