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Business Briefs

Reported by Star-Bulletin staff & wire

Friday, December 8, 2000

Hammock retailer opens Maui store

A Colorado retailer of handmade hammocks and related equipment has opened its first Hawaii store at Paia, Maui. Beto Goldberg, who said he founded Hangouts Hammocks & Hanging Chairs in Boulder, Colo., after seeing the relaxed Hawaii lifestyle on a trip in the 1980s, established Hangouts Island Hammocks & Hanging Chairs at 137 Hana Highway. The company also sells through a Web site, www.hangouts.com.

Priceline.com rises on restructuring

NORWALK, Conn. -- Shares of Priceline.com Inc. rose 30 percent today after the Internet company said it canceled expansion plans and would lay off more workers to focus on sales of travel and other products.

Priceline.com gained 56 cents to close at $2.44 on the Nasdaq after earlier reaching $2.59. Shares of the Norwalk, Conn.-based company have fallen 95 percent this year.

The company said late yesterday it would not enter the business-to-business, term-life insurance and cellular-telephone markets. It also laid off 48 employees, or 11 percent of its work force, and ended discussions about starting a Japanese version of its Web business with Softbank Corp., Bloomberg News reported. "Considering Priceline. com shares have been in a freefall over the past three months, we believe the latest moves are appropriate, and not particularly surprising," wrote Mark Rowen, a Prudential Securities analyst who has a "hold" rating on the shares.

American Air faces attendants' strike

FORT WORTH, Texas -- AMR Corp.'s American Airlines flight attendants union have asked to be released from mediated contract talks, raising the possibility of a strike as early as next month.

The National Mediation Board, which has been overseeing talks since September, earlier this week indefinitely suspended negotiations, citing a lack of progress. If the board agrees to end its role in the talks, that would trigger the start of a 30-day cooling-off period, after which the union could strike.