FALL RIVER – The Fall River Office of Economic Development has reported 2003 loan activity, higher than most of the activity last year, totaling more than $2 million.
According to the office, 32 loans were approved this year, the grand total of which is $2,350,734. Private investment leveraged was $7,136,023; new jobs projected from the loans totaled 62 and the office said that 173 jobs were retained.
Mayor Edward M. Lambert Jr.; Kenneth Fiola Jr., the office’s executive vice president; and David F. Westgate, board president, recently announced the office’s lending activity for the year.
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J. Jill cuts store openings, reduces catalog pages
QUINCY – J. Jill Group Inc., an apparel retailer that targets women 35 and older, will open about 20 stores in fiscal 2004, down from 34 in 2003, in order to conserve cash.
The Quincy-based company, which has stores in the Providence Place mall and Garden City in Cranston, will also reduce the number of catalog pages circulated by about 15 percent, according to a statement issued by Business Wire.
J. Jill affirmed it expects to earn 9 cents to 14 cents a share in the fourth quarter, on revenue of $109 million to $114 million. In the first quarter, ending March 27, the company expects to have a loss of 15 cents to 20 cents on sales of $87 million to $92 million.
The company was forecast to earn 1 cent on sales of $88.2 million in the first quarter, the average estimate of analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial. J. Jill’s Chief Financial Officer Olga Conley didn’t immediately return a voice mail. (Bloomberg News)
