Maguire steps down at insurer
James J. "Jamie" Maguire Jr. will step down as chief executive of Philadelphia Insurance Cos. in favor of his cousin, company president and chief operating officer Sean S. Sweeney, the Japanese-owned company said. Maguire will remain as chairman of the board of the company his father founded in 1962 "and continue to support Sean and the company from this position," said spokesman Bill Procopio. - Joseph N. DiStefano
PPA moving to Lits building
The Philadelphia Parking Authority signed a 25-year lease on 77,000 square feet of office space at Mellon Independence Center, 701 Market St., the former Lit Bros. department store, according to PPA's lawyer in the deal, Jay S. Ruder of Archer & Greiner P.C. About 800 workers will move next fall from current quarters in the Bulletin building. The deal is valued at $46 million over the life of the lease. - Joseph N. DiStefano
Five Below leases Miss. space
Discount retailer Five Below Inc., of Philadelphia, said it has leased a new 600,000-square-foot distribution center in Olive Branch, Miss. Financial terms were not disclosed. The facility will create 100 jobs in 2013 and will supply stores in the South and Midwest. The company has 245 stores in 18 states. - Reid Kanaley
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Shoppers abandoning Penney's
Shares of J.C. Penney Co. Inc. dropped $1.05 cents, or 4.8 percent, to $20.64 after the Texas company reported a loss that was larger than investors were expecting. Shoppers have been abandoning the store after it got rid of blockbuster sales in favor of everyday low prices. During the third quarter, revenue at stores opened at least a year plummeted 26.1 percent. That's higher than the 17.6 percent drop that analysts had been expecting for the figure, which is considered a key measure of a retailer's health. - AP
