BUSINESS BRIEFS
Two major Kahului projects on hold
Advertiser Staff & Wire Services
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Alexander & Baldwin says it is delaying the development of two major projects in downtown Kahului because of the economic slowdown, The Maui News reported yesterday.
The company's plans include the 20-acre Kahului Town Center on the site of the old Kahului Shopping Center and the 3.8-acre Aina O Kane at the corner of Kane and Vevau streets nearby. Both projects are planned to include a mix of residential and commercial space.
But A&B Properties Vice President Grant Chun said the company had pushed back the plans, hoping to time the projects so that construction is complete when the real estate market starts picking up again.
"Ideally, we'd be kicking off the projects already, but we're still in the process of assessing," he said. "We're closely monitoring how long the sense of uncertainty may last."
PIPELINE PARTNERS WITH LOCAL IMPORTER
The California owner of a trademark registered after the North Shore's famed Pipeline surf break has partnered with a local importer of beach-related merchandise to help expand sales of Pipeline-branded products in Hawai'i, Guam and Saipan.
Pipeline International, the Redondo Beach, Calif.-based affiliate of a company that has owned the Pipeline trademark since 1990, signed an exclusive distributorship with Hawaii Intercontinental Corp. to sell Pipeline merchandise to department and specialty stores in the region.
The deal represents a return of sorts for the brand established in 1979 after a meeting between local surfer Gerry Lopez and a group of clothing industry businessmen.
Lopez, who won his first Pipeline Masters in 1972 a year after the surfing contest was established, was initially a brand consultant and featured in a national advertising campaign for then-trademark holder Keepers Industries Inc.
Keepers and Lopez haven't been affiliated with the brand for many years, but the new partnership is expected to help expand the brand, which has produced more than $150 million in global merchandise sales over three decades.
CENTRAL PACIFIC, TREASURY CLOSE DEAL
Central Pacific Financial Corp. said it has drawn $135 million from the U.S. Treasury Department's Troubled Asset Relief Program to shore up its balance sheet.
The parent of Central Pacific Bank last month received preliminary approval from Treasury to tap the $700 billion fund. In the deal, Central Pacific issued $135 million in senior preferred stock to the Treasury Department with an annual dividend of 5 percent for the first five years, and 9 percent thereafter.
The Treasury Department also will receive warrants to purchase another $20.25 million in the company's common stock.
Shares of Central Pacific dipped 50 cents yesterday to close at $7.42 on the New York Stock Exchange.
