Reported by Star-Bulletin staff & wire
Wednesday, June 2, 1999
Retail sales by check climb 4% in Hawaii
Retail sales in Hawaii increased substantially in May, according to one measure -- purchases paid for by check.TeleCheck Services Inc., which verifies and guarantees check purchases, said the value of sales by check in Hawaii last month were up 4 percent compared with May 1998. Hawaii led the Western states, where year-over-year check purchases were up 2.3 percent in May. Nationally, sales by check were 2.5 percent higher last month compared with May 1998, Houston-based Telecheck said today.
Banana production soars 53% in isles
Hawaii banana production in 1998 reached a record 21 million pounds, 53 percent more than the 13.7 million pounds in 1997, according to state figures.The Hawaii Agricultural Statistics Service said this resulted in a sharp reduction of imported bananas to Hawaii. Last year, there were 1,420 acres of harvested banana lands in Hawaii, more than three times the 470 acres in 1997, the state office said.
Barnes & Noble drops Ingram deal
NEW YORK -- Barnes & Noble Inc., the largest U.S. bookseller, said it has scrapped the proposed $600 million purchase of leading book wholesaler Ingram Book Group because of opposition from regulators.Federal Trade Commission lawyers reportedly were set to recommend that the agency oppose the acquisition because of concern it could stifle competition.
Closely held Ingram supplies books to Barnes & Noble's Internet rival Amazon.com Inc. as well as numerous independent bookstores.
The move is a setback for Barnes & Noble Chairman Leonard Riggio, who wanted to use Ingram's 11 distribution centers to speed the delivery of books to online shoppers and help keep pace with Internet leader Amazon.com.
In other news . . .
ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- Book retailer Borders Group Inc says it has acquired a 19.9 percent stake for an undisclosed amount in Sprout Inc., whose digital machines are able to print books on demand. Sprout's technology stores books on computer files, which are then sent to printers to produce single copies of perfect-bound, paperback titles as customers request them.