Seattle fashion retailer Nordstrom, which has sought a Manhattan location for years without success, is finally getting a toehold in the Big Apple.

But Nordstrom isn't opening with a full-line store, but rather a discount Nordstrom Rack in Union Square.

The new store is due to open next spring at the square between 14th and 17th streets.

The store will have plenty of discount company.
Filene's Basement, DSW and Forever 21 are already located around the square.

The discount location is expected to do far better than the typical Nordstrom Rack location because of the density of the population and lack of competition from other Nordstrom Racks in the vicinity.

It must be all this warm weather enticing people to take rides in their air conditioned cars, but the price of gas is creeping upward in Tacoma again.

The average price of a gallon of unleaded regular today was $2.685 in Tacoma according to Tacomagasprices.com.

That's 1.7 cents a gallon higher than Sunday and 4.7 cents higher than a week ago.

Prices are still a relative bargain compared with the summer of 2008. A year ago, gas was selling for $4.124 here on average, down from a summer's high of nearly $4.35 a gallon.

That slide, beginning in mid-July continued through mid-December when gas prices were below $2 a gallon.

Before Boeing runs out and builds a second assembly line for the 787 Dreamliner in South Carolina, it might consider consulting two "Best for Busines" lists.

One, just issued by CNBC, lists Washington 16th among the states as the best place to do business. That same survey ranks South Carolina as 37th.

Boeing recently bought the Charleston, S.C. plant of its major 787 supplier Vought. And rumors have been flying in recent weeks that the company will build a second assembly line for its 787 there too.

The oft-cited reason is that South Carolina is a right-to-work state with unions less powerful than in the Northwest. Boeing says it's weary of its production being interrupted by strikes as it was last fall for 58 days by a Machninists Union strike.

But cheaper and more compliant labor may be only part of the story. While South Carolina earns high marks in the CNBC study for low-cost labor and an available non-union workforce, the state ranks 48th in quality of life, 47th on the strength of its economy, 41st in transportation and 39th in education.

Washington ranks 11th in quality of life, sixth in technology and innovation, fifth in access to capital and 18th in the strength of its economy.

A survey issued by Forbes magazine last summer ranked Washington third overall among the states as a good place to do business.

Washington followed Virginia (first in the CNBC survey) and Utah of Forbes list.

The Totem Ocean Trailer Express terminal at the Port of Tacoma will be the first to allow ships to plug into "shore power," the port announced today.

The port received $1.5 million from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to reduce diesel and greenhouse gas emissions by retrofitting ships and adding electrical plug-ins at TOTE.

The Federal-Way based shipping company that serves Alaska has already spent nearly $900,000 to retrofit two of their ships to accommodate the shore power connections. TOTE also has committed to contributing another $283,000 to complete the project.

The ability to plug into the terminal allows the ships to turn off their engines, which reduces emissions. TOTE ships, which call twice a week in Tacoma, are expected to plug into the completed system by fall 2010.

“This investment is money well spent through this public/private process,” TOTE President and COO Bill Deaver said. “We live and work in and around Puget Sound, and it is in everyone’s best interests to protect the environment and the air we breathe. It’s the right thing to do.”

The money is provided under the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act
(ARRA) of 2009 National Clean Diesel Funding Assistance Program.

This project supports the Northwest Ports Clean Air Strategy, adopted in early 2008 by the Port and its regional partners, the ports of Seattle and Vancouver, B.C., to meet clean air goals for ships, cargo-handling equipment, rail, trucks and harbor craft.

More than half of the ships that call frequently at the Port already meet the 2010 clean-air goal for ships by using cleaner-burning distillate fuel at berth.