BUSINESS BRIEFS
go! planes were 64.6% full in January
Advertiser staff
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Interisland carrier go! boosted both its load factor and passenger count in January compared with the same month a year earlier.
go!, a unit of Phoenix-based Mesa Air Group Inc., said its planes were 64.6 percent full in January, up from 58.4 percent full a year earlier. The airline carried 58,216 passengers in January, up 33 percent from 43,763 passengers in January 2007.
go! ramped up its capacity after the March 31 shutdown of Aloha Airlines, then the state's second largest carrier.
KAPOLEI COMMONS WILL GET ROSS STORE
Discount clothing chain Ross Dress for Less will fill space at the regional mall project Kapolei Commons previously envisioned for Circuit City.The 30,078-square-foot store is slated to open this fall, according to The MacNaughton Group, which is developing the 610,000-square-foot retail center with partner Kobayashi Group.
Circuit City, which filed for bankruptcy in November, earlier pulled out of tentative plans to open a 30,000-square-foot store at Kapolei Commons. The electronics retailer last month announced plans to liquidate.
Ross has 11 stores in the state, including eight on O'ahu.
GEICO TO LOWER AUTO INSURANCE RATES
Geico, the largest Hawai'i auto insurer, said it will reduce its automobile insurance rates for Hawai'i by an average of 6 percent starting with new policies in February and current policies that renew after March 16.Geico insures more than 125,000 policyholders in the state. It said individual premiums will vary depending on vehicles, driving record and island.
Last July, State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Co., the No. 2 Hawai'i auto insurer, lowered its rates by an average 5.4 percent. It has cut auto rates six times in seven years.
PIER 1 MAY SHUT DOWN 125 STORES
Home furnishings retailer Pier 1 Imports said Tuesday it may close up to 125 underperforming stores if it can't negotiate reduced rent with landlords.The Texas-based company, which has four stores in Hawai'i, did not identify stores targeted under the plan.
Pier 1 operates nearly 1,100 stores in the United States and Canada.
The company, which in December reported a net loss of $99 million in the first nine months of last year, said if rent reduction negotiations are unsuccessful then it could execute early lease termination agreements for up to 125 stores.
Negotiations are expected to be completed by the end of May.
