Retailers

Customers at Towson Hot Bagels usually pay with credit, not cash, when buying a bagel or a bottle of water, triggering fees the merchant must pay to process each transaction. Now, the shop's owner and retailers across the country may recoup "swipe" fees as a result of a preliminary settlement with Visa, MasterCard and major banks. When a consumer pays with a credit card, retailers can tack on a surcharge or "checkout fee" of up to 4 percent of the purchase to cover processing. But there's no rush among merchants to start charging this fee. Independent shop owners, national chains and retail trade groups insist they have no desire to pass credit card fees along to consumers so directly.

State health officials warned people Wednesday not to consume a spice popular in African cuisine because it contains high levels of lead. The product, sold under the name Ground Akanwu or Akanwu Lubi, is a naturally occuring mineral imported from Nigeria used as a spice, soup thickener and meat tenderizer, according to the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene. The products, distributed by Nina International in Hyattsville, contained lead amounts ranging from 1 to 18 parts per million.

Customers lined up outside Rheb's Candy early Monday, even before owner Wynn Harger opened the doors of the Southwest Baltimore shop his family has run for three generations. People, mostly men, crammed into the tiny, cottage-like store for much of the morning for one purpose - securing the handmade chocolates for Valentine's Day. "It's what my wife wants," said Dennis Eder, who traveled from Dundalk to Rheb's on Wilkens Avenue to purchase a two-pound box of assorted chocolates for his wife, Isabel.

Food and retail workers at Baltimore-Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport protested working conditions on Wednesday and attempted to deliver a proposed "Bill of Rights," to AirMall USA, BWI's concessions manager. Unite Here, a labor union that represents hospitality workers in Baltimore and elsewhere and is working to organize the airport concessions workers, said the private management company has benefited from higher passenger traffic while workers struggle with low wages and lack of health care access.

Sundays in Baltimore County, even Super Bowl Sundays, are not what they could be, says business owner David Trone, operator of Beltway Fine Wine & Spirits in Towson. Trone is hoping the hoopla over the Ravens vs. 49ers will help consumers focus on what he sees as outdated liquor laws that keep most beer and wine shops in the county closed on Sundays. This Sunday, he says, Baltimore County residents who failed to plan ahead for Super Bowl parties could find themselves having to cross county lines to stock up on beer and wine.

Shares of men's retailer Jos. A. Bank Clothiers Inc. fell nearly $7 per share on Monday after the Hampstead company said its profit for the current fiscal year will be down 20 percent. The stock ended Nasdaq trading at $39.28 a share, down 15 percent. Bank's 2012 fiscal year ends Feb. 2. Final results will depend on sales and expenses for the rest of the fiscal year, the company said. The company reported income of $97.5 million in its fiscal 2011. Sales for the year will be up, but not enough to offset higher marketing expenses and a lower gross margin, said CEO and President R. Neal Black in a statement.

Charles Louis von Nordeck, a jazz guitarist who led a quartet and was later a wine salesman, died of cancer Dec. 25 at Gilchrist Hospice Care in Towson. He was 66 and lived in Stoneleigh. Born in Baltimore, he was the son of Royden Blaine von Nordeck, a Martin Marietta engineer, and Elizabeth Mary Bell, a homemaker. He grew up in Gardenville and attended City College from 1960 to 1963, when he earned his General Educational Development certificate. Mr. von Nordeck joined the Air Force and became an airplane mechanic.

Retailers have had a difficult few years, especially the small shops that make up the bulk of the Maryland Retailers Association's membership. As the trade group's president since June 2010, Patrick Donoho has seen the effects of the recession as many longtime members were forced to close shop. Now with about 250 members, including hardware stores and other independent merchants, grocers, department stores and national chains representing 1,200 locations, the trade group is rebuilding.

Retail giants, shipping companies and federal agencies are racing the clock to make plans as an East Coast and Gulf dock strike this weekend appears imminent. The International Longshoremen's Association, representing nearly 15,000 dockworkers from Maine to Texas, and the U.S. Maritime Alliance, which represents shipping companies and port operators, are scheduled to meet with a federal mediator Saturday afternoon in a last-ditch effort to head off a crippling work stoppage. In Baltimore, about 1,200 workers are represented by the union.

Nothing says Christmas to me like the words "free shipping. " The last hurdle on my way to full-online shopping has been cleared by retailers who got the message I sent last year: I am not paying for shipping. I know, I know. I am paying for shipping. I'm sure the shipping costs have found their way into the price of that sweater, that DVD or that set of monogrammed beer mugs, but at least it isn't a nasty surprise waiting with my "shopping cart. " Retailers surveyed shoppers and found that they were very happy with their online shopping experiences — until it was time to check out. Then many of them, like me, bailed when they saw what the convenience was costing.