RETAILING & APPAREL

Carson Pirie Scott Ends Bid to Take Over Younkers: The decision by Milwaukee-based Carson Pirie Scott & Co. comes more than two months after Alcoa, Tenn.-based Proffitt’s Inc. said it would buy Younkers Inc. in a stock swap valued at $253 million. Carson Pirie’s decision ends a 15-month fight for its rival--one of the longest takeover attempts in U.S. corporate history. Carson Pirie, which has an 11.7% stake in Younkers, also said it agreed to vote all of its Younkers shares in favor of Proffitt’s purchase of the Des Moines, Iowa-based department store operator. Younkers has 53 stores and Carson Pirie has 51 Carson Pirie Scott and Bergner’s stores, all in the Midwest. In Nasdaq trading, Proffitt’s stock slipped 25 cents to $25.75 and Younkers added 12.5 cents to $25.125. Carson Pirie eased 12.5 cents to $19.75 on the New York Stock Exchange.