H&M profits, costs up in first quarter
STOCKHOLM » Swedish fashion retailer Hennes & Mauritz AB, which opened its first Hawaii store at noon Thursday in the Waikiki Business Plaza, says its first-quarter profits rose by 8 percent even though technology investments linked to online sales wiped out some of the gains.
The Waikiki store encompasses 31,000 square feet on two floors.
H&M said its profit in the December-February period was 2.65 billion kronor ($412 million), up from 2.46 billion kronor a year earlier. Sales rose 13 percent to 32.1 billion kronor as H&M added 60 new stores worldwide, bringing the total to just below 3,200.
Costs also rose, by 13 percent, as H&M boosted spending on its online sales system. The company opened an online store in France on March 13, and plans to do the same in Spain, Italy and China later this year.
Hawaii ranks 42nd for costliest weddings
Manhattan is the most expensive place in the U.S. for a wedding, according to the annual Real Weddings Study by TheKnot.com.
The average amount spent on weddings in Manhattan was $86,916, compared with $57,343 in Long Island, N.Y., or the $51,287 average spent in North or Central New Jersey. It cost couples an average of $48,449 in fourth-ranked Chicago, and the outer boroughs of New York came in fifth with an average of $47,121 spent.
With an average of $25,306 spent in Hawaii, which ranked at No. 42 of 76 markets studied, not a single isle destination ranked among the 25 most expensive markets.
TheKnot.com found that the least expensive place to get married in 2013 was Idaho, where couples spent an average of $16,159.
Weddings in the top two markets are most likely to be formal, black-tie affairs, while Savannah, Ga., and Hawaii have the most casual weddings, at 41 percent and 38 percent, respectively, partly explaining the costliest market rankings.
Another reason is, according to TheKnot.com, that Hawaii brides have among the smallest numbers of wedding guests, 81 on average, compared with Nevada, at 63.
The online wedding site also reports that brides in Hawaii and Nevada are least likely to register for gifts, at 62 percent and 69 percent, respectively.
ON THE MOVE
Bank of Hawaii has promoted:
>> Steven Nakahara to senior vice president and commercial banking credit manager. Nakahara worked for BOH from 2000 to 2001 as a senior credit analyst and rejoined the bank in 2004 while holding many different positions in various BOH departments.
>> Scott Yoshihara to senior vice president and East Oahu regional manager. He joined the bank in 2001 and held various positions in several Bank of Hawaii branches.
