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Business Digest
Bellevue Mitsubishi dealership shuts down

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The Northwest Development Group operated a Mitsubishi dealership at 12224 N.E. Bellevue-Redmond Road since January 2003 and a used-car lot at 614 116th Ave. N.E. since October 2001 — a location the company shut down a month ago. The two dealerships employed 30 people.

"Our business has fallen off 50 percent from a year ago and we didn't see it as a good business anymore," said Chip Fackrell, general manager of the store and one of the three partners.

Bellevue Mitsubishi is in the process of sending its cars to other Mitsubishi dealerships.

The Washington Department of Licensing has opened a case looking into the dealership's closure.

Customers can contact local Mitsubishi dealerships with any warranty or maintenance questions.

Marchex subsidiary in deal with BellSouth

SEATTLE — TrafficLeader, a subsidiary of Seattle-based Marchex, said yesterday that it signed two agreements with BellSouth. Financial terms were not disclosed.

TrafficLeader's technology will be used to improve the search-engine placement of advertisers with BellSouth's Internet yellow pages for the Southeastern U.S.

Marchex provides services that help merchants open stores online, market products to consumers and measure the effectiveness of those online campaigns.

In Marchex's first financial report as a public company, it said yesterday that it posted a first-quarter loss of $1.4 million, or 11 cents a share, compared with a $375,000 loss a year ago. First-quarter sales were $7.6 million, up 58.3 percent from $4.8 million in the year-ago period.
 
Operating cash was $1.1 million.

Marchex raised $27.2 million through its initial public offering March 30. The company's stock has risen 76.9 percent from its IPO price of $6.50, closing yesterday at $11.50.

Costco to start replacing South Seattle store in summer

BELLEVUE — Costco Wholesale will begin construction on a new South Seattle store in late summer and replace its original store early next year.

The new store will add more than 34,000 square feet, a gas station and 400 new parking stalls to a location that has irked customers with its tight location and lack of parking.

Costco will keep its South Seattle warehouse — which opened as the company's first store in 1983 — open while the new 156,600-square-foot store is under construction. The old warehouse will later be demolished, said Dave Messner, vice president at Northwest Atlantic, which provides real-estate strategy and development services for Costco.

The Issaquah-based warehouse-club chain has two other proposed stores in the Puget Sound area: a Woodinville store that will open in February 2005 and one in Gig Harbor that will open in November 2005.

Purcell Systems taps $16.6 million in funding

SEATTLE — Purcell Systems, a company outside Spokane, plans to announce today that it raised $16.6 million in venture capital.

Liberty Lake-based Purcell sells equipment to wireless carriers to install at cell-tower locations to keep them running.

Purcell, which is profitable and expecting to record $46 million in revenue this year, already serves four of the six largest wireless companies.

The company's first round of funding will help pay for expansion into the traditional wireline business and to grow internationally. Weston Presidio, which has offices in Menlo Park, Calif., and Boston, led the round with other individuals participating.

Starbucks picks senior VP for entertainment ventures

SEATTLE — Starbucks said yesterday that it named Kenneth Lombard as senior vice president and president of Starbucks Entertainment to lead the coffeehouse chain's growing involvement in music and entertainment.

The newly created position takes effect May 24.

Lombard has most recently served as president of Johnson Development Corp./Magic Johnson Theatres and co-managing partner of the Canyon Johnson Urban Fund.

Oregon unemployment fell to 6.7 percent in April

PORTLAND — Employment improved across much of Oregon in April as the jobless rate fell by half a percentage point to 6.7 percent, according to state figures released yesterday.

The seasonally adjusted statewide unemployment rate dropped from 7.2 percent in March as the Oregon economy showed signs of health.

In Washington state, the jobless rate fell to 6.1 percent in March from 6.2 percent in February; April data will be released Tuesday.

Nation/World

United Airline seeks extension of $1 billion loan

CHICAGO — United Airlines, which filed for bankruptcy protection in December 2002, is seeking to extend a $1 billion loan funding its reorganization to the end of this year, from midyear, according to court filings.

United and banks that provided $1.3 billion in loans to fund the company through the bankruptcy process also agreed to reduce their interest rate to 8.5 percent from 9.5 percent, the May 7 court filing said. United will pay $1.25 million for the changes, pending bankruptcy court approval.

Chicago-based United, the world's second-largest airline, in March postponed its exit from Chapter 11 to sometime after June 30, saying it needed to resolve pension and creditor issues. The company wants to cut costs by $5 billion annually to stem losses that totaled $8.2 billion in the past three years.

Eisner to keep same salary he got when still chairman

LOS ANGELES — Michael Eisner will keep his $1 million annual salary as chief executive of The Walt Disney Co., although he no longer serves as board chairman, according to the company's quarterly report filed yesterday.

His compensation package still remains lower than those given to executives at Time Warner and Viacom. Eisner had been chairman and chief executive at Disney since 1984. His contract gave him the option to leave "for good reason," including if he was not retained as chairman. In March, Disney's board stripped Eisner of his chairmanship after investors withheld 45 percent of votes cast from his re-election to the board.

Compiled from Seattle Times business staff, Bloomberg News, Reuters and The Associated Press.