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Business Briefs

Reported by Star-Bulletin staff & wire

Friday, April 7, 2000

Hilo Hattie to open 2nd mainland store

Honolulu-based Hilo Hattie, an aloha-wear manufacturer and retailer, will open its second mainland store May 11 in Nashville, Tenn., in the new 1.2 million-square-foot Opry Mills shopping and entertainment complex. Like the outlet Hilo Hattie opened in Anaheim, Calif., in November, the Nashville store will offer a variety of clothing and Hawaii products, said Chris Resich, Hilo Hattie president and chief executive officer. In both cases, Hilo Hattie is working with Arlington, Va.-based Mills Corp., a national shopping center developer and operator. Hilo Hattie also has six stores in Hawaii and one in Guam.

CompUSA laying off 1,500 in chain

DALLAS -- CompUSA Inc., which was bought last month by Mexico's Grupo Sanborns SA, said it plans to lay off about 1,500 employees, or 7.5 percent of its work force, to reduce expenses. The move should mean a total of about eight to 10 layoffs in Hawaii's two stores, a company spokeswoman said. The company is eliminating 2,150 back-office and other support staff while adding 650 in sales and customer service. Some of the employees whose positions are being eliminated will receive new jobs, said Stacie Shirley, vice president of finance.

MetLife stock to be most widely held

NEW YORK -- MetLife Inc.'s decision to go public will make it the most widely held stock in the United States. This week, MetLife became the latest insurance company to convert from mutual ownership by its policyholders to public ownership. On Tuesday, underwriters priced 202 million shares at $14.25 apiece that are now being sold on the New York Stock Exchange.

In the second part of its conversion, MetLife will issue shares to about 9 million policyholders in exchange for their former ownership stake. That will make MetLife the most widely held stock, surpassing Lucent Technologies Inc., which has about 4.7 million shareholders. For years, AT&T Corp. was the most widely held stock in the nation.