LAVAL, Que. - Hart Stores Inc. (HIS:TSX), an operator of mid-sized department stores, says it will reopen eight former stores that once belonged to the bankrupt Saan Stores chain this fall.

The Quebec retailer said Tuesday it had completed an agreement to buy property leases and equipment related to the eight former Saan outlets in Quebec and Ontario from Saan's court-appointed receiver.

Hart had previously said it would acquire nine Saan locations.

NEW YORK - Oil prices fluctuated Tuesday, hovering near $113 a barrel after the dollar weakened and Tropical Storm Fay missed offshore oil and gas installations in the Gulf of Mexico.

At the pump, retail gas prices continued to fall, suggesting that cash-strapped Americans are still cutting back on their driving.

A gallon of regular slipped another penny overnight to a new national average of $3.73, almost 10 per cent lower than record prices of $4.114 a gallon reached July 17, according to auto club AAA, the Oil Price Information Service and Wright Express.

NEW YORK - Crude prices dropped below $113 a barrel in volatile trading Monday as Tropical Storm Fay swirled toward Florida but appeared unlikely to disrupt oil installations in the Gulf of Mexico.

Light, sweet crude for September delivery fell $1.17 to $112.60 in morning trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange, after earlier rising as high as $115.35. The contract fell $1.24 on Friday to settle at $113.77 a barrel, about $35, or 24 per cent, lower than its trading record of $147.27, set July 11.

MONTREAL - Canadian shoppers will soon be able to rack up reward miles after the loyalty card program operator Groupe Aeroplan Inc. (TSX:AER) Thursday announced a multi-year deal with supermarket giant Sobeys.

Details of the partnership weren't disclosed, except that it won't be available in all provinces. Sobeys operates the banner in all provinces except Quebec, where it has IGA stores.

CALGARY - In the latest snag to hit Canada's refining industry in the past year, Petro-Canada (TSX:PCA) said of some of its stations in Alberta and the B.C. Interior are running out of gasoline because of problems at its Edmonton refinery.

The refinery's catalytic cracking unit - or "cat cracker" - had to be shut down last week, which has limited the supply of gasoline coming out of the facility, the Calgary-based company said Tuesday.

DETROIT - General Motors Corp. is releasing new, more fuel-efficient versions of its full-size pickup trucks and sport utility vehicles later this fall.

The XFE - or extra fuel economy - versions of the 2009 Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra trucks and Chevrolet Tahoe and GMC Yukon SUVs will get one mile per U.S. gallon more in both city and highway fuel economy than non-XFE versions. The boost will give them a total of 6.38 kilometres per liter in the city and 8.9 kilometres per liter on the highway.

SINGAPORE - Oil prices fell Tuesday in Asia to a 3-month low as a stronger dollar and weakening crude demand from China weighed on investor sentiment.

Light, sweet crude for September delivery fell US $1.45 to $113 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange by late afternoon in Singapore. The contract lost 75 cents overnight to settle at US $114.45, the lowest close for a floor session since May 1.

It wasn’t business as usual yesterday at Bray Motors Ltd.
“We decided to shut her down because nobody’s concentrating anyways,” said smiling salesman Clarence Hummel.
He was clutching a brew with his fellow revellers at an impulsive barbecue bash with burgers, champagne, and cake served up at the family-owned GM dealer in Sundridge, Ont., about 65 km south of North Bay.
Hummel is among 25 staff and family members who were in on a winning 6-49 lottery ticket and will share half of the $45-million jackpot—receiving just over $900,000 each.

DELHI, Ont.—Ottawa is giving tobacco farmers more than $300 million in a long-awaited effort to help them give it up for good.
The money is to finance a federal exit strategy to help farmers find new crops and get out of the tobacco industry altogether.
The announcement was made by federal Agriculture minister Gerry Ritz in Delhi, Ont., a farming town in the heart of the province’s tobacco belt.
Ritz said the money will come from the fine of more than $1 billion levied by an Ontario judge yesterday against two of Canada’s largest tobacco companies.

Managers at Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corp. and the Liberal government both have rattled consumer confidence by failing to prevent lottery ticket retailers from winning too many jackpots, the province’s opposition parties charged yesterday.
The Conservatives and New Democrats said management at the lottery agency failed to implement measures to detect suspicious lottery wins by retailers, and charged the government of Premier Dalton McGuinty with failing to provide adequate oversight of the Crown agency.