Consumer Briefs

Prices won’t leave holiday grilling cold

Americans aren’t letting high food costs cause their Fourth of July cookouts to fizzle.

U.S. consumers are expected to buy more than 110 million pounds of hot dogs in the four weeks surrounding the holiday, according to Nielsen Co. research. The holiday is the biggest hot-dog-eating period of the year, with shoppers spending about $215 million of their usual annual $2 billion in hot dog expenditures, Nielsen said.

More than 25 million pounds of fresh ground beef, worth $117 million, and more than 32 million pounds of frozen ground beef, worth nearly $71 million, also will find their way into shopping carts, the Schaumburg, Ill.-based research company said.

Although the cost of fresh ground beef has slipped 0.6% in the last year and hot dog prices have risen a scant 1.5%, buns have jumped 19.5% in price, Nielsen said. Potato chips are 18.8% more expensive than they were last Fourth of July.

WORKPLACE Forecast sees big changes coming Four-day workweeks and no more cubicles – could this be the future of the workplace? Job placement consulting firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas Inc. has released a list of workplace predictions that reflect the evolution of technology and the rising cost of healthcare and energy, including:

* The end of business travel. Rising airfares and pressure to become environmentally responsible could drive corporations to opt for teleconferencing.

* Four-day workweeks. Given the rise of gasoline prices and the availability of portable technology, four-day weeks could become a new standard.

* Goodbye, HQ. Real estate costs and environmental pressures may force companies to reconsider massive corporate complexes. Instead, they may rent out smaller office spaces with easier access to employees.

* No more cubicles. Employers are increasingly replacing confined cubicles with common areas, conference tables and community work spaces to promote interaction and teamwork.

Breakfast offers have gone down

Fewer hotels are offering free breakfasts, more are charging for late cancellation and more are offering free in-room wireless Internet access.

Those are some of the findings from a recent survey of 10,000 hotels conducted by Smith Travel Research for the American Hotel & Lodging Assn.

Fifty-nine percent of respondents offer a complimentary breakfast, down 9 percentage points from 2006. In terms of rates, 67% offer weekend specials, up 8 percentage points from 2006, while those that charge for late cancellation rose 8 percentage points to 82%.

Wireless Internet access is being offered by 91% of hotels, up 35% from four years ago, the survey found. Only 15% of hotels charge for Internet access, down from 18% in 2006 and 22% in 2004.

Toy helicopter can overheat

About 102,000 Thunder Wolf remote-controlled indoor helicopters, made in China and imported and distributed by Westminster Inc., are being recalled because the rechargeable battery inside can overheat and cause the helicopter to melt, the company and the Consumer Product Safety Commission said. This poses a risk of fires and burns. The helicopters were sold around the country between June and December 2007. For more information, call (800) 618-0023 or go to www.thunderwolfhelicopter.com or www.cpsc.gov.

* About 1,500 Nordstrom’s Cadence-Lea and Trio-Lea girls’ sandals, made in China by MeyeWorld, are being recalled because the flower embellishments on the sandals can detach, posing a choking hazard to children. The recalled girls’ sandals are leather and were sold under the Cadence-Lea and Trio-Lea names at Nordstrom stores nationwide from March through May. For more information, call (800) 804-0806 or go to www.nordstrom.com or www.cpsc.gov.

* About 1,200 2nd Nature Built to Grow cribs, made in Slovenia by Stanley Furniture Co. Inc., are being recalled because the space between the mattress and the crib could be too wide when the mattress support is in the middle setting, posing an entrapment hazard to infants. The recalled crib, with the model No. 353-14-220, is natural maple in color. The cribs were sold at department and furniture stores from March 2006 through December 2007. For more information, call (888) 839-6822 or go to www.youngamerica.com or www.cpsc.gov.

* About 12,000 ProTaper clamp kits for off-road motorcycles, manufactured in Taiwan and distributed by Tucker Rocky Distributing, are being recalled because some of the bolts can break under extreme force and cause the handlebars to fall off. The clamp kits were sold at motorcycle dealerships around the country from October 2007 to March. For more information, call (866) 217-7750 or go to www.protaper.com or www.cpsc.gov.

From Times Staff and Wire Reports