City Mill to open ninth store in Ewa Beach

City Mill will mark the opening of its ninth store with grand-opening festivities Nov. 16 at its new Ewa Beach location in the Lau­lani Village Shopping Center.

The festivities will begin at 7 a.m. with a traditional Hawaiian blessing. There also will be special entertainment, prize giveaways and opening deals including a free commemorative T-shirt with qualifying purchase.

The approximately 40,000-square-foot store is at the corner of Fort Weaver Road and Keau­nui Drive. It includes a 5,000-square-foot area for garden supplies, lumber and other building materials.

"After planning this store for several years, we are excited about this new City Mill addition, especially since there is so much growth in West Oahu and in the Ewa Beach area," City Mill President and CEO Steven Ai said.

The store’s initial holiday hours of operation will be from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Friday and from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays.

Developed by Safeway Inc., the center’s anchor tenants will be Safeway and City Mill, with nearly 70 more retailers coming soon.

Hawaii traffic helps pare Boyd’s loss

Casino operator Boyd Gaming Corp., which reduced the frequency of its Vacations Hawaii charters to Las Vegas during the second quarter, said its Hono­lulu-based subsidiary continues to positively affect its downtown resorts.

"In the second quarter we resumed certain marketing activities directed at our Hawaiian customer base," Boyd Chief Operating Officer Paul Chakmak said in an earnings conference call Thursday. "We saw the positive results of those programs in the third quarter as they drove growth in our downtown segment. We also benefited from higher revenues at our Hawaiian charter service."

During the second quarter, Boyd reduced its Hawaii flight schedule to four flights a week from five.

"Our planes are now running almost full, and we have grown revenue per seat by about 12 percent without reducing customer traffic from Hawaii," Chakmak said.

Overall, Las Vegas-based Boyd said it lost money in the third quarter as it dealt with higher expenses. For the three months ended Sept. 30, the casino operator lost $15.8 million, or 18 cents a share, compared with a profit of $3.1 million, or 4 cents a share, a year ago. The prior-year period included a favorable property tax adjustment.

Revenue rose 4 percent to $613.3 million.

Total costs and expenses climbed to $564.9 million from $522.1 million.

Boyd has 17 properties in Nevada, New Jersey, Mississippi, Illinois, Indiana and Louisiana.

Berkshire purchasing Oriental Trading

OMAHA, Neb. » Warren Buffett will soon be prepared to throw a giant party for almost any occasion now that his Berkshire Hathaway is buying Oriental Trading Co.

The deal announced Friday will give Buffett ready access to Oriental Trading’s catalog of more than 40,000 party supplies, arts, crafts, toys and other trinkets.

With the acquisition, Berkshire is adding another business based in Buffett’s hometown of Omaha to its portfolio of 80-some companies. The deal is expected to close by the end of November. Financial terms were not disclosed.

Separately, Berkshire said its third-quarter profit soared 72 percent because the value of its investments and derivative contracts improved significantly.

But Buffett has said he believes Berkshire’s operating earnings, which exclude the value of its derivatives and investments, are a better measure of the company’s performance. Berkshire’s operating earnings fell 11 percent in the quarter, weighed by a drop in insurance underwriting profits.

Berkshire Hathaway Inc. reported net income of $3.92 billion, or $1.58 per Class B share. That’s up from $2.28 billion, or 92 cents per share, last year. Its revenue grew to $41.05 billion from last year’s $33.74 billion.

Supervalu to lay off 700 at Shaw’s chain

NEW YORK » Supervalu will cut about 700 grocery store jobs at a subsidiary in New England, two weeks after it posted a loss for the second quarter and said it was considering selling the company.

The company said Friday that the job cuts will take place at 169 Shaw’s and Star Market stores. Shaw’s, with about 17,000 staffers, is one of the oldest supermarkets in the United States, dating back to the 1860s.

Supervalu Inc., based in Eden Prairie, Minn., fired its CEO in July after closing stores and suspending its dividend.

Restoration Hardware rises 29.6% in debut

NEW YORK » Shares of Restoration Hardware jumped in its first day of trading, as investors decided to take a bet on a familiar retail name and the gradual housing recovery.

Shares rose $7.10, or 29.6 percent, to close at $31.01 Friday on the New York Stock Exchange. The home decor retailer and its shareholders raised $124 million, selling 5.2 million shares for $24 each.

Restoration Hardware, which operates more than 70 retail stores, is going public several years into a turnaround. The company was losing money when it was bought by a private equity firm in 2008. It has since redesigned stores, revamped its product line and focused on a higher-end market.

Lower production and prices hurt Chevron

Chevron Corp. said Friday its third-quarter net income fell 33 percent as production declined and it sold oil and gas at lower prices. The nation’s second-largest oil company, which operates the smaller of two refineries in Hawaii, earned $5.25 billion, or $2.69 a share, compared with net income of $7.83 billion, or $3.92 a share, in the year-ago quarter. Revenue fell to $55.66 billion from $61.26 billion.

The sluggish global economy has cut into worldwide demand for energy products, from gasoline and diesel to jet fuel. Concerns about economic growth have caused oil and natural gas prices to fall, hurting the bottom line for oil producers.

ON THE MOVE

Central Pacific Bank has appointed Katharine H. Kam to vice president and branch manager for its Pearlridge branch. She has more than 30 years in the banking industry and was previously an assistant vice president and branch manager for First Hawaiian Bank in Mililani.

PBS Hawaii has promoted Ben Nishi­moto to vice president of advancement from director of business support. His responsibilities include overseeing all the nonprofit organization’s fundraising, including individual, business and grant support. Before returning to PBS Hawaii, Nishi­moto was a manager of annual giving at the Hawaiian Humane Society.

Sterman Realty, a North Shore real estate company, has announced the following new members of their agent team: Kristen "Krissie" Crowe, Monta Koch, Jacob "Jake" Stock, Cha­ney Padaca, Marcello Del Zotto, Janell Chun and Jim Jennings.

Coldwell Banker Pacific Properties celebrated the grand opening of the Kapo­lei office Monday with a blessing by Kahu Cordell Kekoa of Kamehameha Schools and a certificate of commendation from the state Legislature as well as a Lego home-building contest, face painting and balloon animals for children. The new office is at 4460 Kapo­lei Parkway in Kapo­lei Commons.