Hawaiian Wireless sells assets to two companies

Honolulu will have one less cellular telephone company by the end of this year, after AT&T Wireless and Nextel Partners buy the assets of Hawaiian Wireless Inc.

Details of the purchase agreement were not disclosed. AT&T Wireless is buying the customers of Hawaiian Wireless, while Nextel is getting the network equipment. Hawaiian Wireless offered the assets separately to get a better return, said David Hafner, general manager and vice president of Hawaiian Wireless.

A Delaware corporation, Hawaiian Wireless began offering cellular service on Oahu in January 1997, and was one of several development projects of Atlantic Cellular, based in Providence, R.I. The intent all along was to sell the company, and Hawaiian Wireless got an offer it couldn't refuse, said Hafner.

The company has 38 employees on Oahu who will be laid off and receive severance packages based on experience and time served. Hafner said he expects most of the workers will be picked up by Hawaii's other cell phone companies. In 1999, AT&T Wireless bought the former Honolulu Cellular Telephone Co., Hawaii's oldest and largest cell phone company.

Sprint PCS shutting down Bishop Street call center

Cellular phone company Sprint PCS is closing its Bishop Street call center Sept. 7, laying off 65 people.

The Overland Park, Kan.-based company said it will try to shift the positions to its 13 call centers on the mainland, where operations are more cost-efficient.

Sprint PCS entered Hawaii's phone market in 1999 and acquired the call center when it bought PrimeCo Hawaii's digital phone network and license from PrimeCo Personal Communications.

Sprint PCS notified the state of the closing in a July 5 letter.

Macy's West to fire 370 Liberty House workers

Macy's West will fire more than 370 employees at Liberty House, or nearly 13 percent of the retailer's work force between Oct. 8 and Jan. 7, according to state filings.

Macy's parent Federated Department Stores Inc. on Monday completed its $200 million purchase of Liberty House.

The layoffs include about 126 employees in the company's distribution center in Kapolei, according to a filing the state Department of Labor & Industrial Relations.

The most heavily effected corporate employees are Liberty House's local purchasing agents, 73 of whom will be out of work. Liberty House currently has 2,890 employees.

When Federated announced the purchase of Liberty House, the company said up to 400 positions would be cut in Hawaii to avoid duplication with Macy's operations on the West Coast.