Kolten Wong to be spokesman for Jamba Juice Hawaii

Hilo-born Kolten Wong, who hit a dramatic walkoff home run for the St. Louis Cardinals in the National League Championship Series last October, has signed to be a spokesman for Jamba Juice Hawaii. Wong, a Kamehameha Schools graduate and former University of Hawaii standout, hit .249 last season with 12 homers, 20 stolen bases, 14 doubles and 42 RBIs as a second baseman for the Cardinals.

His first appearance for Jamba Juice will be from 4 to 7 p.m. Tuesday at Maui’s Queen Kaahumanu Center where the company will roll out its new juice program for Maui before launching statewide this summer.

"Kolten is a local hero doing Hawaii proud on a national stage," said Chris Scanlan, CEO and owner of the 33 Jamba Juice stores in Hawaii.

Low gas costs boost sales of bigger autos

Lower gas prices are helping fuel consumer demand for light trucks and SUVs, but there is a side effect: Bigger vehicles are not as fuel efficient.

The average fuel economy of new vehicles sold in December was 25.1 mpg, down 0.2 mpg from November and down 0.7 mpg from the peak reached in August, according to the University of Michigan’s Transportation Research Institute.

U.S. car and truck sales topped 16.5 million in 2014, led by robust demand for trucks and SUVs. Sales of trucks, including SUVs, rose 10 percent to 8.6 million.

Cheaper gas and an improving economy were big factors in the increase in truck sales. Meanwhile, demand for hybrid and alternative-fuel vehicles shrank.

The sales trends are reflected in average fuel economy statistics. Researchers at the University of Michigan calculate the average fuel economy from monthly sales data and the window-sticker ratings.

The average fuel economy began dropping in September. To be sure, today’s cars, no matter what the size, guzzle less gas than cars produced a decade ago.

Vehicle fuel economy is up 5 mpg since October 2007, when the University of Michigan began monitoring the data.

And despite the reduction at the end of the year, the fuel economy of vehicles sold during 2014 averaged 25.4 mpg, compared with 24.8 mpg during 2013.

Subway franchise will be Valley Isle’s fifth

Subway will open its fifth sandwich shop on Maui at the Queen Ka‘ahumanu Center food court on Tuesday.

Mark Roden and Bret Saalsaa are the franchisees. Roden and Saalsaa own nearly 90 Subway locations, including the five on Maui.

Queen Ka‘ahumanu Center is managed by JLL Retail.

Famous Footwear opening store in Kona

Famous Footwear is opening its seventh location in Hawaii at Lanihau Center in Kailua-Kona. The 7,400-square-foot store will open Friday.

"Our decision to open a new store in Kailua-Kona was based on a recognized consumer need," said Rick Ausick, president of Famous Footwear, which has more than 1,200 stores nationwide.

Wet Seal shutting 338 stores, cutting jobs

Struggling teen clothing retailer Wet Seal is closing 338 stores, about two-thirds of its stores, resulting in nearly 3,700 full- and part-time workers losing their jobs.

The retailer said Wednesday it decided to close the stores after reviewing its financial condition and failing to negotiate meaningful concessions from landlords. The closings are effective Wednesday.

There are Wet Seal stores in Windward Mall and Pearlridge Center on Oahu, and in the Queen Ka‘ahumanu Center and Piilani Village on Maui.

It was not announced whether the Hawaii stores are affected by the closures.

The company warned Dec. 10 that it might file for bankruptcy protection if it did not resolve its cash problems after reporting another quarter of losses.

More firms add mobile credit card readers

NEW YORK » Small business owners looking to ditch traditional credit card readers have more options than ever.

Online retailers Amazon and Etsy are just two of the latest companies to offer mobile credit card readers to small companies, joining the likes of Square, PayPal and Intuit. Mobile credit card readers are small devices that stick into a smartphone or tablet and allow credit cards to be swiped and accepted. Small business owners say mobile readers can be cheaper than traditional in-store credit card readers, which often charge higher fees.

December’s new jobs outstrip November’s

WASHINGTON » U.S. businesses ramped up hiring last month in the latest sign that the nation’s economy is expanding despite worries about global growth that have sent financial markets tumbling.

Payroll processor ADP said Wednesday that companies added 241,000 jobs in December, up from 227,000 in November. That suggests Friday’s government report on December job gains will also be healthy.

The ADP numbers cover only private businesses and sometimes diverge from the government’s more comprehensive report, which includes government agencies.

Economists forecast the government’s figures will show that employers added 240,000 jobs in December, according to a survey by financial data provider FactSet. The unemployment rate is expected to remain at 5.8 percent.

Fed minutes signal interest rate increase

WASHINGTON » Federal Reserve policymakers who met in December expressed concern about weakness overseas but were upbeat enough about the U.S. economy and impact of lower oil prices to prepare for a likely interest rate hike sometime this year.

Minutes of the Fed’s Dec. 16-17 meeting released Wednesday show that Fed officials believed stagnant global growth posed one of the biggest downside risks to the U.S., particularly if it triggered turmoil in global financial markets or if any policy moves abroad proved ineffective.

First possible generic biotech drug OK’d

WASHINGTON » Federal health experts have unanimously endorsed a Novartis drug that is expected to become the first lower-cost copy of a biotech drug to reach the U.S. market.

A panel of Food and Drug Administration experts ruled that the company’s version of Neupogen is highly similar to Amgen’s original blockbuster biotech drug, which is used to boost blood cells that help cancer patients fight off infections. The nonbinding recommendation likely paves the way for a new market of quasi-generic biotech medicines, capable of generating billions in cost savings for insurers, doctors and patients.

The FDA is slated to make its final decision on the drug, which Novartis would market as Zarxio, in coming months.

Mercedes moving U.S. base to Atlanta

ATLANTA » Mercedes-Benz, the storied German automaker, confirmed on Tuesday weeks of speculation that the company will move its U.S. division headquarters to metro Atlanta.

The company said in a news release it will move executives and staff into a temporary facility in Atlanta starting in July, with plans to complete construction of a new headquarters campus by early 2017.

The release stated about 1,000 employees will be "affected" by its plans, but it’s unclear exactly how many jobs will be relocated or created in metro Atlanta. A Mercedes official told an Atlanta-area agency Tuesday that the headquarters will include about 800 jobs.

Mercedes has scouted metro Atlanta for new U.S. headquarters sites. The office would handle U.S. marketing and other business functions for the German brand.

More details are expected by the end of January, Mercedes officials said.

Ship Ahoy!

Today’s ship arrivals and departures: