| OCR Text |
Show The Salt LakeTribune Page D-4 BUSINESS @ CONSUMER CORNER/D-5 UTAH BRIEFS/D-5 @ BUSINESS GLANCE/D-6 @ DILBERT/D-8 TALK TO YOUR PC Voice recognition software is ready. Are you? 1 D-5 FRIDAY, DECEMBER4, 1998 Electronics Buyers Duefor a Pleasant Shock Market Indicators Plungingprices make home computers, VCRsandrelated products top Christmas bargains BY PHIL SAHM S&P 500 NASDAQ fore Christmas. And nationally, the elec- THE SALT LAKETRIBUNE tronics industry is experiencing robust Likea lot of shoppers this holiday season, Joe M. Bridge received a pleasant sur- zanne Shelton, of Dallas-based computer prise whenherecently priced computersin Salt LakeCity “Thecost is just about half of what we paid a coupleof years ago,” said Bridge, a contractor from the Bridger Valley in southwestern Wyoming Bridge will use a new computer, his fourth, for business anda Christian minis- Utah's Top Performers TheBloomberg Utah Index measures stock performance of the state's major publicly held companies try he andhis wife run fromtheir home Peoplein the marketforall kindsof electronics productswill find bargains. Computer prices have droppednearly 50 per- cent the past six months, and thecosts of other electronics products also are down significantly Several factors influenced the drop in prices, including a plungein the cost of computer chips. economic problems in The Dowslid back below 9,000 Thursday, nearly postingits second 200-point loss in four days, as the stock market's week longbout of profit-takingfinally seeped into the Southeast Asia and efficiencies gained through mass production Retailers hope the rock-bottom prices will bring customers through the door be- ales. Notonly haveprices dropped,” said Su- retailer CompUSA, “theyare getting much better technology for the money A personal-computer system that sold for just under $1,000iast year now selis for under $600, with a rebate, Shelton said Andthe system includes a more powerful processor, color printer and greater memory than the one that was more expensive than last VCRs Reverse sticker shock have a compact disc player or amplifier like the stereo he sawat Willey. “These prices are a lot lower than I thought they would be,” Reinachersaid An unusually sharp plunge in prices of electronics gizmos is tuming some It is no secret that consumer electronics is an industry whereprices edge down over novelty itemsinto mass market products in the early days ofthis year's holiday shopping season. time. But the drop in price the past year has exceeded historical averag Dave Powers, a technology analy Some comparisons of the prices on popular products: EdwardJones inSt. Louis. He pins current prices on a 70 percent drop in the cost of computer memorychips the past year, compared with a historical Lastyear $119 drop of 30 percent a year. Chip makers VCR els — $30 lower than a year ago, said Steve Child, vicepresident of merchandising at as production went up, prices dropped. DVD Piayer R.C. Willeyin Salt Lake City. lize in the next year, and the industry $69 for some mod- Camcorders are $110 less than a year ago. Chiid has not seen a noticeable effect on sales yet, except for Quasar VCRs that sold recently for $69. “We probably sold 300 of them,” he said Ken Reinacher did a double-take when he saw an $899 stereo system at Willey Three years ago, he andhis wife, Teresa, paid about $900 for a system thatdid not built too many plants in the early 90s and But the cost of chips probably will stabi- should movetowarditshistorical trend in prices, Powerssaid. “Prices will continue to fall. but not as rapidlyas they have the past couple of years,” he said bilizing prices will not hurt computer sales, Racker said R.C. | Willey salesman Monty $399 monitor) $799 $1,099 Palm Pilot “You get a lot of customersafraid $288, Personal computer $699 Pc (with Printer and Digital camera to buy a computer because they wor y the price will dropafter they buy,” he said Now $80 $499 600-800 $400-600 $299 $249 technologysector. Tooele County ~ Axes Plan for | Waste Dump CordantTechnologies Stock Falls After Boeing News Cordant Technologies Inc. shares fell 12 percent Thursday on concern Boeing Corp.’s plansto slash production may hurt the Utah aerospace company’s sales. Cordant sharesfell $4.44 to $31.50. The declinefollowed a 10 percent drop on Wednesday Planning Commission won’t OK Safety-Kleen radioactive waste Boeing, the world’s largest plane- maker,plans to shed 48,000 jobs by the end of 2000 from worldwide workforce of about 238,000 because BY BRENT of declining airplane orders, a result ISRAELSEN ‘THE SALT LAKE TRIBUNE of declining demand fromits Asian customers. Tooele County again has blocked an Cordant, best known for making hooster rockets for the space indusIso makesfastening systems pete with Envirocare of Utah in the lucrative radioactive-waste disposal busi- and parts foraircraft engines. Boeing's cutbacks could mean less demandfor fasteners madebyCor- Planning Commission voted 3-3 on a request bySafety-Kleento convert part of attempt by Safety-Kleen Corp. to com- a in the transportationindustry ness. On Wednesday, dant’s Huck unit and for engine cast- itory for low-level radioactive waste ings made by Howmet International Byordinance, a tie vote meansthe request is denied, said county planner Nic- Inc., 62 percent owned by Cordant It's morethanlikelya g reaction to the Boeing woes,” s Pierre Chao, a MorganStanley Dean Witter analyst who has an “outperform” rating on Cordant. ole Cline Approval of the request would have ae “They are exposed, but their exposureis not worth thefive bucks the stock lost today.” Chao estimated about 15 percent of Cordant’s revenue comes fromsales to Boeing First Security Buyback First Security Corp., Salt Lake City, saidit will begin to repurchaseupto 3.7 millionsharesofits outstanding stock tofacilitate the a Van Kasper & Co., a San Francisco- based investment banking and brokeragefirm. Theacquisition is expected to close next month. No time limit wasset to complete thestock buy- back program, whichinvolves pures in the open market Security operates 317 bank branches and morethan 60 business banking offices in Utah. Idaho, New Mexico, California, Nevada, Oregon and Wyoming. NewRetail Ad Manager ‘The Newspaper Agency Corp. the publishing, advertising and circulation companyowned by The Salt Lake Tribune and Deseret News, has appointed Timothy W. Collum as retail advertising manager. Currently a sales manager at the Denver Post, Collum years experiencein newspaper advertising. He has workedfor the Chicago Sun Times, Rocky Mountain News and Photos by Toby Talbot/The Associated Press Longtime worker Rose Seger,outside the plant that makes Scrabbietiles, is uncertainof her employmentfuture. print advertising for the NAC. He starts work Jan. 11 Garff Hires Penna Powers Penna Powers Cutting & Haynes has won the advertising account of Ken Garff Automotive Group — one of Utah's biggest advertisers. John Haynes, president of PPCH, said the multimillion-dollar account hasthe potential to generate revenues of nearly $500,000 for the agency and will be oneofits three largest accounts. Ken Garff Automotive Group owns 10 dealerships in the Salt Lake and Provo metropolitan areas. Its dealerships include Honda, Mercedes, Saab, Volvo, Mitsubishi and Audi. PPCH spentan estimated $62,000, including employee time, to pitch the account, Haynes said. The agency, which employs 40 people, expects to hire three or four new people. allowed Safety-Kleen, which has strug- gledlately becauseof a slumping hazardous-waste market, to becomeaplayer in the radioactive-waste market, where En- virocarehasenjoyeda brisk business in recent yea S Safety Kleen spokeswoman Maggie Wilde said her company probably will appeal the Planning Commission's vote C-L-O-S-E-D: Scrabble Factory Will Soon Be at a Loss for Words to the Tooele County Commission. ‘Wedon't intend to fold up our tent and go away,” Wildesaid. “Weare dis- couraged but not dissuaded.” Formerly known as Laidlaw Environ- THE ASSOCIATED PRESS FAIRFAX, Vt. — Today spells the end for the only US. factory making those little wooden Scrabble tiles. HasbroIne. is hanging a C-L-O-S-E-D sign at the Milton Bradley WoodProd. ucts Co., which has churnedout a million of the letteredtiles a day for 20 years Thereason is a 10-point word: busines: Hasbro spokesman Mark Morris says the company beganlooking at the most efficient way to make each product and decidedto get out of the business of producing the tiles itself. Milton Bradleyisa Hasbrodivision Eighty-seven people arelosing their jobs after doing their part to makethe little rectangles that litter coffee tables in oneof every three American homes Scrabble sells 1 million to 2 million copies in North America every year and is a 50-year-old favorite guaranteed to turn up under Christmas trees and come out ofclosets during snowstorms. mental Services, Safety-Kleen operates a “Sometimesit was hardto believe that we still had to make them,” says Harold Wright Jr., who worked at the factory for 8% years, “But the order just kept hazardous-waste landfill and incinerator in Tooele C ounty about 80 miles west of S ist year, it began trying landfill into a radio- getting bigger every year.” Ina testament to the game’s popularity, President Clintonandhis wifeplay Scrabble on vacation. When Americans wereheld hostagein Iran nearly20 years ago, they made a Scrabble game out of paper tohelppass thetime. And John D. Williams Jr., executive director of the National Scrabble Association, says he heard that Scrabbleaficionadosin Jerusalem played Scrabblein gas masks during the Persian Gulf War. rabbletiles are one of the most reeognizable icons, American icons,” Wil. is says Hasbro is still considering contractors in the United States and overseas and hasn't decided whereits tiles will come from aftertoday. But somefolksin Fairfax findit hard to believe that a companywould close one plant before finding another, and ep was to get the Tooele County Planning Commission to amend the company’s conditional-use permit. The n denied the request, largely Cline recommended against it on the grounds there is no market need for twe radioactive-waste dumps in Tooele County. Envirocare, which strongly opp Safety-Kleen’s proposal, operates. adioactive waste landfill a few miles from Safety-Kleen’s landfill Earlier this year, Safety-Kleen ap- Slats for Scrabble tiles in Fairfax, Vt. they are convincedthe tiles will come fromoverseas. Whatever the outcome, Scrabble will See SCRABBLE, Page D-8 The Newspaper Network, anational advertising group based in Sacramen to. In his new role, Collum will oversee retail, co-op, national and pre- the Tooele County its hazardous-wastelandfill into a repos- pealed to the Tooeie County Commis- sion, which ordered an independent study, paid for by Safety-Kleen, of the radioactive-waste market. The study, conducted by Environmentai Resources Management Co., conclud- ed the market could support two radioactive-waste disposal companies in See TOOELE, Page D-8 Monthly Sales of Trucks, SUVs Outpace Cars for First Time THEASSOCIATED PRESS He said hesees no end to the trend be- DETROIT — Americans bought more cause SUVs, pickups and minivans do a vans than cars for the first time last better job of fitting most Americans’ lifestyle than do cars new pickups,sport utility vehicles and month, reaching a landmarkin the dec- ade-long trend toward bigger, more functional and gasoline-thirsty trucks. Final November sales figures that automakersreleased Thursday showso “They arebig,they areperceived to be safe, they have a very contemporary, of the new-vehicle market in November, with-it image, they provide better visibility, better seating position, better roominess, more functionality and moreutility,” Peterson said. “They are more usablein the modern Americanlifestyle compared with 49.1 percent for cars. The continuingrise in truck sales has been driven by a robust economy, low gasoline prices and Americans’ growing years with a profusion of expensive lux. called lighttrucks captured 50.9 percent demandfor the roominess and increas- ingly car-like luxury of big SUVs and pickups. One study shows fuel economy today ranks 35th onthe list of attributes important to truck buyers. Industry consultant George Peterson of AutoPacific Inc. in Santa Ana, Calif., drives a hulkiig Ford Expedition SUV. than anyonereallyimagined they would The trend has expanded in recent ury SUVs. Many baby boomersin their prime earning years are opting for Lincoin Navigators and Mercedes-Benz Mclass SUVs rather than the Cadillac De- Villes and Lincoin Continentals that their parents bought The variety of pickupsalso has grown, with two-, three- and f-ur-door models invarioussizes. They feature a smoother ride and interior featuresthat rival those of cars. Automakersalso are expanding the SUV market with smaller, car-based models such as the Lexus RX300 and the Honda CR-V A lack of up-to-date truck models is hurting General Motors Corp., the largest automaker, which reported a 6 percent decline in its U.S. sales for November. Its light-truck sales feli 8 percent and car sales were off 4 percent compared with November1997. CM'slackluster Novembersales cast doubt on its ability to regain at least 30 percent of the U.S. market this year in the wake of two devastating strikes last @ Trucks Rule in Utah Utahns have been crazy about trucks since 1993 That year, for the first time, more Utahns bought trucks, sport utility vehicles and vans than passenger cars, according to Utah State Tax Commission figures. Every year since then, truck, SUV and van sales have outnumberedcarsales. Second-quarter 1998 figures, thelatest available, show 13,707 new-truck sales, which includes motor homes, SUVs and minivans. Passenger-car sales totaled 9,899. Last year, truck, SUVs and vans accountedfor nearly 57 summer. GM’s share in November was’ percent of new-vehicle sales. In just under 29 percent. GM may have to close plants if its share remains below 30 percent of new sales, according percent No. 2 Ford Motor Co. reported a 2 pe; cext increase in Novembersales. 1992, car sales accounted for 58 to the Tax Commission. — Phil Sahm |
