Reported by Star-Bulletin staff & wire
Tuesday, January 7, 1997
Reported by Star-Bulletin staff & wire
Tuesday, January 7, 1997
Hawaii retailers recorded a 2.7 percent rise in holiday sales, slightly higher than the national increase of 2.4 percent, for the period from the day after Thanksgiving through Christmas Eve, according to a survey released today. Isle holiday sales up 2.7%, survey shows
However, sales in the state for all of December were up only 1.2 percent and sales for the month nationally increased only 0.3 percent, according to TeleCheck Services Inc.'s survey of sales by check.
Houston-based TeleCheck, a leading check approval service, said the nation's holiday sales performance was disappointing, especially considering the growing economy and a strong start to the sales period in November.
Hawaii retailers have said they had to slash prices since the competition for consumer dollars was strong thanks to the big discount stores. A shorter than usual holiday season also kept sales lower, retailers said.
TeleCheck says check transactions account for about one-third of all retail transactions and provide a guide to business overall. But isle retailers and economists say check purchases don't fully reflect overall sales because of the high level of purchases by credit cards and cash.
PNC Bank Corp. plans to open a small savings and loan branch in Kakaako for local members of the American Automobile Association. PNC plans isle branch for auto club members
PNC, based in Pittsburgh, Pa., said it has filed an application with the Office of Thrift Supervision to open a one-person, thrift branch at the AAA's offices at Queen and South streets, said Roy Morris, PNC's vice president of public relations. The branch, which will be open only to AAA members, will issue credit cards, travelers checks and auto loans initially. Eventually, it will offer savings, certificate of deposit and checking accounts, as well as mortgages, educations loans and some insurance products such as annuities, Morris said.
PNC has a 10-year contract to provide financial services to AAA's 38 million members in the United States and Canada.
PNC is one of the nation's largest financial services companies in the country with operations in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware, Ohio, Kentucky, Indiana, Massachusetts and Florida. The company said it hopes to expand its program with the AAA as barriers against interstate banking and interstate branching are dismantled.
"As the restrictions relax we want to positions ourselves to provides services in all 50 states," Morris said.
PHOENIX - Doubletree Corp. said it boosted the price it agreed to pay for Renaissance Hotel Group NV five percent to $890 million. Doubletree boosts price for Renaissance hotels
The two companies also said yesterday that both of their boards of directors have approved the deal.
News of a pact in which Doubletree would buy Renaissance for about $850 million in cash, stock and assumed debt became known last week, but Renaissance said Thursday its directors still hadn't approved the deal.
Renaissance owns the 438-room Waiohai and 129-room Poipu Beach hotels on Kauai, which have not reopened since Hurricane Iniki in 1992. On Maui, the company also manages the Renaissance Wailea Beach Resort.
The purchase of Hong Kong-based Renaissance's 146 hotels would bring Doubletree's portfolio of hotel properties to 382 hotels with 101,000 rooms, making it the third-largest U.S. hotel-management company. The companies' combined 1995 revenue would have been about $728.3 million, including Doubletree's recent acquisition of Red Lion Hotels Inc.