Air China fetes Beijing-Honolulu service
Air China, which issued a notice last month that it would begin nonstop service in January between Beijing and Honolulu, celebrated the occasion at a gala Tuesday night that included airline and embassy officials, travel agencies, Hawaii exhibitors and hula dancers.
The new service, initially reported in a Sept. 13 story in the Honolulu Star-Advertiser, will be three days a week and begin Jan. 21.
Air China and the Hawaii Tourism Authority jointly announced the new route during an event at the Kempinski Hotel in Beijing. The airline’s sixth destination in the North America market will give it a four-month head start on Hawaiian Airlines, which plans to begin three-days-a-week service between Beijing and Honolulu in April.
Hawaiian Airlines and Air China will join China Eastern Airlines in offering nonstop service to the islands. China Eastern flies three times a week between Honolulu and Shanghai and plans to increase its frequency to five times a week in December.
Coldwell Banker acquires 2 realty firms
Two small local residential real estate businesses have been absorbed by Coldwell Banker Pacific Properties in a merger announced Wednesday.
The moves will add four agents to Coldwell, a firm with 400 sales associates and employees in five offices on Oahu.
Merging with Coldwell are Rorie Urban Real Estate and Hakoda & Co.
Three of Rorie Urban Real Estate’s five-person team joined Coldwell, including Urban, who said the industry was evolving beyond her capability as a small-business owner. Urban started her firm in 2006 but has been in the industry since 1989.
Hakoda & Co. was a sole proprietorship established by Mary Hakoda, who has more than 30 years of experience in residential real estate.
Maui restaurant wins TripAdvisor acclaim
Mama’s Fish House in Paia, Maui, has been named one of the top 10 fine-dining restaurants in the United States by users of the travel site TripAdvisor.com.
TripAdvisor’s 2013 Travelers’ Choice Restaurant awards recognize 171 restaurants in 13 countries.
The family-owned Mama’s Fish House ranks No. 10 on the U.S. list behind culinary luminaries including Colicchio and Sons Main Dining Room in New York City; Restaurant Gary Danko in San Francisco; Victoria & Albert’s in Orlando, Fla.; Commander’s Palace in New Orleans; The French Room in Dallas; Halls Chophouse in Charleston, S.C.; Inn at Little Washington in Washington, Va.; L’Atelier de Joel Robuchon in Las Vegas; and Uchiko in Austin, Texas.
Island Olive Oil opening store in Waikiki
Island Olive Oil Co. will open its previously announced second location at Royal Hawaiian Center in Waikiki on Wednesday.
The original store at Ward Centre was named Best New Retail Business of the Year at the Retail Merchants of Hawaii annual awards luncheon last Thursday Oct 24.
The new store will feature spouted, stainless steel fustis from which different kinds of olive oil and balsamic vinegar imported from around the world can be sampled by customers, as does the original store.
Bottles for sale at the 700-square-foot Waikiki store will be prepared fresh daily from the Kakaako shop.
The new Waikiki location in Suite C-113 behind the Apple Store, formerly occupied by Remix Hawaii, also will offer sauces, jams, salts, spices and specialty soaps, many of them made in Hawaii.
Owner Dana Bergman announced his expansion plans in August and expressed a desire to open the Waikiki store last month.
Facebook’s earnings fly past expectations
NEW YORK » Facebook’s latest quarterly results showed continued strength in mobile advertising, which spurred a 60 percent revenue increase in the July-September quarter.
The numbers beat Wall Street’s expectations for the second consecutive quarter, but after an initial after-hours trading spike, Facebook’s stock took a downturn during the company’s conference call with analysts.
Investors may have been spooked by a remark by Facebook finance chief David Ebersman, who said the company saw a decrease in daily use among younger teenagers, an important but fickle demographic.
After soaring as much as 18 percent to $57.98 after the quarterly results came out, shares of Menlo Park, Calif.-based Facebook slid to $48.44 in extended trading during the company’s conference call. The stock had closed Wednesday’s regular trading day down 39 cents at $49.01.
The stock’s fluctuations overshadowed a stellar quarter. The world’s largest social network said Wednesday that it earned $425 million, or 17 cents a share, in the third quarter. That’s up from a loss of $59 million, or 2 cents a share, in the same period a year ago. Adjusted earnings were $621 million, or 25 cents a share, in the latest quarter. That’s 6 cents better than analysts expected. This figure excludes special items, mainly stock compensation expenses.
Revenue grew 60 percent to $2.02 billion from $1.26 billion, helped by increasing mobile advertising revenue.
Santos wins Toyota photograph contest
Toyota Hawaii named Kyra Santos the winner of the #WinWithToyotaHI "Touchdown Pose" contest last Saturday. Santos will receive a $100 gas card as a prize.
The snap-and-win photo contest challenges University of Hawaii Rainbow Warrior fans to take pictures matching the theme announced for each home game. To enter, photos must be posted on Instagram, Twitter or Facebook with the contest hashtag.
Only entries posted on game day are eligible for the random drawing staged each Monday after a home game.
"The winning touchdown photo was all about team spirit and camaraderie," said Glenn Inouye, senior vice president for Servco Automotive representing the Toyota Hawaii Dealers.
Lamborghinis to star at Auto Lunch Bunch
Three exotic Lamborghinis will highlight the Kars at the Kurb display at the monthly Auto Lunch Bunch gathering Tuesday at noon.
The three cars combined contain 32 cylinders of automotive oomph at 1,820 horsepower.
On display will be a 550-horsepower Lamborghini LP 550-2 Gallardo, a 570-hp Lamborghini Superleggera, and a 700-hp Lamborghini Aventador, which can go from 0 to 60 mph in 2.7 seconds and has a top speed of 217 mph.
Auto Lunch Bunch co-founder Bill Maloney will discuss his new book, "Windy City Adman: Celebrities, Studios, Speedways, and Scoundrels," which contains stories about Al Unser, Jay Leno, Art Linkletter and others. Books will be offered for sale, with Maloney supplying his autograph.
The video to be shown is from the 2012 Concorso Italiano at Monterey Historics and features Lamborghini, Ferrari, Lancia, Fiat, Bizarrini, Bugatti, Alfa Romeo and Maserati models.
The price to attend the monthly lunch gathering at 1599 Ala Moana Blvd. is $14.25, which includes the meal, drink and tip.
Reservations are required and can be made by email, billmaloney15@aol.com, or by calling Ed Kemper at 225-2965.
ON THE MOVE
The Queen’s Medical Center-West Oahu has named:
» Julie Hussey director of the emergency department. She previously worked in the cardiopulmonary rehab department at Terre Haute Regional Hospital in Indiana.
» Jenny A. Papacek director of surgical services. She has extensive experience in perioperative and same-day surgery, including as director of perioperative services at Banner Good Samaritan Medical Center in Phoenix.
The Hawaii Health Systems Corp. Kauai Region board of directors has named Scott E. McFarland acting chief executive officer. McFarland is an experienced senior health care executive with academic medical centers, hospitals and health care organizations.
SummitMedia has announced Matt Ryder as vice president of sales and marketing. His responsibilities include overseeing the sales and marketing for Summit Media’s Honolulu stations.
