BUSINESS BRIEFS
GMAC will lay off 42 in Hawaii
Advertiser Staff
Lender GMAC Financial Services will close its five Hawai'i offices and lay off 42 employees as part of its nationwide downsizing.
GMAC LLC and its Residential Capital LLC home loan unit Wednesday announced that 5,000 employees companywide will be laid off and all 200 GMAC Mortgage retail offices will be closed because of weak real estate markets.
GMAC spokeswoman Jeannine Bruin said the Hawai'i offices will stop accepting new loan applications at 5 p.m. tomorrow and will close Sept. 12.
Although the offices will be closed, Bruin said, GMAC and Residential Capital customers will continue to be served.
"We are still lending money. We're still making new loans. We're just not making them through our storefront presence or through mortgage brokers," she said from her office in Pennsylvania.
She said the 42 employees will receive severance pay and job placement assistance.
A&B STOCK WILL TRADE ON NYSE
Alexander & Baldwin Inc. plans to shift the trading of its stock from the Nasdaq market to the bigger New York Stock Exchange next month.
Shares of the Honolulu-based firm are expected to begin trading on the Big Board under a new symbol, AXB, on Oct. 1.
The move by A&B, which is engaged in transportation, real estate and agribusiness industries, will be the second stock exchange switch by one of Hawai'i's publicly traded companies this year. In April, Maui Land & Pineapple Co. moved its stock listing to the NYSE from the American Stock Exchange.
To celebrate the move, A&B representatives are scheduled to ring the opening bell on the exchange floor Oct. 23.
A&B, founded in 1870, has had its stock traded on the Nasdaq since 1971 and initially became a publicly owned company in 1913 when its stock started trading on the Honolulu Stock and Bond Exchange. The company has a market capitalization of about $1.8 billion and 41 million shares outstanding.
U.S. DRY CLEANING BUYING IN INDIANA
U.S. Dry Cleaning Corp., which owns Caesars Cleaners and Young Laundry and Dry Cleaning in Hawai'i, said yesterday it is acquiring a major dry cleaning chain in Indiana.
California-based U.S. Dry Cleaning said it is buying 25 of the Tuchman Cleaners stores in Indianapolis and surrounding areas. The stores are owned by National Dry Cleaners of Phoenix and are being purchased in an all-cash transaction, U.S. Dry Cleaning said. The company said further details will be announced when the purchase is completed at the end of September.
The combined revenue of the stores that U.S. Dry Cleaning is acquiring is in excess of $7 million annually, according to the news release.
U.S. Dry Cleaning completed its acquisition of Caesars in June. It bought Young Laundry and Dry Cleaning in 2005.
SEAHAWKS FLYING ON HAWAIIAN AIR
For the second year in row, Hawaiian Airlines has been selected as the official charter airline for the Seattle Seahawks football team.
Hawaiian will fly the defending NFC West Division championship team on its eight road games this year, including the Seahawks' season opener Sunday in Buffalo.
Hawaiian, the state's largest airline, has flown between Seattle and Hawai'i since 1986 and currently flies two daily flights between Seattle and Honolulu and one daily flight between Seattle and Kahului, Maui.
