Westfield Franklin Park shortens weekday hours

2/14/2009

Westfield Franklin Park has shortened its weekday operating hours by 30 minutes each at opening and closing. The new hours in the West Toledo mall are 10:30 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. Monday through Friday.

Previously, the hours were 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. on weekdays. But Westfield spokesman Sara Young said the reduced hours were implemented after mall officials consulted with retailers and opted to cut back to conserve resources in response to slowing consumer demand and changing customer traffic patterns.

Unaffected are the mall's weekend hours - 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Saturday and 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sunday.

Also unchanged are the hours of department stores Dillard's, Macy's, and JCPenney; the National Amusements' Franklin Park 16 Cinema de Lux theater, and Claddagh Irish Pub, Elephant Bar, and Bravo! Cucina Italiana restaurants, each of which has outside entrances.

General Motors Corp. has announced temporary shutdowns of two area Powertrain plants to deal with what it calls "volume adjustments," impacting nearly 1,550 workers.

Approximately 100 workers at GM's Defiance Powertrain plant will be laid off temporarily beginning Monday, and another 1,200 workers will be temporarily laid off the week of Feb. 23, GM spokesman Wanda Wellman said yesterday.

At GM's Toledo Powertrain plant, the second and third shifts also will be laid off during the week of Feb. 23, affecting about 250 workers she said.

The Toledo plant's first-shift employees will continue producing the rear-wheel-drive, six-speed transmissions made there. The Defiance plant produces parts for several transmission and engine plants.

Apple Inc. was sued by a Scottish patent holder contending infringement of a U.S. patent for generating digital graphics.

Glasgow-based Picsel Technologies Ltd. is seeking a jury trial, unspecified damages, and an order to stop Apple's sales of infringing products, according to a complaint filed yesterday in federal court in Wilmington, Del. The lawsuit targets mobile phones and devices capable of browsing the Internet, including the Apple iPhone and Apple iPod Touch.

U.S. farmers may plant 5 percent more soybeans in 2009 than they did last year and cut corn acreage by 2.4 percent, a farm survey last week by AgriSource Inc. shows.