BUSINESS BRIEFS
Hawai'i No. 7 in gasoline prices
Advertiser Staff and News Services
Hawai'i's average price for regular gasoline yesterday — $3.394 a gallon — was the nation's seventh highest average pump price, according to the AAA Daily Fuel Gauge Report.
That means Hawai'i drivers, who normally pay the nation's highest gasoline prices, are paying less than drivers in Illinois ($3.518), Washington ($3.499), Indiana ($3.453), Wisconsin ($3.424), California ($3.421) and Michigan ($3.400).
Hawai'i and Mainland pump prices are being driven up by rising crude oil prices.
ROY'S COMMITS TO CALIF. PROJECT
Excel Realty Holdings LLC, developer of a 19-acre site adjacent to Disneyland, said it has received a commitment from Roy's Restaurants, the 34-restaurant chain started by Honolulu chef Roy Yamaguchi.
Excel said construction began on the Anaheim Garden Walk in May 2006 on the outdoor mall and hotel complex, which will feature 439,600 square feet in retail, dining and entertainment, three hotels with a combined 866 rooms, 400 time-share units comprising 560,000 square feet and more than 1 million square feet of parking spaces for 3,200 automobiles and 15 buses.
Roy's, based in Newport Beach, Calif., has six locations in Hawai'i, seven in California and one each in Japan and Guam. The remainder are elsewhere on the Mainland, according to the chain's Web site. The first Roy's opened in Honolulu in 1988.
MR. APPLIANCE FRANCHISE OPENS
Local businessman Tom Gebhardt has opened a Honolulu franchise of Mr. Appliance, a national chain that repairs all major brands of residential and commercial appliances.
Gebhardt previously owned Able Appliance Service Company in Honolulu.
Upon purchasing the Mr. Appliance business, Gebhardt attended a five-day training course on the latest technology, customer service techniques and marketing methods.
Established in 1996, Mr. Appliance Corp. is North America's largest appliance-repair franchise.
