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FTC OKs Levi’s Opening of Retail Stores: The clothing company won approval to open dozens of its own outlets. The ruling by the Federal Trade Commission also clears the way for a joint venture between the venerable San Francisco apparel maker and Designs Inc. Levi Strauss & Co. and Designs have been in talks aimed at creating a joint venture to open as many as 50 retail outlets during the next five years in 11 Northeastern states and Washington, D.C. Additionally, Levi’s said it plans to establish as many as 48 of its own stores, over the next three to five years, in major cities outside the Northeast. Levi’s went to the FTC because of uncertainty about whether a 1978 antitrust settlement barred the company from the retail business. The FTC said the consent agreement does not prohibit Levi’s from setting prices on its products at company-owned retail outlets.