Costco Wholesale Corp. is opening a call center in Yakima, and has hired 38 employees to operate it.

Costco, a discount warehouse-store chain based in the Seattle suburb of Issaquah, plans to open the center July 14. It will be located in the same facility where Kirkland-based HouseValues shut its operation nearly a year ago.

The workers, whose wages start at $11 an hour, will primarily take calls concerning the company's Web site.

The call center will initially take about 15 percent to 20 percent of the company's calls. Costco CEO Jim Sinegal said he expects the center to eventually take as much as 50 percent of the calls.

He said he expects to double the number of employees in Yakima by year's end.

About half of the initial hires are transfers from the Issaquah call center, which employs about 260 employees. But Sinegal said future hires will primarily be from the Yakima area.

HouseValues, an online real estate service firm, had arrived in Yakima in January 2006, but became a victim of the nationwide real estate slowdown. One-hundred workers lost their jobs when it left town by last August.

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Information from: Yakima Herald-Republic, http://www.yakima-herald.com

Susan Lyne, who rebuilt the Martha Stewart Living business in the aftermath of the namesake founder's legal woes, has stepped down as chief executive, and the job is being split between two company executives.

Small business is risky business these days.

The Labor Department is releasing the latest employment report this morning and economists are expecting the unemployment rate to rise. So far this year, payrolls have contracted every month.

Tax rebate checks gave consumers a little extra money in their pockets during May, but most were still spending conservatively, buying necessities such as food and gas and shying away from splurging on clothing or furniture. The result was some better-than-expected sales for the nation's retailers, with lower-priced merchants like discounters and wholesale clubs showing the strongest gains.

The number of laid-off workers filing claims for unemployment benefits showed an unexpected improvement last week although a key indicator of unemployment hit a four-year high.