BUSINESS BRIEFS
Kuhio Beach stand up for bid
Advertiser Staff and News Services
The food concession at Kuhio Beach in Waikiki has been placed up for bid by the City and County of Honolulu's Division of Purchasing.
The winning bidder will get rights to operate the concession next to the Honolulu Police Department substation for a five-year period. The county is seeking a minimum monthly rent of at least $10,000.
Prospective operators have until Dec. 5 to signal their intention to bid. The bids will be opened on Dec. 18, according to a posting on the Division of Purchasing's Web site.
PASSENGER ARRIVALS UP 3.5 PERCENT
Passenger arrivals, a rough measure of tourism, are running 3.5 percent higher through Nov. 21 compared with the same period a year earlier, according to state data.
The increase is being fueled by higher passenger counts on flights from the Mainland and improved arrivals on international flights.
There were 478,248 arrivals in the first 21 days of November this year. Last year there were 462,044.
INITIAL JOBLESS CLAIMS CLIMB 21 PERCENT
Initial unemployment claims filed by Hawai'i residents climbed about 21 percent in the week ended Nov. 18 compared with the same period a year earlier.
The state reported 1,241 claims were filed compared with 1,026 in the same week in 2005. It was the eighth week the initial claims filings had risen. Overall unemployment in the state was the lowest in the country at 2.1 percent in October.
BRIEF SNAG FOR ONLINE RETAILERS
NEW YORK — High traffic disrupted Wal-Mart Stores Inc.'s Web site for much of yesterday, one of the year's busiest shopping days.
The Walt Disney Co. also had problems handling the rush of online activity yesterday, while Amazon.com Inc.'s site had brief disruptions a day earlier due to a Thanksgiving Day sale on Microsoft Corp.'s Xbox 360 video game machines.
For much of yesterday morning, attempts to open Walmart.com resulted in blank pages, delays or other problems. By early afternoon, visitors were simply told to come back later.
LOUSY SALES FOR CHRYSLER LIKELY
DETROIT — Auto industry analysts are divided on how November's sales are shaping up, but they agree the month is likely to be a lousy one for Chrysler.
Jesse Toprak, chief economist for Edmunds.com, a research site for car buyers, estimates that based on preliminary data from dealers, industrywide sales will be 6 percent higher compared with November 2005, with all of the top six manufacturers reporting gains except for DaimlerChrysler AG's Chrysler Group.
But judging from the slow traffic at the Web site of Kelley Blue Book, which tracks auto pricing, that firm predicts a down month compared to a year earlier.
