AT&T CONFIRMS TALKS: AT&T Corp. chief executive C. Michael Armstrong confirmed the company is in talks with suitors for some or all of its businesses. AT&T would "seriously consider" any offer for part or all of the company if it's pro-competitive and benefits shareholders, Armstrong said. He didn't say with whom the company was talking. A declining stock price led Armstrong to announce in October a dismantling of the company. The breakup, into three companies with four stocks, was put on hold after AT&T rejected an offer in July by Comcast for AT&T's cable business. AT&T has also discussed combinations with local-phone companies including BellSouth Corp., the Wall Street Journal reported. AT&T shares rose 34 cents to $19.94.

HOME DEPOT ACQUISITION: Home Depot Inc. has agreed to buy closely held plumbing products distributor Your "Other" Warehouse for an undisclosed cash price. The transaction is expected to close in November. Tom Bromley will remain president of Your "Other" Warehouse, which has been a Home Depot supplier.

PHAR-MOR CUTS BACK STORES: Phar-Mor Inc. will close 65 stores in 24 states as part of its restructuring under Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. About 1,900 of Phar-Mor's 6,125 employees will lose their jobs, said John Ficarro, the company's chief administrative officer. The company's stores operate under the names Phar-Mor, Pharmhouse and The Rx Place. Florida closings involve a store in St. Petersburg. The closings leave 74 stores open in eight states. One Florida store, in Sarasota, will remain open.

HALL OF FAME INDUCTEES: Four local business leaders are being inducted into the Tampa Bay Business Hall of Fame. A selection committee headed by Adelaide "Alex" Sink, former director of Florida operations for Bank of America Corp., chose: Publix Super Markets Inc. vice chairman Hoyt R. Barnett; Chloe Coney, chief executive of the Corporation to Develop Communities of Tampa Inc.; Fowler White law firm partner and vice president Rhea Law; and Yale Industrial Trucks president A.D. "Sandy" MacKinnon. An induction ceremony will be held Feb. 6 at the Hyatt Regency in downtown Tampa.

CORNING OUTLOOK WORSENS: Corning Inc., the No. 1 maker of fiber-optic cables, said profit was lower than expected in the third quarter, forecast a fourth-quarter loss and announced 4,000 additional job cuts. Including the latest round of cuts, Corning plans to shed as many as 12,000 jobs. Corning said it will take charges of as much as $1-billion this year to account for its cost-cutting measures.

ONLINE LAWSUIT: Major music labels and movie studios have sued MusicCity.com Inc. and two related entertainment sites, alleging copyright infringement. Music-City's Internet media sharing software, "Morpheus," soared in popularity after Napster Inc. shut down its music sharing system in July. MusicCity claims more than 1-million copies of Morpheus are downloaded each week. Plaintiffs including MGM Studios, Columbia Pictures, and the Sony and Warner music groups.

VERIZON UPDATES OUTLOOK: Verizon Communications said the effort to restore full telephone service to lower Manhattan after the Sept. 11 devastation may hurt earnings in the second half of the year. "There are some issues associated with the disaster that we need to sort through that could have a couple cents impact on the third and fourth quarters," said Verizon president and co-CEO Ivan Seidenberg. Analysts expected the company to earn $3.08 a share for 2001, with earnings of 78 cents a share, and 81 cents a share, in the third and fourth quarters, respectively.

NORDSTROM LAYS OFF 1,600: Nordstrom Inc. has laid off 1,600 employees nationwide in the past 30 days, including about 250 at the retail clothing chain's Seattle headquarters. The layoffs, representing 3.6 percent of the company's 45,000-person work force and 7.9 percent of the corporate headquarters staff, are the result of slumping sales since the terrorist attacks Sept. 11. A spokeswoman would not give a regional or store-by-store breakdown of the layoffs. Nordstrom has 126 outlets in 25 states, including a new store in Tampa's International Plaza.

DIGITAL LIGHTWAVE FALLS: Stock in Digital Lightwave Inc. plunged 40 percent after the Clearwater company said late Tuesday that it will report a loss of close to $3-million for the third quarter. The stock closed at $5.40, down $3.62. Analysts for three brokerage firms also downgraded the stock. Digital, which makes test equipment for fiber-optic networks, said it plans to trim expenses 15 to 20 percent but provided no details.

PORT ARRIVAL INFO WITHHELD: The Tampa Port Authority has discontinued providing publications advance notice of ship arrivals to Tampa's port as a security precaution. "We have stopped giving out the information, obviously because of recent events, due to security reasons," said Karen Thompson, a port spokeswoman. She could not say if the change was mandated by federal or state agencies.

HEALTHPLAN SERVICES LAYOFFS: HealthPlan Services Inc., which was acquired by a private company in June, is laying off an undisclosed number of employees. The Tampa company, a third-party administrator of employee benefits, had a work force of about 650 when it was sold last summer to Sun Capital Partners of Boca Raton. The company has not filed a notice of its job terminations with the state and Jeff Bak, HPS' president, said the cuts will not meet the requirement for such a notice. According to state law, a company has to notify the state if it lays off more than 50 employees and at least one-third of its work force within a 30-day period.

CHANGES AT TROPICAL: Tropical Sportswear Int'l Corp. said Michael Mitchell, president of its Savane Division, will take over the company's new Victorinox apparel line. Mitchell takes over after William Roberti, former chief executive of the Duck Head Apparel brand that Tropical recently acquired, resigned from Tropical after less than a month on the job. Victorinox is an upscale brand Tropical makes under license from the manufacturers of the original Swiss Army knife.

ZAPATA SELLS STAKE: Zapata Corp., the company controlled by Tampa Bay Buccaneers owner Malcolm Glazer, has sold its stake in meat-casing company Viskase Cos. The move came five days after Glazer, Zapata's chairman and president, and Avram Glazer, chief executive, resigned from the Viskase board of directors. Zapata sold 5.9-million Viskase shares, realizing a gain of $58.8-million, according to a Securities and Exchange Commission filing. Zapata sold the shares on Sept. 24 "to realize a significant tax benefit related to the capital loss taken on their investment," the filing said. Zapata shares fell 10 cents to $17.80.

GE UNIT REDUCES STAFF: General Electric Aircraft Engines said it will cut up to 4,000 jobs, or 13 percent of its work force, by early next year because of an expected drop in demand for engines. Since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, the nation's major airlines announced plans to cut about 93,000 jobs and reduced their flight schedules by about 20 percent.

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