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Reported by Star-Bulletin staff & wire
Wednesday, May 3, 2000
Isle sales growth still tops in U.S.
Hawaii's growth in retail sales, as measured by purchases paid for by check, led the country again in April.Hawaii stores had a 5.3 percent increase in check purchases from April 1999, the national check-guarantee firm TeleCheck Services Inc. said yesterday. TeleCheck measures sales in stores that have been opened a year or more.
Hawaii's retailing gain was greater than the national average of 4.6 percent. After Hawaii, Louisiana had a 5.2 percent increase in check sales, according to the survey. TeleCheck surveys have shown that Hawaii has had the highest sales growth in the nation since the Thanksgiving kickoff of the holiday shopping season. TeleCheck says purchases by check account for one-third of all sales.
Arista head loses fight with company
NEW YORK -- Music executive Clive Davis, who helped launch the careers of pop stars like Billy Joel and Bruce Springsteen, has lost a power struggle over his future at Arista Records, the company he founded 25 years ago.BMG Entertainment, a division of German media conglomerate Bertelsmann, announced yesterday that Antonio "L.A." Reid will take Davis' spot as head of Arista on July 1. The move ends a six-month feud between Davis, 66, and his corporate bosses. Bertelsmann traditionally enforces a retirement age of 60 on its top executives.
Factory orders rebound in March
WASHINGTON -- New orders to American factories bounced back in March, rising a bigger-than-expected 2.2 percent, led by the largest jump in demand for electronic equipment in more than two years.The Commerce Department reported today that factory orders rose to a seasonally adjusted $383.2 billion after showing no change in February and declining in January.
March's 2.2 percent increase in factory orders was the best showing since a 3.8 percent gain in December and was stronger than the 1.6 percent rise many analysts were anticipating.