He said the aim was to help Shop Direct remain competitive in a "very difficult retail sector".

BBC: Pledge over 300 jobs at Worcester Shop Direct call centre

Last month, workers at Agency.com, a hot Web design shop in New York with a reputation for coddling the help, got a mass e-mail from the office of boss Chan Suh that was supposed to list unused vacation time.

FORBES: The Informer

Group1 Automotive, a national dealership chain based in Houston, is gearing up to open a big call center to help people who shop on their smartphones.

WSJ: New Ways to Cut the Car-Buying Pain

According to the plan, when the homeless have found a permanent place to live, the state will offer them whatever social services they need to succeed in that house, from substance-abuse counseling to simple help in learning how to shop or how to balance a checkbook.

NPR: Chronically Homeless See New Woes in New Orleans

Leeds struck out on his own in 1995, ditching a steady paycheck as a planning manager for printermaker Lexmark and opening a consulting shop in Guangzhou, China to help American companies set up manufacturing plants there.

FORBES: Magazine Article

In 1980 he immigrated to Los Angeles from Liverpool in the U.K. to help run a European car repair shop.

FORBES: Magazine Article

Bradford Bulls is holding a stock clearance at its shop in an effort to raise more funds to help keep the struggling club afloat.

BBC: Struggling Bradford Bulls holds stock sale to raise cash

Money raised from the tuck shop at Coventry central police station is donated to a charity or to help someone in need annually, West Midlands Police said.

BBC: Police help Coventry children after presents stolen

And those who want to shop in cyberspace will enjoy enhanced search engines that will help track down favorite items, be it a fly fishing rod or a business suit.

CNN: Internet World '96 forecasts a brave, new cyberworld