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HAWAII

Stanford Carr, CompUSA team up on technology

Developer Stanford Carr has partnered with CompUSA to help home buyers in its Peninsula development in Hawaii Kai take advantage of their state-of-the-art wiring and connectivity.

Every home and condominium in the complex will feature a smart box that connects the unit's electrical system and all of its electronic devices. It will also link all the computers in the development to a central network.

The smart box and connection come with the price of the home, but the devices connected to it do not. That's where CompUSA comes in.

The retailer will deliver an initial design consultation, preferably before owners move into their new homes, to discuss options for lighting, security, computer networking, entertainment and environmental controls. The company also will provide ongoing consulting support to assist homeowners with setting up, trouble-shooting or reconfiguring their systems.

New carts in shopping center

Ala Moana Center said it has five new tenants, four of them operating from carts.

Maxi Original, specializing in Hawaiian jewelry, opened a cart on the mall level near Sharper Image. Kids Music Box, selling "kid-safe" songs and stories on CDs, which can include your child's name, is a cart on the ground level near Hawaii's Best Desserts.

California-based True Colors opened a cosmetics business on a mall-level cart near Shirokiya and a body-piercing jewelry business called Moku Body opened a cart at street level near the Body Shop.

The non-cart business is Midas Touch Auto Detailing, which opened a wash-by-hand automobile cleaning and detailing business in the street-level parking lot near Sears, Roebuck & Co. Ala Moana Center is owned and managed by General Growth Properties Inc.

MAINLAND

Oracle boosts bid for Peoplesoft

Raising the stakes in Silicon Valley's fierce takeover battle, Oracle Corp. increased its hostile bid for PeopleSoft by more than $1 billion yesterday in a new effort to pressure PeopleSoft's board to consider its offer.

In the latest legal tit-for-tat, Oracle also filed suit yesterday against PeopleSoft and J.D. Edwards, the software maker that PeopleSoft recently agreed to acquire. Oracle said the lawsuit was "in response to their collective efforts to eliminate PeopleSoft shareholders' ability to accept Oracle's tender offer."

A few hours after Oracle's announcement, the state of Connecticut said it had filed a lawsuit against Oracle, alleging the company's proposed takeover of PeopleSoft violates the state's antitrust laws and would damage its economy. The state is just two weeks from its planned first phase of a $100 million computer system based on PeopleSoft software.

Oracle, the world's second-largest producer of specialized software for business operations, said it would offer $19.50 a share in cash for all outstanding shares of PeopleSoft, raising the value of the bid to $6.3 billion.

Continental back to Hong Kong

Continental Airlines Inc., the fifth-largest U.S. carrier, will resume nonstop flights between Newark, N.J., and Hong Kong on Aug. 1 after suspending service in April because of a deadly respiratory disease.

The flights will be four times a week each way, the Houston- based company said in a statement. Continental also offered a $499 round-trip discount fare on the flights for tickets bought by June 30, as well as a $635 round-trip price to Hong Kong from other U.S. cities.

Continental suspended its five flights a week on the Newark- Hong Kong route April 7, saying U.S. passenger demand had dropped because of severe acute respiratory syndrome.

EDS to cut 2% of its work force to cut costs

Electronic Data Systems Corp. said yesterday it would cut 2 percent of its work force, or about 2,700 jobs, and sell some assets to save hundreds of millions of dollars per year.

The troubled technology-services company, which has diversified through acquisitions, said it would focus on its core business of running technology systems for other corporations and governments.

Officials, however, warned that earnings in the second half of this year will fall slightly short of analysts' expectations. Revenue for the full year will also decline as much as 5 percent from last year, they said.

EDS officials, meeting with analysts in New York, said the job cuts would save $230 million a year and the sale of "nonstrategic" assets would raise about $250 million. They did not indicate what assets would be sold.

Judge orders Wal-Mart to recognize union

A National Labor Relations Board administrative law judge has ordered Wal-Mart to recognize a meat-cutters union that formed at the company's Jacksonville store three years ago, union leaders say. After seven of the 10 butchers at the store voted in 2000 to join the United Food and Commercial Workers union, Wal-Mart Stores Inc. announced it was closing its meat-cutting departments in favor of prepackaged meat.

Singapore Airlines fires 414 workers

Singapore Airlines Ltd., which had a daily operating loss of $6 million in April and May, will fire 414 employees in its largest round of job cuts in its 31-year history to pare costs after the SARS outbreak left its planes half empty.

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[Hawaii Inc.]

PROMOTIONS

>> Coffee Partners Hawaii and Starbucks Coffee have promoted Rachel Fritz and Mark Faildo to newly created district manager positions. Fritz joined the company in 1996 and was most recently manager of Starbucks Ward Village. She now supervises all operations in her Windward Oahu district. Faildo joined the company in September 2002 from the Radisson Waikiki Prince Kuhio where he was the director of food and beverages. He now oversees branches in Honolulu and Windward Oahu, monitoring customer service, assisting with new store openings and coordinating staffing.

>> Finance Factors has promoted Tracy Ishii and John Tamashiro to residential loan officers. They will be responsible for generating and closing residential mortgage loan applications and increasing loan volume. Ishii and Tamashiro both joined the company as management trainees.

ON THE BOARD

>> Lester Inouye was elected for the second consecutive year as president of the Outdoor Circle. Other officers of the nonprofit environmental organization are: First Vice President Abner Undan, Second Vice President Paula A. Ress, Third Vice President Neal Yokota, Fourth Vice President Pete Dyer, Treasurer Marcy Fleming, Assistant Treasurer Carol E. Silva and Secretary Irma Cunha. The three elected advisors are: Jo Ann Best, Betsy Connors and Alan Y. Fujimori.