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POSTED: Friday, April 10, 2009

Hawaiian Air tops U.S. in punctuality

Hawaiian Airlines achieved the best record among U.S. carriers for on-time performance and fewest flight cancellations in February, according to the monthly Air Travel Consumer Report issued yesterday.

Hawaiian led the industry in punctuality with 91.2 percent of its flights arriving within 15 minutes of schedule. The airline also had only eight cancellations, or an industry low of 0.1 percent, of its 5,658 total flights in the month.

In baggage handling, Hawaiian ranked second with 2.13 mishandled baggage reports for every 1,000 passengers served.

 

Hallmark Jewelers to close Sunday

Hallmark Jewelers at Ala Moana Center will be closing Sunday after 97 years in business.

The doors will close for good at the family-run business at 7 p.m. Sunday, according to president and third-generation owner Isaac Ishihara. About 12 employees work at the store.

“;It was a tough decision,”; said Ishihara. “;It was not an easy decision. It has been a rewarding business with many happy occasions. We have a lot of memories, and we appreciate the people of Hawaii putting their trust in us.”;

Hallmark Jewelers is closing for a number of reasons that include the economic slump as well as the nature of the jewelry business. Ishihara said it also was more difficult to keep up with technology, since Hallmark was old-school, writing every price tag in the store by hand, for instance.

He said the store has served several generations of customers and that he hopes their purchases have become heirlooms to pass to one another. A 30 to 70 percent liquidation sale will continue until Sunday.

 

5 more Starbucks to close in Hawaii

Starbucks Corp. of Seattle issued another list of 200 U.S. locations it plans to close, including five in Hawaii.

Among the ones listed in Hawaii are Starbucks at Aloha Tower Marketplace, Waikiki Shopping Plaza, Borders Bookstore at Windward Mall, Mauna Lani Drive and Kings Shops at Waikoloa.

Starbucks announced the additional round of store closures at the end of January, saying it was part of an ongoing, rigorous evaluation of its global store portfolio. No precise closing date was given for the five Starbucks in Hawaii.

 

Kauai hotel reopening after Iniki

Koa Kea Hotel & Resort, one of the oldest hotels on Kauai, is set to reopen on April 14 after undergoing a complete renovation following devastating effects from Hurricane Iniki.

Koa Kea, formerly the Poipu Beach Hotel, was one of the last two hotels that remained unopened since Iniki struck the island in 1992.

Peter Vincent Architectures was part of the design team hired to return the hotel to its original Hawaiiana-style character while modernizing and upgrading its amenities. New elements of the boutique hotel include a spa, pool, beach bar and updated guest rooms, as well as the addition of suites.

 

Paper Roses opening Kailua store

Paper Roses, a locally owned stationery, greeting card and gift store, is opening a second location at Kailua Shopping Center.

The store is slated to open sometime next week in the former Baskin-Robbins space, occupying about 1,200 square feet.

It will be the second Paper Roses in Honolulu, in addition to another one that opened a year ago on South Street near the Kakaako fire station after closing at Ward Centre.

Owners Paul and Ava Stottlemyer have been running Paper Roses for more than 15 years in Hawaii. The store carries several kinds of invitations, including ones that are locally designed as well as special ones that are hand-picked from around the world.

They will be hiring a few part-time workers for the new Kailua store.

 

Gannett investor doubles stake

Gannett Co., the biggest U.S. newspaper publisher and owner of the Honolulu Advertiser, gained the most since at least 1980 in New York Stock Exchange trading after investor Ariel Investments LLC more than doubled its stake in the company.

Gannett, based in McLean, Va., jumped $1.06, or 39 percent, to $3.75, the biggest gain since at least July 1980. Before today, the stock had dropped 66 percent this year, after falling 79 percent in 2008.

Ariel boosted its stake in Gannett last quarter to 28.8 million shares, or 12.5 percent, according to a regulatory filing yesterday.

Spokeswomen for both companies could not be reached for comment.