EBay to reduce fees

Less than a month after announcing a price increase that enraged small-business owners, eBay Inc. said it would reduce some fees and promised to improve customer service.

The online auction giant said in a Web posting Sunday it would credit $15.95 — the cost of a one-month subscription — in April to small-business owners who operate “eBay Stores.”

EBay also announced it would reduce the minimum fee for inexpensive auction items from 30 cents to 25 cents.

Last month, eBay raised the fee for its basic store to $15.95 from $9.95 and doubled standard listing fees to 40 cents.

Retail

Dollar Tree moving in; Factory Direct moving

Dollar Tree Stores Inc. and Factory Direct Appliance are moving into Park Plaza, a retail center along South Iowa Street.

Dollar Tree, based in Chesapeake, Va., operates more than 2,400 stores in 47 states, marketing its shops as the “modern-day equivalent” of traditional variety stores.

Dollar Tree plans to open in May at 2108 W. 27th St., taking 16,500 square feet of the corner space formerly occupied by Ed Marling’s Home Furnishings. Doug Compton, Park Plaza’s managing owner, has plans for a “national steak restaurant chain” to occupy another 6,500 square feet of the former furniture store.

Factory Direct will occupy 10,000 square feet vacated in December by Lawrence Athletic Club South. Factory Direct’s new store will be three times the size of the current store at 4931 W. Sixth St., set to close early this summer.

Factory Direct has stores in Lawrence, Topeka, Lenexa, North Kansas City and Lee’s Summit, Mo., plus plans for a new store in Omaha, Neb., later this year.

Beverages

Splenda to sweeten new Diet Coke flavor

Coca-Cola Co., the world’s biggest maker of soft drinks, said Monday it would begin selling Diet Coke sweetened with sugar substitute Splenda in the spring.

Rival PepsiCo Inc., meanwhile, said it planned to reformulate its single-calorie drink Pepsi One with the sweetener as well.

Diet Coke with Splenda will have a distinct label with the name of the sweetener on it as well as a yellow streak. Coca-Cola will continue to sell traditional Diet Coke, which is flavored with aspartame, separately.

Shares of a London-based Tate & Lyle PLC, a leading manufacturer of Splenda’s key ingredient sucralose, rose 7.1 percent to close at 5.01 pounds ($9.39) on the London Stock Exchange.

Diet Coke with Splenda is expected to be launched in the second quarter, following Coke’s rollout of other flavors of Diet Coke, including lime, lemon, cherry and vanilla.