Macy’s to open stores earlier on Thanksgiving, at 6 p.m.

Macy’s Inc. is opening its stores at 6 p.m. on Thanksgiving Day, two hours earlier than last year.

The Cincinnati-based department store chain opened on Thanksgiving for the first time last year. In 2012, it opened at midnight after the holiday.

More retailers have been opening Thanksgiving night to win over holiday shoppers. Target and Wal-Mart began offering holiday discounts on Thanksgiving night two years ago instead of waiting for the day after, which is known as Black Friday. The holiday season can account for up to 40 percent of a retailer’s annual sales.

Wiring issue forces Chrysler to recall Jeeps and Durangos

Chrysler is recalling 184,215 SUVs worldwide because a wiring problem could disable their air bags and seat belt pretensioners.

The recall involves the 2014 model year Dodge Durango and Jeep Grand Cherokee. Most are in the U.S., but 57,443 SUVs are in Canada, Mexico and elsewhere.

Chrysler says a short circuit in the restraint control module could cause the air bag warning lamps to illuminate. If that happens, the air bags and seat belt pretensioners may not work. Pretensioners tighten belts during a crash to hold occupants in place.

Chrysler says it’s unaware of any injuries tied to the problem.

Struggling California paper makes leadership changes

The Orange County (California) Register newspaper shook up its leadership and named a new publisher after a string of financial setbacks at the paper and its parent company.

The Register replaced publisher Aaron Kushner with Richard Mirman, a former casino executive for Harrah’s Entertainment. Kushner stays on as Freedom’s chief executive.

The leadership change comes after Freedom stumbled in its Southern California expansion, folding its newly launched Long Beach Register into another new publication and imposing companywide furloughs. More recently, the Register sought to appease irate subscribers after delivery problems left them paperless for days.

Costco Wholesale will sell to Chinese through Alibaba

Costco Wholesale has struck a deal with a unit of Internet retail giant Alibaba Group to open an online store serving customers in mainland China, its first dip into that burgeoning market.

The warehouse club based in Issaquah, Washington, will sell its private-label Kirkland Signature products and other items through Tmall Global, an Alibaba Group platform that allows foreign retailers to sell items to Chinese customers without setting up a physical presence in China.

The unorthodox arrangement is an example of two trends at Costco: its slow but sure embrace of international operations, which now account for about a third of its business, and its tinkering with the promise of online growth.

— From news service reports