Business Briefs

Reported by Star-Bulletin staff & wire

Tuesday, September 23, 1997

Marketplace developer
proposes new projects

The developer of Aloha Tower Marketplace has offered a proposal to develop the waterfront near the retail and entertainment complex.

Aloha Tower Associates and Lehman Brothers last week met with members of the Aloha Tower Development Corp., the state agency that oversees the project, to discuss their proposal. Both ATA and ATDC's attorney Andy Beaman declined to give details on the proposal, saying it was confidential.

The development rights for the area include the right to build a hotel, parking, offices, and condominiums.

The Aloha Tower Marketplace is under involuntary bankruptcy proceedings. Mitsui Trust & Banking Corp. has said that ATA has not made any payments on a $60 million loan. Mitsui is selling that loan to Chicago-based Trinity Investment Trust LLC for a discounted amount.

Nike Inc. severs ties
with 4 overseas plants

PORTLAND, Ore. -- Hit by accusations that it keeps many of its Asian workers in sweatshop conditions, Nike Inc. is severing ties with four Indonesian factories for violating the company's labor standards.

In making the announcement at its shareholder meeting yesterday, Nike said it was the first time it has stopped using a contractor following a review of compliance with its code of conduct. Nike said the four plants would have to improve wages and working conditions to get the business back.

In an earlier news conference, San Francisco-based Global Exchange repeated accusations that Nike contractors operate factories similar to prison camps, paying below the minimum wage, hiring workers as young as 13 and violating the company's own code of conduct.

Nike called Global Exchange an irresponsible fringe group.

Delta Air Lines' shares
tumble after warning

ATLANTA -- Delta Air Lines Inc. shares fell sharply after the company said fiscal first-quarter earnings will be below analysts' expectations and lower than the year-ago quarter's, on a decline in revenue. In New York Stock Exchange trading, the Atlanta-based airline's shares lost $4.625 to close at $102.06. Delta shares before today had climbed 30 percent since July 14.