BUSINESS BRIEFS
UH's business school ranks 19th
Advertiser Staff and News Services
The undergraduate program at the University of Hawai'i-Manoa's Shidler College of Business was ranked 19th in International Business in the latest U.S. News & World Report survey of Best Business School for 2007.
Shidler was ranked alongside Brigham Young University, Michigan State University and the University of Illinois, and ahead of the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Of the public schools, Shidler College of Business is ranked 11th on the list.
TOYS 'R' US PULLS CHINA-MADE BIBS
NEWARK, N.J. — Toys "R" Us Inc. yesterday said it was removing all vinyl baby bibs from its Toys "R" Us and Babies "R" Us stores as a precaution after two bibs made in China for one supplier showed lead levels that exceeded Toys "R" Us standards.
Toys "R" Us, which operates more than 1,500 stores, said the result came in testing this month of bibs supplied by Hamco Inc. and marketed under the Koala Baby, Especially for Baby and Disney Baby labels.
Tests of Hamco bibs in May were within standards, Toys "R" Us said. Vinyl bibs made by other companies have been temporarily removed to avoid any confusion among customers.
$2.5B TROPICANA FACE-LIFT DELAYED
LAS VEGAS — The start of a $2.5 billion makeover of the Tropicana hotel-casino has been delayed until at least 2008 because of a volatile debt market and rising construction costs, a company spokes-man said.
Hud Englehart, a spokesman for the casino's parent company Columbia Sussex Corp., said the renovation is temporarily on hold due to "some operating issues and some credit markets."
"The company will continue to evaluate those markets to determine when the project will be initiated," Englehart said.
The Tropicana received approval in March from Clark County commissioners to expand the 34-acre property from its current inventory of 1,880 rooms. Those plans call for a mixed-use, five-tower, 10,000-room development on Las Vegas Boulevard.
NORTHWEST COULD INHERIT MIDWEST
MILWAUKEE — Northwest Airlines Corp. could end up owning rival Midwest Air Group Inc., which has agreed to a $450 million buyout offer from private equity firm TPG Capital.
Northwest is a passive investor in the deal and may eventually buy Midwest outright, TPG partner Richard P. Schifter said in a conference call yesterday morning.
The equity firm may want to cash out of the deal some day, he said, and Minneapolis-based Northwest could become the sole owner. Schifter said such a move could be several years away.
Midwest's decision to sell to TPG came late Thursday night and ended months of back-and-forth with another rival, AirTran Holdings Inc.
