Louisiana company expanding in the Capital Region: Stine Lumber, a Louisiana-based home improvement chain, has opened a 100,000-square-foot store in Walker. The store, on La. 447 between Interstate 12 and U.S. 190, is the 11th location for the company and has about 80 employees. Stine has been out of the Baton Rouge market since the early 1980s, when it closed a store at Florida Boulevard and Airline Highway.
Reducing employee nest eggs: A survey by an employment consulting company found that 12% of 245 large businesses have cut matches to employee 401(k) plans, according to USA Today. The Watson Wyatt Worldwide survey found that an additional 12% of companies plan to cut 401(k) contributions in the next year. Financial pressure on businesses is causing them to retrench on the 401(k) front. Some of the companies that have recently cut making contributions to employee retirement plans include GM, FedEx and Sears Holdings.
Puppy love: People can guess pretty successfully what breed of dog a person might own just by looking at the owner, a new study by the British Psychological Society finds. A group of 70 people who do not own dogs were asked to match photos of 41 dog owners to three possible breeds—Labrador, poodle or Staffordshire bull terrier. They matched the owners to the dogs more than half the time. Yet given three choices, they should have been right only about a third of the time. It’s no secret that people are obsessed with pets. Two-thirds of American households have at least one, and dogs are the top choice (though by sheer numbers, fish win out).
