Sweetwater Farm & Garden, a Farm Mart store in Robbinsville, N.C., is giving spring sales a little push with nostalgic centerpieces and can't-miss endcaps.

"A 1953 John Deere tractor has been a centerpiece of the store for a number of years," John Lovin said. "By incorporating the tractor with the seasonal items we want to promote, we are able to offer nostalgia and hopefully encourage impulse purchases."

He added: "Special displays help us create a customer-friendly atmosphere."

According to a report in the Washington Business Journal, Lowe’s plans to open in the Washington, D.C., area. 

The journal reported that the Mooresville, N.C.-based retailer will open a 130,000-sq.-ft. store in a retail development anchored by Costco Wholesale Corp. The project is reportedly being developed by Fort Lincoln New Town Corp.

Raleigh, N.C.-based Stock Building Supply acquired Total Building Services Group, an Atlanta supplier of structural components and architectural millwork.

Terms of the sale were not disclosed.

Electrolux will relocate its North American laundry products research and development center to Charlotte, N.C., from Webster City, Iowa.

The move signals the company’s commitment to further product innovation in its fabric care business and builds on the design, testing and marketing capabilities that already exist in its Charlotte-based North American headquarters.

Natchez, Miss.-based Central Network Retail Group, or CNRG, said it acquired Ace Hardware in Wake Forest, N.C., and will rebrand the store as Town & Country Hardware.

The 12,500-sq.-ft. store located at 910 Gateway Commons Circle in Wake Forest will be the eighth store under CNRG’s Town & Country Hardware brand in North Carolina.

Phillip Helms, the stores’ owner, will join CNRG as district manager for the Town & Country stores.

The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, in cooperation with Lowe’s, has recalled approximately 37,000 Master Forge gas grills due to potential fire and burn hazards. The products were made by Guangdong Vanward Electric of China and imported by LG Sourcing, of North Wilkesboro, N.C.

If improperly installed, the hose connecting the gas tank and regulator to the burner control can touch the burner box and cause the hose to melt and rupture when the grill is lit. This poses a fire and burn hazard.

E-Verify has found a champion in presidential candidate Mitt Romney, who would make the federal electronic employee verification system mandatory nationwide so that U.S. employment would become less of a magnet for illegal immigration.

But while E-Verify has become less error-ridden and more popular among employers than it used to be, it remains easy to fool, costly and widely ignored in states where it is required, according to a Sept. 25, 2012, report.

Hodgepodge of state laws