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TheBuzz
Erika Engle
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Cutter cuts Maui shop, radio shop cuts jobs
Cutter Maui Imports closed Friday due to operating losses, said Nick Cutter, president of parent
Cutter Management Co. He plans to sell the land at 25 S. Kahului Beach Road.
The dealership was having, "a hard time under current market conditions, to turn it around," he said. "This was one of the more difficult business decisions -- I fought it for over a year."
Some 21 staffers are out of work, but all are good employees who "won't have any problem," getting new jobs, Cutter said.
The company laid off an unspecified number of employees this summer "to get the costs in line with the revenues, but the sales part of the business was very slow and the losses continued," said Cutter.
Cutter's Mazda franchise was sold to Valley Island Ford and its Volkswagens, Mitsubishis and used cars have been moved to Oahu, where Cutter has eight locations and about 850 employees.
Cutter has received "four or five inquiries (on the land) ... one was automotive and a couple were retail." He didn't identify the query-makers.
Hyundai, Mitsubishi and Volkswagen will appoint new Maui franchisees in fairly short order and will continue to honor customer warranties, he said.
Maui had four new car dealers when Cutter opened there. "Now there are nine or 10, and the population hasn't doubled."
Radio cuts
The
Clear Channel Communications Inc. budget ax, falling countrywide, has cut two local jobs.
A news announcer and producer were let go, said Chuck Cotton, vice president and general manager.
The two served multiple stations in Clear Channel's Hawaii holdings. The company owns top-rated KSSK-FM 92.3/AM 590 as well as KIKI-FM 93.9, KDNN-FM 98.5, KUCD-FM 101.9, KHVH-AM 830 and KHBZ-AM 990.
The producer's job was folded into another and "we just had one more person than we needed in the news department ... we're not cutting back on the news," he said.
Separately, the buyer of eight Clear Channel stations in California has axed the five-person news department at one station, among other cuts.
The principal of Calif.-based El Dorado Broadcasters LLC is Jason R. Wolff, also an owner of the 16 Hawaii stations licensed to Visionary Related Entertainment LLC.
Such cuts won't happen here, said John Aeto, general manager of KQMQ-FM 93.1; KUMU-FM 94.7/AM 1500; KDDB-FM 102.7 and KPOI-FM 105.9 on Oahu.
"We are probably going to be the only radio group in Hawaii that will be adding positions and increasing our marketing resources for our stations," he said.
Erika Engle is a reporter with the Star-Bulletin. Call 529-4747, fax 529-4750 or write to Erika Engle, Honolulu Star-Bulletin, 500 Ala Moana Blvd., No. 7-210, Honolulu, HI 96813. She can also be reached at:
eengle@starbulletin.com