European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - February 18, 1991, Darmstadt, Hesse Monday february 18, 1991. The stars and stripes a page17 Money matter today s tip . Taxpayers abroad including military personnel. Who Are audited by the internal Revenue service and who disagree with the result can now request an in person appeals conference at certain irs offices overseas. The priced Fuchs designed to shorten the length of time it takes to Settle tax Bills that Are in dispute. Appeals can be heard in Bonn Paris Rome and London. A so far the procedure has scored High Starks with military Legal affairs officers who have used it for clients. A a conversion rates London up fridays closing rates for the . Dollar to other currencies. Figures Are cd pressed in dollars to the British Pound other local currencies in dollars a. Gold was quoted at $365.25 an ounce Silver a s3 84. British Pound. German Maik. French franc., a dutch Guilder ,., Belajian franc. Italian lira. Swiss franc. Greek a Rachuna a turkish lira. Saudi arabian Riyal. A Spanish escudo. Canadian Dollar austrian Schilling a norwegian Krone. Krone a these Are unofficial rates As reported by wire service and banking sources and they Are listed to give some idea of daily currency fluctuations tie Only official rate concerns the Sale of German Marks to . Personnel for personal use and this 1 will be 1.44 through monday based on fridays noontime Price . 14. Feb. 15 .1.9805. 1.9715 1.4635 1.4755 4 9880 a 5.0225 .1.6471 1.6532 30.130 30.355 .1.101 50 1,107.40 .1.25251.2660156 80 a 157.33 .3.099 70 3,121.70 3.7504 3.750491 65 a a a 91.68 129.12 ,129.33 .1 1526 Quot a 1.1515 10.300 10,324 .5.7345 5.7415 .5.637 5 646 no More fee hikes forecast for merchants users in 1991 by Randy Mcclain 1 financial writer department of defense officials say military banking service fees won t be increased again this year it despite an on going fiscal crunch. A v a a a everything is under control. We anticipate no further changes Between now and the end of the year a a Pentagon spokesman said. A. The last fee increase to hit customers took effect in late november or Early december at different locations around the w orld. At that time the fee assessed by. Military Banks for foreign Exchange transactions jumped from 2 percent to 2.5 percent per transaction a move that meant the average customer pays an extra Penny in commissions per Dollar when changing Money. In Germany alone those pennies Are expected to generate $6 million in additional income per year for the military Bank. officials in Washington Point out that military banking worldwide has lost Between $15 million and the Low �?o$30 millions in each of the past three years and the weakening Dollar is making matters worse this year. A recent emergency appropriation of $15 million should help the military Bank ing system squeak by in 199l but James cd Smith general manager for the Pentagon a banking contractor. Merchants a. Tonal Bank said survival still won t be easy. A a a. A a a a a a. The new funds a. Over and above another $15 million appropriated by. Congress several months ago a will be needed to compensate for projected 1991 operating losses especially in Europe where Many customers have shipped out for the persian Gulf Smith said. Those absent customers Are one reason self generated revenues May fall sharply As t he year we a is on Smi Thyri id. Customers on the front lines in the War with Iraq Arentt around to make car Loans or use other banking services that generate Money for the banking system. Merchants Bank which is paid an annual fee to run banking operations in much of Europe is cutting expenses to help make ends meet. Steps already taken include a hiring freeze that Cut 60 jobs from the payroll in Germany since mid november and reduced training for tellers and managers Smith said. Banking operations worldwide Are. Under increased pressure to slash expenses this year in Large part because the Dollar has tumbled from an average Exchange rate of 1.66 German Marks in january 1990 to about 1.44 Marks today. Sim Ilar losses have been turned in against other foreign currencies. Ini Germany for example the military Bank s expenses increase by $5 x ,000 every time the Dollar a Ops 1 pfennig. Smith said. The Bank employs a Large nun it get of local employees and pays out 55 percent of its expenses in Marks he said. A a. A with the. Loss of so Many customers to the middie East foreign Exchange a vol limes and Loans Are in decline and Smith in t sure How quickly the business1 will rebound. Over the past two months merchants Bank has handled $54 million less in foreign Exchange business in Germany the Netherlands and Greece than it did during the same period a year earlier. Loan volume which Rose sharply Over the past year is off $2 million in the same you a iritis since troops started to leave Europe for the persian Gulf. A Smith said customers Are Uncertain about the future and unlikely to take on big new financial commitments. Quot people Are More in a maintenance or survival Mode a he said. Merchants Bank headquartered m Indianapolis has the Pentagon contract in. Germany the United kingdom Greece tin. Netherlands and Iceland. Customers blame poor service for Sears 10-year economic Slid Union leaders agree to pact with us Pittsburgh a local Union presidents have unanimously approved a a three year contract covering 17,300 United steelworkers members employed by us corp. Quot a a we re just overwhelmingly pleased with the outcome of these negotiations a said chief Union negotiator Andrew Palm. He said it was the first time local presidents unanimously approved a contract with us. Twenty local presidents and six local directors reviewed the tentative agreement with Palm in private for about three hours before voting. Ratification ballots Likely will be mailed to Union members this week. The Union will count them March 6. The agreement which covers workers in Pennsylvania Illinois Indiana Alabama and Minnesota raises wages and guarantees that if the us is sold or spun off health pension and other benefits will be protected. V if approved the pact w ill be retroactive to feb. 1 and extend through Jan. 31, 1994. It Calls for a pay increase of $ 1.50 an hour in the first year and 50 cents an hour in each of the next two years. Workers also would receive Sao each in bonuses. By . Diamond 1 11 los Angeles times a for a Decader we pc h c a Donly Oltron ble at Sears Roebuck amp co., the nations. Largest retailer indeed ii quintessential r f of a i i 0 inv a a a / its1 sales and profits have slipped its Stock Price and Bond rating fallen. It has restructured and refinanced sold off divisions closed distribution centers and departments and some analysts think it May yet shut Down its catalogue operations. Staff has been Cut periodically and Sears is now laying off another 21,000, supposed a by in non Selling Quot store positions. Salespeople Are already scarce. Retail analysts talk of new Competition and manage Merit rigidity in explaining Why the big retailer has drifted away from satisfying its customers. A. Consumers say the department store giants problems amount to one Tutti Gmack of a it a like a store in Russia a said one Santa Monica calif., shopper. A the peo pie Are unhelpful the stocks not there and you have to wait in line forever to pay a significantly everyone has a scars Story a classic tale of retail insult. In los Angeles Roslyn Blackman brought Back her soils new tool Chest because the inside had apparently been badly damaged and just re taped and had to fight the Salesman a who kept saying a How do we know it was damaged at the store a Quot Public relations re frn former Sears executive bought a Washer and dryer free delivery included the Washer w As the w Rong Model and had to be sent Back and he was charged for the second delivery on the ground s that Only one delivery is of Sears problems have come from the outsider Sears traditionally offered one Stop shopping a everything from socks to refrigerators Good Quality,�?T8 Good prices. But today a Vialls made one store one Stop shopping unnecessary. And today a discounters and big specially stores for Appl Varices electronics toys hardware and even fashion leave Sears behind on both Price and selection. Along with cutting costs to match slipping sales Sears a has been struggling a says Leonard Berry director of Texas a amp mrs Center for retailing studies a Flo find a strategy to Reg tin the had 20 years but real change comes hard to a massive organization with Over $30 billion in sales and More than 850 stores nationwide. It May lose some bulk but it s still a Dinosaur Quot its brain so far from its moving parts that it s slow to react or shift direction. There has nevertheless been a virtual flurry of activity in the retail store. Scars kept tinkering w Ith the merchandise mix a moving into fashion with a Cheryl 1 legs line carrying fewer private labels arid More National names. It also established a Power formats a stores within the store special Izi Ngin electronics and appliances find Chile Dren s clothing. It tinkered with pricing announcing that a everyday Low. would replace its previous emphasis on sales and specials. The Public misunderstood this said Sears assuming prices would move downward in fact Many prices moved up. Its new pricing Structure Sears said would free salespeople to serve customers instead of constantly changing Price tags Fri sales and specials. But such statements were not followed by any announced pro Gra ins to improve be Rufee a be r haps the Only merchandising trick Sears has uric. Not one of a dozen Consumers quizzed around the nation believes Sears serves its . It s partly a matter of num hers. A Colorado woman called Sears a flow on said Judy Man Serin , who visits Sears mily Lor batteries and tires a you done to get any service 1 hey just have Cashiers s also a matter of Altitude. A recent visitor to the Santa Monica cali., Sears which seeks comments on its service via Quot we care forms placed around the store found that most departments had no salespeople. -1
