Business News

Here’s a summary of Business News today.

UK SHOULD HAVE LOCAL BUSINESS DAY

The UK should emulate the US idea of having a day dedicated to encouraging people to shop at small, local shops, Labour's Chuka Umunna has said. The shadow business secretary has asked American Express - which sponsors the US initiative - to see if they could bring the idea to the UK this year.

He has suggested 7 December as the first "Small Business Saturday".

The Department for Communities and Local Government said it was an idea which would be considered. In the US the idea of a day to promote local traders began in 2010 and traditionally follows Thanksgiving.

STARBUCKS TO OPEN SHOP IN VIETNAM

Starbucks, the world's biggest coffee-shop company, is set to open its first store in Vietnam next month as it continues expanding in Asia. The cafe will be in Ho Chi Minh City, the company said in a statement, with partner Hong Kong's Maxim Group.

Starbucks has seen growth stagnate in the US prompting it to open thousands of stores in China and Asia Pacific. Vietnam is the second-largest coffee producer in the world behind Brazil. Starbucks has been reorganising its business to focus on the Asia Pacific region, the biggest growth market for the company.

SONY STOPS PRODUCTION OF PS2

Sony has ended Japanese production of its best-selling PlayStation 2 (PS2). The hardware first went on sale in March 2000 in Japan and since then more than 150 million PS2 consoles have been sold.

The PS2 was so popular that it outsold its replacement for the first three years that the PlayStation 3 was available. By ending production, Sony has fuelled rumours it is putting manufacturing resources towards the PlayStation 4.

Source: BBC Business News