Tori Richard tapped for APEC uniform

Tori Richard has been selected as the manufacturer of volunteer uniforms in conjunction with the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Leaders’ Week from Nov. 7-13 in Honolulu.

The company will produce a uniform print that will consist of the national flowers of each of the 21 APEC economies, as well as authentic Hawaiian kapa motifs in a traditional aloha shirt-gridded pattern. The pattern will be randomly placed so it is unlikely that any two shirts will have the same positions of flowers on them. Also integrated into the design is the APEC logo graphic.

Peter Ho, Hawaii Host Committee chairman, said Tori Richard “has been producing garments of the highest quality that also embody the aloha spirit and unique island lifestyle of Hawaii.”

“As we expect our volunteers to be a prominent presence throughout Leaders’ Week, Tori Richard’s unique approach to designing clothing seemed a natural fit for this selection.”

Obama may have new Hawaii neighbor

President Barack Obama may have a new neighbor if he vacations at the same Kailua beachfront estate he has rented the last three years around Christmastime.

Local developer Don Eovino reported selling a new home and an adjacent half-acre lot next to Obama’s “Winter White House” vacation rental for $14 million.

Eovino didn’t identify the buyers, but said they are from the mainland and were represented by Judith Whitfield with Mary Worrall Associates-Sotheby’s International Realty.

Eovino acquired a 2-acre parcel four years ago as part of the Castle Estate, subdivided the property into three half-acre beachfront home sites and built one home on one of the sites.

The remaining lot, which includes an existing home, is for sale for $5.5 million. Eovino said he intends to remodel the home and add a new home on the ocean side of the property with hopes to sell the property for $12 million to $15 million.

Chef Mavro honored by writers

Renowned Honolulu chef and restaurateur George Mavrothalassitis has won the Culinary Excellence Award from the International Food, Wine & Travel Writers Association. He is the first chef from Hawaii to receive the honor.

Chef Mavro, the name by which he is commonly known as well as the name of his AAA five-diamond and Forbes (formerly Mobil) four-star-winning restaurant, was cited for his “exemplary work as a restaurateur, chef and culinary educator,” according to a statement from the association.

The group is a global network comprising journalists who cover the hospitality and lifestyle industries.

Netflix lowers earnings outlook

Just two weeks after announcing a price adjustment that angered many customers, Netflix came out Monday with a weaker-than-anticipated earnings outlook.

While the entertainment distributor reported a 52 percent rise in second-quarter revenue, it also reaffirmed a temporary slowdown in subscriber growth and said that its third-quarter revenue would be hampered by reactions to the price change. Netflix stock, which peaked above $300 earlier this month, dropped 10 percent in after-hours trading Monday, after closing at $281.53 earlier in the day.

Also Monday, Netflix posted second-quarter revenue of $789 million, up 52 percent from the same quarter last year. It said its profit for the quarter was $68 million, up 55 percent.

For the third quarter, Netflix said it anticipated revenue to be $799.5 million to $828.5 million, lower than previous projections on Wall Street.

The price adjustment, announced July 12, takes Netflix’s DVD-by-mail service, which was a $2 add-on to its $8-a-month online streaming service, and makes it a separate $8 package. For Netflix, the online streaming service, which remains $8, is growing much faster than DVD-by-mail. But some customers were outraged by what was effectively a 60 percent price increase for the combined service.

The price change “doesn’t take effect until the very end of the third quarter,” the Netflix chief executive, Reed Hastings, said in an interview Monday. “So we have to face those subscribers who are upset by the increase this quarter.”

While he said he expected only “a few” to cancel or downgrade service, “that means less revenue than we otherwise would have had.”

IRS eases liability rule for spouse’s tax debt

WASHINGTON » The Internal Revenue Service is making it easier for some “innocent spouses” to escape responsibility for the tax debt of their husband or wife.

Under the law, taxpayers who file joint returns are generally liable for the tax debts of their partners. However, spouses may qualify for relief if they didn’t know their partner was cheating on their taxes, or didn’t participate in the scam. In some cases, spouses can escape responsibility if they can prove they were in abusive relationships and didn’t believe they had an option not to sign a return.

The IRS has required innocent spouses to apply for relief within two years of the agency starting a collection action. On Monday the IRS eliminated the two-year time limit for some applications after lawmakers and advocates complained that many abused or divorced spouses might not become aware of IRS collection efforts for years.

ON THE MOVE

Hawaiian Airlines has promoted Sarah Slay to managing director of human resources operations. She has been with Hawaiian since 2005.

American Carpet One has promoted Alan Acacio, Carl Kahalewia, Dominic Kaneakua and Ivan Moors to journeyman from apprentice.