Stores had solid start to holidays, ShopperTrak says
NEW YORK >> A firm that analyzes customer traffic says stores saw a solid increase in sales for the four-day start to the holiday season, as heavy Thanksgiving shopping offset a drop in Black Friday sales.
Chicago-based ShopperTrak said late Tuesday that foot traffic was up 8.2 percent for the four-day weekend, starting with Thanksgiving, while total sales rose 2.7 percent to $22 billion compared with the same period a year ago.
The sales pace is higher than the 1.7 percent seen last year.
This year retailers had their earliest start ever to the holiday shopping season, as major stores including Target Corp. and Sears opened on Thanksgiving evening.
City installs 6 new EV charging stations
Six new electric vehicle charging stations for public use have been installed in municipal parking structures.
The EV chargers are available at Neal Blaisdell Center, Chinatown Gateway Plaza, the Civic Center, Hale Pauahi, Honolulu Zoo and the Smith-Beretania Parking Structure.
The stations are part of the ChargePoint network and require a card to activate. The stations are free to use, for now, and EV drivers without cards can call the number printed on the stations for assistance.
The charging stations were installed by the city using a $400,000 Hawaii EV Ready Grant from the state Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism.
Shidler students get $1.4M in scholarships
The Shidler College of Business at the University of Hawaii at Manoa said Tuesday it has awarded more than $1.4 million in scholarships to 275 business students for the 2012-2013 academic year.
"We are extremely grateful to our alumni and the business community for establishing scholarships for our students," said V. Vance Roley, dean of the Shidler College of Business, in a news release. "Our scholarship endowments have grown steadily over the years allowing the College to support more students than ever before."
Liquefied natural gas plan is topic of talk
The chief executive officer of Hawaii Gas will address the Natural Gas Roundtable on Thursday on his company’s plan to bring liquefied natural gas to Hawaii. The title of Jeffrey Kissel’s presentation is "Say Aloha to Natural Gas."
Hawaii Gas filed an application in August with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to ship liquefied natural gas, or LNG, to Hawaii in refrigerated tanks mounted inside shipping containers.
The Washington, D.C.-based Natural Gas Roundtable is a nonprofit group formed to advance the dialogue on issues regarding natural gas and energy policy.
ConAgra to be leader in store-brand foods
NEW YORK » ConAgra Foods is set to become the nation’s biggest maker of store-brand foods, with a $5 billion purchase of Ralcorp that expands its stake in the growing market for cereals, crackers and other packaged foods sold under private labels.
The deal announced Tuesday caps a year of acquisitions for ConAgra, which makes brands including Banquet, Chef Boyardee and Marie Callender’s. The company, based in Omaha, Neb., also made multiple attempts to buy Ralcorp last year.
The latest bid for Ralcorp comes at a time when private-label brands — also known as store brands or house brands — are gaining popularity with price-conscious shoppers. Supermarkets and drugstores also have been working to improve the image of their brands as a way to control the rising costs of name brands.
Consumers, businesses lift economy
WASHINGTON » American consumers are growing more confident about the job market, companies are ordering more equipment and home prices are rising in most major cities.
The latest batch of government data suggests that the economy is improving just as the holiday shopping season begins. The only threat is a package of huge spending cuts and tax increases that will kick in unless Congress strikes a budget deal by year’s end.
Rising home values, more hiring and lower gas prices pushed consumer confidence in November to the highest level in nearly five years. And steady consumer spending appears to have encouraged businesses to invest more in October after pulling back over the summer.
Motorcycle crashes cost $16B in 2010
WASHINGTON » Direct costs from deaths and injuries due to motorcycle crashes were $16 billion in 2010, but the full cost is likely higher because long-term medical expenses are difficult to measure, a government report said.
Motorcyclists are involved in fatal crashes at higher rates than drivers of other types of vehicles, and are 30 times more likely to die in a traffic crash than passenger car occupants, according to the Government Accountability Office report.
In 2010, 82,000 motorcyclists were injured and 4,502 were killed in crashes, the report said. The average cost for a fatal crash was estimated at $1.2 million, while the cost for injuries ranged from $2,500 to $1.4 million depending on the severity.
It’s difficult to determine the full costs with accuracy because some types of costs are difficult to measure, the report said. For example, treating serious injuries can be long and expensive, but follow-up analyses of costs are conducted only for a few years. Also, other consequences of long-term injuries such as changes in employment and living status can’t be fully measured, the report said.
On the Move
ABC Stores has announced the promotion of Ryan Uesato to store manager of ABC Store No. 52, at 2432 Koa Ave. in Waikiki. He began his career with the company in October 2004 as a management trainee.
Molokai Properties, which does business as Molokai Ranch, has named Levy Oktalia as controller. Prior to joining the company, she served as a property manager at Douglas Emmett.
Independent Sector, a leadership network for nonprofit organizations, foundations and corporate giving programs, has appointed Kelvin Taketa as its board chairman. He is president and chief executive officer of the Hawaii Community Foundation.
Kaiser Permanente’s clinic buildings in Honolulu, Mapunapuna and Hilo have earned the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s ENERGY STAR certification. The recognition signifies that the buildings perform in the top 25 percent of similar facilties throughout the nation for energy efficiency and that they meet strict energy efficiency performance levels set by the EPA.
