Cocina to move into Whole Ox location

Cocina, a Mexican restaurant run by Chef Quinten Frye, will be taking the place of The Whole Ox Deli, which is closing today. Cocina posted news of its opening at the Keawe Street location in Kakaako on its Facebook page.

The post said Cocina will open Oct. 1 and operate until the owner, Kame­ha­meha Schools, redevelops the space in about six months. Frye, a San Antonio native, worked at the 12th Ave. Grill and later helped Hono­lulu restaurateur Kevin Hanney open Salt Kitchen & Tasting Bar. The Whole Ox will be open for lunch from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. today with a final dinner service that will serve as an official send-off from 9:30 p.m. to 1 a.m.

Ellison’s pay shrinks 18% to $78.4 million

Oracle Corp. CEO Larry Ellison’s pay package declined 18 percent to $78.4 million for fiscal 2013 after he gave up an annual bonus and the company missed some of its profit targets.

Ellison, 69, who is worth $41.8 billion and ranks eighth on the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, was the highest-paid CEO in the U.S. this year, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Ellison owns 97 percent of the island of Lanai as well as Island Air.

Oracle issued a profit forecast for the fiscal second quarter this week that fell short of most analysts’ projections, as the largest maker of corporate databases faces more competition in business software and stagnating technology spending. While Ellison has been acquiring companies and investing in technology to retake market share, the efforts are taking longer to boost sales.

Ellison received $96.2 million in compensation in fiscal 2012, according to a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Friday. His target bonus for fiscal 2013, which ended in May, fell to $1.17 million from $3.92 million, while stock-based compensation shrank 15 percent to $76.9 million. Ellison, along with co-presidents Mark Hurd and Safra Catz, also declined an executive bonus plan.

With a base salary of $1, Ellison is rewarded via performance-based payouts. He owns 24 percent of Oracle, which has a market value of $157.7 billion.

BlackBerry to cut workers after $1B loss

TORONTO » BlackBerry said Friday that it will lay off 4,500 employees, or 40 percent of its global workforce, as it reports a nearly $1 billion second-quarter loss a week earlier than the results were expected.

Shares were halted pending the news and plunged as low as $8.01 when the stock reopened for trading. Shares regained some ground to close down 17 percent at $8.72.

BlackBerry had been scheduled to release earnings next week. But the Canadian company said late Friday afternoon that it expects to post a staggering loss of $950 million to $995 million for the quarter, including a massive $930 million to $960 million write-down of the value of its inventory due to increasing competition. Revenue of $1.6 billion is only about half of the $3 billion that analysts expected, according to FactSet. The company’s expected adjusted loss of 47 cents to 51 cents per share falls far below the loss of 16 cents per share projected by Wall Street.

Target to hire fewer holiday employees

SAN FRANCISCO » Target plans to hire about 70,000 seasonal workers for the holiday shopping season, down about 20 percent from a year ago. The discounter is aiming to be more efficient in its hiring practices.

The move to hire 18,000 fewer temporary holiday workers versus last year’s 88,000 comes as the Minneapolis-based chain saw that its own permanent employees wanted to get first dibs on working extra hours for the holiday season.

Target Corp. said it also wants to respond more quickly to the peaks and valleys of customer traffic, which have become more pronounced for many stores as shoppers time their buying for when they believe they can get the best deals.

Olive Garden and Red Lobster revamps fail

NEW YORK » Darden can’t seem to convince more people to sit down for a meal at its Olive Garden and Red Lobster restaurants. The company reported a sharply lower quarterly profit on Friday that missed Wall Street expectations, with sales down at its two biggest chains despite ongoing attempts to revamp their menus with lighter, cheaper options. Darden said it would slash costs to prepare for future challenges, in part by reducing its workforce.

For the three months ended Aug. 25, Darden said it earned $70.2 million compared with $110.8 million a year ago. Sales at restaurants open at least a year fell 4 percent at Olive Garden and slipped 5.2 percent at Red Lobster.

Sprint joins rivals with upgrade program

NEW YORK » Sprint is launching a new program that gives customers the chance to upgrade their phones every 12 months, becoming the last of the four national wireless carriers to target customers who want the latest devices.

Sprint Corp.’s new One Up plan is most similar to Jump from T-Mobile US Inc. T-Mobile allows for more frequent upgrades but requires a $10 monthly fee to participate. Sprint’s is free but does not include insurance, as Jump does.

Like T-Mobile, Sprint is reducing the monthly cost of voice, text and data services while charging for the phone in installments. But unlike T-Mobile, Sprint’s discount ends after the phone is paid off over two years. T-Mobile customers can keep the lower service rates indefinitely.

ON THE MOVE

Hale Ku‘ike has announced the following promotions: 

» Christina Hunter has been promoted to the director of nursing from staff nurse for Hale Ku‘ike in Nuu­anu. She was director of nursing for a senior living facility in Bur­lin­game, Calif.

» Cyrus Serrano has been promoted to kitchen manager for Hale Ku‘ike’s Nuuanu and Kaneohe locations. He was a line chef for Hale Ku‘ike and worked at restaurants including the Fressen Restaurant in Toronto, Chai’s Island Bistro in Hono­lulu and Koji Sake Lounge in San Jose, Calif.

Coldwell Banker Pacific Properties has announced that realtor Margaret Murchie has been named one of three finalists in Sales & Marketing Executives Hono­lulu’s 2013 Distinguished Sales and Marketing Award in the real estate category. The winner will be announced Oct. 9.

The American Psychological Associations Minority Fellowship Program awarded Barbara W.K. Yee the American Psychological Association’s James Jones Lifetime Achievement Award during the organization’s recent national meeting in Hono­lulu. Yee is a professor and chairwoman of the Department of Family and Consumer Services at the University of Hawaii at Manoa.