The Mittal family trust is buying Escada's main business, brand rights, production facilities and distribution network, the Munich-based company said late yesterday, without disclosing the purchase price. The sale will probably be complete by the end of this year, according to Escada spokesman Frank Elsner.

Megha Mittal, daughter of an Indian textile investor and a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton business school, met Escada workers in Munich today. She said Chief Executive Officer Bruno Saelzer would keep his job and staff wouldn’t be cut, according to Elsner.

"It may well be a vanity project, but I'm sure at heart she would want to make it a success," said Asish Bhattacharyya, a finance professor at the Indian Institute of Management in Kolkata. "It's quite normal among Indian business families to open or buy a new business for family members."

Lakshmi Mittal, who now lives in one of London's most expensive homes, turned a family-owned Indonesian steel mill into the world's biggest steelmaker over 30 years through acquisitions. He ranks eighth on this year's Forbes list of billionaires, with an estimated fortune of $19.3 billion. Megha Mittal is married to his son Aditya Mittal, chief financial officer of the family's main business, Luxembourg- based ArcelorMittal.

"We know that our customer is traveling and she's in the airports," said Ellen Rodriguez, senior vice president of global licensing and international at Juicy Couture. "Women are always wearing our tracksuits, especially to travel in. We just don't think she's being targeted by other retailers in these airports, so there's a real opportunity there for us."

The brand has developed a new airport store design concept to showcase the best of what Juicy is known for, as well as items that are geared toward travel. Tracksuits will be available in a multitude of colors, and there will also be easy last-minute gifting items such as jewelry, sunglasses, watches, charms, logo T-shirts, packaged baby socks, onesies and bibs. In addition, city-specific gifts will be available in the shops, such as a T-shirt graphic stating "Choose Miami" in the Miami airport location.

Founded in 1951 by entrepreneur Achille Maramotti in Italy's Reggio Emilia, the group today counts some 23 lines, from Mara and Sportmax to Max & Co., Marina Rinaldi and Pennyblack, each with dedicated design teams and catering to different target customers.

The group counts 2,250 stores in 90 countries worldwide, all designed in-house. Exports account for about 45 percent of sales.

Chief Executive Howard Schultz said in a conference call that a "more disciplined focus on operations" helped the company increase earnings and that it is seeing improvements in its surveys of customer satisfaction. During the quarter, Starbucks cut prices on so-called easy-to-make coffees, while lifting prices by as much as 30 cents for larger and more complex drinks, such as a venti caramel macchiato.

*****

Mr. Schultz said the company is encouraged by the national rollout of its Via instant-coffee product. Via is "resonating with customers" and is having little negative impact on traditional coffee sales at Starbucks, he said. Starbucks began making Via available in September in all its cafes in the U.S. and Canada, as well as in other locations such as hotels and bookstores. The company created Via, which costs $2.95 for a three pack, to try to reach consumers who aren't inclined to splurge on a regular coffee purchase.

Starbucks, which has about 11,000 U.S. outlets, reported $53.2 million in restructuring charges for its fourth quarter, almost all of which stemmed from store closings. The company said it had shuttered nearly all of the roughly 800 U.S. stores and 100 international stores in its previously announced store-closing plans.

Sales at U.S. stores open at least a year rose 3 percent at Aeropostale, the U.S. teen retailer with more than 900 stores, trailing the 14 percent average of analysts' estimates compiled by Retail Metrics Inc. Comparable-store sales at American Eagle fell 5 percent, missing a 2 percent projected gain. Sales at Limited, the owner of the Victoria's Secret chain, dropped 4 percent, more than the 3.1 percent estimated decline.

October is a transitional month between the two largest selling seasons of the year: back-to-school and Christmas. U.S. retailers use the month to clear out fall merchandise and make room for holiday floor sets, according to Ken Perkins, president of Swampscott, Massachusetts-based Retail Metrics. "The teen apparel space was the biggest disappointment," Perkins said today in a telephone interview.

*****

Aeropostale, based in New York, fell $5.21, or 14 percent, to $32.82 at 11:29 a.m. in New York Stock Exchange composite trading. Pittsburgh-based American Eagle dropped $2.02, or 11 percent, to $15.84. Limited, of Columbus, Ohio, lost 8 cents to $17.70. Some department stores fared better than the specialty retailers. TJX Cos. and Ross Stores Inc., which both sell designer goods at discounted prices, reported sales gains. Chains including Saks Inc. and Nordstrom Inc. reported sales that topped estimates.

KPMG UK head of restructuring Richard Fleming said: "The proposed CVA gives Blacks the opportunity to preserve 291 trading stores and around 4,300 jobs."

He added: "We believe the proposed CVA offers a fair balance between the operational needs of Blacks and the landlords' rights under the tenancy agreements. The total compensation being offered to the landlords is £7.25m, which equates to approximately 6 months rent each. In addition and importantly, given the size of the potential liability, the group will continue to pay rates until the leases are surrendered or forfeited in consultation with landlords."

Some 31 percent of bars outside the Dublin area don't expect their venue to continue as a licensed premises after the current owner retires, the Drinks Industry Group of Ireland said today in a report on its Web site. Ireland has about 7,000 bars outside the capital, DIGI said.

Pub sales are falling as unemployment soars, amplifying a trend toward drinking at home. Almost three-quarters of Irish bars said sales have fallen in the last five years, the report shows. Revenue has also been affected after Ireland banned smoking in public places in 2004 and more recently cracked down on drink-driving. "We're looking at a fairly significant decline in numbers," economist Anthony Foley, author of the report, said at a press conference in Dublin. "We're looking at over two thousand rural pubs disappearing in the next decade or decade and a half."

One loser from a bankruptcy would be the U.S. Treasury. Late last year it injected $2.3 billion of funds from the Troubled Asset Relief Program to help stabilize the lender, which was weighed down by billions of dollars of bad student loans and subprime mortgages. The government investment is likely to be wiped out, said people familiar with the matter. Common shares would likely drop to zero, too, these people said.

*****

Under the bankruptcy plan, senior bondholders would trade their current debt for new debt maturing later worth about 70 cents on the dollar. They would get 92.5% of the equity in a restructured CIT. Junior bondholders would get the remaining equity in a reorganized CIT, but no new debt.

The upcoming U.S. holiday shopping season, typically a period of high consumer spending, will be eyed as a measure of economic recovery. Holiday travel and more shopping outings may boost oil consumption over the season, but more expensive fuel could curb these trips.

"A hike in discretionary driving associated with holiday shopping trips will exert more demand pressure, although if pump prices move above $3, it will not only kill discretionary driving but holiday shopping too," said Mike Fitzpatrick of MF Global in New York.

But fundamentally, there is much to restrain prices. Fuel supplies are brimming and that could make it harder for refiners to raise retail gasoline prices, delaying the impact of higher oil prices on consumers.

"Regrettably, our Carmel store is a victim of the downturn in the economy," said Wilkes Bashford, founder and chairman of his namesake company. "While we are saddened by the closure of the Carmel store, it provides the opportunity to redirect our energies and resources to our downtown San Francisco flagship and Palo Alto stores."

The Monterey Peninsula depends heavily on tourism to support many of its businesses, which have suffered in the recession.

Employees have until Nov. 13 to accept the offer, Chrysler said in a statement. Special programs are also being offered at factories that are being closed as part of the bankruptcy process. The dates for those programs vary. Separation dates are at the discretion of the company.

The buyouts come as Chrysler prepares to reveal its five-year product plan to the public during a press conference at its Auburn Hills, Mich.-based headquarters Wednesday. Chief Executive Officer Sergio Marchionne is expected to address how Chrysler will survive while it attempts to deliver new products to the market.

Chrysler has been cutting thousands of jobs since late 2007 as demand for its Chrysler, Jeep and Dodge products fall amid an economic recession in the U.S.