Porn producers looking at Hawaii
LOS ANGELES >> Los Angeles has been a fighting a tide of runaway production of big-budget movies and television dramas. Now it may face an emigration of another homegrown industry: adult entertainment.
That’s the specter raised by pornography producers in L.A. after voters approved Measure B, which requires performers to wear condoms and establishes a new permitting system for porn shoots. The law was advocated by AIDS activists. Larry Flynt, whose Hustler publishing and adult video empire is based in Beverly Hills, said he’s making contingency plans to shift more production to Mexico, Arizona and Hawaii.
Bath & Body Works to debut at Pearlridge
Bath & Body Works will open Monday at Pearlridge Center.
After a grand-opening celebration starting at 8 a.m., the store will open at 10 a.m. for customers.
The 3,402-square-foot shop on the second level in the Uptown wing of the mall is replacing Razor Concepts, which relocated to the first floor of the mall.
Bath & Body Works is a specialty retailer that sells soaps, lotions and facial skin care products as well as hair, spa and home items.
Two other holiday retailers already have opened at Pearlridge. They are Calendar Club, which offers a variety of calendars, and Menehune Mac, which sells chocolates, local snacks, cookies and gift sets.
GameStop to close 200 stores by next year
GameStop Corp. the world’s largest video game retailer, plans to close 200 stores by next year, saying about 3 percent of its outlets worldwide lose money.
Hawaii has 21 GameStop stores on the major islands with 15 locations on Oahu, but the company would not disclose which stores, if any in Hawaii, would be closing.
"We’re not disclosing … the location(s) of the stores before they’re being closed," a spokeswoman said.
For the third quarter ended Oct. 27, GameStop posted a loss of $624.3 million, or $5.08 a share, after impairment and goodwill costs of $678.8 million, mostly tied to international operations. That compared with net income of $53.9 million, or 39 cents, a year earlier. Sales fell 8.9 percent to $1.77 billion.
On the Move
Northwestern Mutual has honored Marcus R. Boland, a Honolulu-based financial representative, with membership in its 2012 Forum group, which recognizes an outstanding year of helping people achieve financial security. Only 5 percent out of 6,000 financial representatives from Northwestern Mutual receive this annual honor. Boland is affiliated with the Bleakley Network Office in Honolulu.
Hawaii Health Information Exchange has announced the following:
>> Dr. Roy Magnusson has been elected president of its board of directors. He is associate dean for clinical affairs at the John A. Burns School of Medicine at the University of Hawaii at Manoa.
>> Wendi Barber is a new board member. She is vice president of finance and chief financial officer of Castle Medical Center.
