Chinatown nightclub eleven44 closes

Eleven44, a nightclub named for its address on Bethel Street, has closed its doors.

Contacted in London, owner Dave Stewart confirmed the closure, calling it “sad” that the economics of the establishment were not working out.

The club’s Facebook page Saturday invited followers to “the very last party at eleven44.”

A staff member at the club who answered a reporter’s call Monday afternoon declined to enumerate how many employees were affected or to provide other details.

Stewart closed his Brasserie Du Vin restaurant and wine bar at the end of January, due to a planned 50 percent hike in the lease rent for the 9-year-old restaurant at 1115 Bethel St.

Stewart also owns Bar 35, at 35 N. Hotel St.

Condo management firm changing name

Condominium and homeowners association management firm Hawaii First is taking on the name of its parent company Associa in a switch that comes four years after Texas-based Associa acquired Hawaii First.

Associa converted its Hawaii First office in Kailua-Kona under the Associa Hawaii name in May, and announced Monday that it will do the same for its other Hawaii First offices in the state — on Oahu, Maui and Kauai — by the end of the year.

The company said the change will better reflect the Associa brand and will not affect customers.

Associa, the nation’s biggest community association management firm, made a similar change after acquiring another major Hawaii community association firm, Certified Hawaii.

CPF investors to hold secondary offering

Central Pacific Bank’s parent said Monday that ACMO-CPF LLC and Carlyle Financial Services Harbor LP — the two primary investors in the bank’s 2011 recapitalization — intend to offer for sale 5,538,624 shares of Central Financial Corp.’s common stock in a secondary offering.

No shares of common stock are being sold by Central Pacific Financial.

Greek stock market dives after reopening

ATHENS, Greece >> Greece suffered its worst stock market bloodbath in decades Monday, when it opened after a forced five-week closure, and new data showed a dismal outlook for the bailout-dependent country’s shrinking economy. The main stock index shed over 22 percent just minutes into the opening as investors got their first opportunity since late June to react to the latest twists in the country’s nearly six-year economic drama.

The index closed 16.2 percent lower, with bank shares hitting or nearing the daily trading limit of a 30 percent loss. Collectively, Greek-listed companies lost about a sixth of their market value — almost 8 billion euros ($8.7 billion).

Delta bans shipments of hunting ‘trophies’

NEW YORK >> Delta Air Lines had a major change of heart about shipping hunting trophies, announcing Monday it would no longer accept lion, leopard, elephant, rhinoceros and buffalo trophies.

As recently as May the Atlanta-based airline had said that it would continue to allow such shipments — as long as they were legal. At the time, some international carriers prohibited such cargo.

The move comes after an American dentist killed a well-known lion named Cecil in Zimbabwe last month in an allegedly illegal hunt, setting off a worldwide uproar. The dentist, Walter James Palmer, lives in Minnesota, which is a major hub for Delta.

Coal producer Alpha files for bankruptcy

NEW YORK >> Alpha Natural Resources Inc., one of the country’s biggest coal producers, became the latest in a string of coal companies to seek bankruptcy protection amid a historic shift in the electric power sector brought on by cheap natural gas and stricter pollution regulations.

Alpha operates about 60 coal mines, many in parts of Appalachia that have seen the sharpest declines in coal demand and coal prices as electric power customers have switched to natural gas. It is the fourth U.S. coal company to seek bankruptcy protection in the past 15 months.

ON THE MOVE

Hawaii National Bank has hired Derick Tam as vice president and loan officer. He has more than 15 years of experience in the financial services industry, including serving as a business banking officer, commercial banking officer, financial services officer and business relationship manager at various banks in Hawaii.

Outrigger Enterprises Group has announced the following new appointments:

In the company’s Global Brand Services:

>> Darell Castro is the senior art director. He was previously working at MVNP.

>> Brent Shiratori is an account director. He was previously a consultant to Global Brand Services. Prior to that, Shiratori was a director of strategic planning for account management at Matsumoto & Clapperton Advertising.

>> Michellee-Anne Phelps is the company’s manager for its Global Brand Services. She was previously head of project management at MVNP.

>> Danny Wang is a graphic designer. He was a graphic coordinator since 2007, including serving as a graphic designer for Maxi Enterprise.

>> Gay Shinbara has been appointed senior sales manager for multiproperty groups for Outrigger’s sales and marketing department. She was previously a marketing project manager in Global Brand Services and also served as a concierge at the Outrigger Reef Waikiki Beach Resort.