Spice maker McCormick & Co. Inc. said Wednesday the Federal Trade Commission has given conditional approval to its $604 million buyout of marinade and seasoning maker Lawry's.

VW may add 2nd car to Tenn. production

A Volkswagen spokeswoman says the company is considering adding production of a second automobile to the plant it plans to build in Chattanooga, Tenn.

The automaker announced July 15 that it had picked Chattanooga over sites in Alabama and Michigan for a plant building a new midsize sedan for the U.S. market.

The automaker said it expected to employ 2,000 workers and produce 150,000 vehicles, with a capacity for as many as 250,000. It hopes to triple U.S. sales by the year 2018.

Automaker to offer buyouts to 6,000

Nissan North America Inc. said it will offer buyouts to about 6,000 employees at the company's two Tennessee plants and eliminate a night shift at one plant because rising fuel prices and the economic downturn have slowed sales of trucks and sport utility vehicles.

Wall Street Journal to do magazine

The Wall Street Journal plans to publish a lifestyle magazine called WSJ starting in September, betting that the market for luxury advertisements will remain robust even as the economy falters.

Continental AG bid before shareholders

Schaeffler Group, the German family-owned ball-bearing maker, took its unsolicited $17.6 billion bid for Continental AG to shareholders after Europe's second-biggest tire maker rejected the offer twice. Shareholders have until Aug. 27 to tender shares.

Wii sales help boost profits for Nintendo

Nintendo Co.'s profit for the fiscal first quarter surged 34 percent as sales of its hit Wii console shot up, underlining the success of the video game unit in attracting novice players.

The Japanese manufacturer of Super Mario and Pokemon video games reported Wednesday a profit of $996 million.

The big factor behind the stellar performance was the Wii and its game software, including the ''Wii Fit,'' which has drawn the health-conscious to doing simple exercises like yoga and aerobics with a video game.

Whirlpool sues to cut benefits

Whirlpool Corp. has filed a lawsuit in federal court seeking to cut the medical benefits of thousands of retired Maytag workers.

The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Iowa in Des Moines as a class action complaint, names the international and local chapters of the United Auto Workers union and three retired Maytag workers as representatives of the class.

Benton Harbor, Mich.-based Whirlpool said it provides benefits to about 3,000 retired Maytag workers, surviving spouses and dependents.

Whirlpool bought rival Maytag in 2006 for $1.7 billion and assumed the negotiated union contracts and related benefit plans. Whirlpool closed the Maytag corporate headquarters in Newton and a laundry equipment factory in the town of about 15,000 located 30 miles east of Des Moines. About 1,800 workers lost their jobs.

Whirlpool said it plans to change the retiree medical benefits on Jan. 1, 2009, to bring the benefits in line with the same plan that more than 10,000 current employees, retirees and their dependents have.

Starbucks to lay off 550 office workers

Starbucks Corp., which plans to shut 600 stores, said it is also cutting almost 1,000 office jobs as part of its bid to re-energize the brand and boost its profits.

Of the new cuts, 550 of the positions are layoffs and the rest are unfilled jobs.