Economic Development: Target looking at Kansas for new distribution center

Topeka, Olathe and Wichita are the three leading communities in the hunt to land a new 1 million-square-foot distribution center to serve stores owned by the Target Corp.

Target representative Brie Heath said there’s no timeline for the company to announce a location for the new center, which eventually would employ 1,000 people.

Target Corp. operates a SuperTarget store in Lawrence.

Bankruptcy: Kmart sets date for closings

All 283 stores the Kmart Corp. has slated for closing will be out of business by the end of next month, the bankrupt retailer said Friday.

Kmart’s Lawrence store was not on the list of those to be closed, but the closings could affect the Kmart distribution center that is located in Lawrence. Company officials have said the store closings will require them to re-examine the firm’s distribution system. No announcements about how the distribution system will be changed have been made.

Stores in Topeka and Newton are among those to be closed.

Money: Dollar coin still seeking acceptance with public

Sacagawea helped Lewis and Clark find their way to the Pacific Ocean, but she’s having trouble finding her own way into the nation’s cash registers.

The image of Sacagawea is featured on the struggling dollar coin that was introduced more than two years ago. It was supposed to be jingling in pockets and used in everyday transactions across the country by now.

Mint Director Henrietta Holsman Fore, pictured above, told a Senate subcommittee there are several reasons the coin hasn’t gained popularity. She said people who receive the coins as change keep them and don’t spend them. Retailers also say they don’t have room in their cash registers.

Economy: Trade deficit shrinks

America’s trade deficit improved slightly in March as growth in exports, led by a big jump in sales of commercial aircraft, outpaced growth in imports.

The Commerce Department reported Friday that the March deficit narrowed to $31.6 billion, 0.4 percent lower than the February gap of $31.8 billion, which had represented the biggest imbalance in nearly a year. For all of 2001, America’s trade deficit shrank by 7.5 percent to $347.5 billion, down from an all-time high of $375.7 billion in 2000.