By Maxine Shapiro, KERA 90.1 business commentator
Dallas, TX – It's Friday so "It's Only Money," a review of the big and not-so-big stories of the week. I'm Maxine Shapiro with KERA Marketplace Midday.
Was I missing something for the last six months as Fort Worth-based Radio Shack complained and warned that customers were not coming into its stores? Earnings were down, revenues were down. Well, good for them, because Radio Shack's fourth quarter earnings tripled from the same period last year. And 2002 proved to be a respectable year. Radio Shack earned about $260 million or $1.45 a share, compared with about $160 million, or 85 cents in 2001. And their attitude is much more confident about 2003. 12.7% is the exact predicted increase in earnings. How do they know that?
Moviegoers, you might want to cheer along with me. A woman in Chicago is suing Loews Cineplex Entertainment Corporation. It seems she's had it with paying good money to see advertisements while waiting to see the film she really paid to see. It's bad enough we have to watch commercials at home. But at least, they're free. I'm not a huge proponent of frivolous lawsuits, but there's nothing silly about this. I'm just surprised it took so long. I was almost getting complacent about it.
Somebody up there must really like Dallas-based Blockbuster. Another judge, this time in California, threw out a lawsuit by independent video retailers against Blockbuster. This was very similar to the one in San Antonio, which got tossed last year. See, Blockbuster has this really cozy set-up with the studios. The video rental giant receives large volumes of new releases at a discount. And the studios get a portion of the rental revenue. Both the San Antonio and California ruling will be appealed.
So you promised yourself, no more credit cards. Starbucks wants you to think again. Along with Visa and Bank One, Starbucks is planning on announcing a new credit card. It's a two in one: A credit card and a rechargeable card so you may pre-pay for purchases. Unlike airline miles, there will be immediate rewards. Great, now I'm going to owe my soul to Starbucks. For KERA Marketplace Midday, I'm Maxine Shapiro.
Marketplace Midday Reports air on KERA 90.1 Monday - Friday at 1:04 p.m. To contact Maxine Shapiro, please send emails to mshapiro@kera.org.