Salt Lake Tribune | 1999-10-08 | Page 23

The Salt LakeTribane BUSINESS @ CONSUMER CORNER, C-2 Market Indicators MEUTAH BRIEFS, C-2 DILBERT. C-2 BY LESLEY MITCHELL THE SALT LAKE TRIBUNE Dow Martin Empey was shocked when he first looked at the employmentand earnings record he requested from the Social Security Administration. “They had me earning $5,000 one year when I made many timesthat,” the Salt LakeCity financial planner said of the mistake, which could have reduced the Social Security benefits he will receive whenheretires. Making sure Social Security records a are correctis one of the goals of the largest customized mailing ever undertaken Utah's Top Performers by a federal government agency. The Bloomberg UtahIndex measures the stock performance ofthe state's major publicly held companies. Retail spending stays || Used-Car Buyers Should in market, weather | Look for Water Damage Vehicies damagedby floods related to Hurricane Floyd may be on ers will receiveif they stop workingat62, benefit workers will receive if they be- die. Workerswill receivetheir statements While the campaign will help make Social Security records more accurate, in the quarter prior to the month in which theywere born. See SOCIAL SECURITY, Page C-2 Christmas season,” said Steve Paspal, senior retail analyst at Sovereign Asset Management, a subsidiary of John Han: cock Funds. Retailers continue to enjoy one of their strongest years in recent history ‘They have benefited greatly from there- silient U.S. economy with low unemployment andtame inflation. Separately on Thursday, the Labor cesses behind the dashboard; unusual amountsof mud onhinges orin wheel wells; new carpet or upholstery; or upholstery with waterstains or damp odors in closed areas suchas theinterioror trunk Department reported new claims for jobless benefits rose by 10,000 to reach 312.000 last week, the highest level since July 17. While the increase was bigger Griffin/The Salt Lake Tribune Bentley Gowans, 7, and his 4-year-old sister, Macey,slip on some costumesat Macs Hobby & Craft in Bountiful on Friday. Color of money: Orange and black than manyanalysts expected, the total remains low. Manymerchants haveworriedin re proval States to sanctionthe takeover. Scottish Powerinitially sought asking for brooms, stuffed witches andplastic pumpkins With three weeksto go before the holiday, some bare already are beginning to appear onstore shelves as shoppers scramble for the best costumes anddecorations aid Sta Halloween is becoming more popular y cey Davis, a manager at Macs. Thestore's sales of Halloweer rejated products have grownby 20 percent each of the past two years heating and to headoff a resurgence of inflation. While the Fed's rate hikes have un settled investors and shaken thestock market, consumers sofar haven't slowed regulators faltered, Scottish Powerin July agreed to give Pacificorp’s Ore: | gon customers about $51 million in rebates, Bloomberg News reported. | | Pacificorp has million electric | ity customers in Oregon, Utah, Wyo: ming, Idaho, Washington and California, and power plants that can their spending. The winners in September were the discount chains, such as Wal-Mart and Consumers will spend an average ‘Target, which continueto draw consum generateas much as 8,000 m watts, enoughto light about 8 million | candy, decorations and costumes for themselves and their chil dren, up from$81 last according to American Express. A survey done by the companyshows Halloween is the second school merchandise. Unlike many other merchants, the discount chains benefited from Hurri urprisingly, Halloween is higherup on the list, in terms of dollars spent, than Mother's and Father's Day and Valentine most expensive holiday after Christmas, on which consumer an average of about $1,100 annually Day,” American Express spokesmanTomSclafani said In addition to buying decorations and costumes, many Utahnsplunk down upto $6 each to maneuver through cornfield mazes, haunted houses and pumpkin patches Amy andJim Cowley of Centerville spend about $20 eachfor ane Floyd, with shoppers flocking to heir stores to stockpile everything from flashlights to food. California approved the Pacificorp sale in June, and Scottish Power said it expects to receive all the regulatory approvals it needs to complete the Many department stores and specialty chains, however re hurt by the storm, which caused extensive flooding that closed malls and roadways. Specialtystores, such as The Limited, also reported healthy sales, luring shoppers with their trendy fashions, such as purchase this year Venture-Capital Meeting Three Utah companies have been | selectedto participate Nov. 5 in the | Investors Choice East Equity Capital —_| WayneBrownInstitute's first annual Conference in New YorkCity Venture capitalists will attend the | | conference in search of new invest costumesfor their children, Brady, 4, and Joshua, 2. They also spend about $30 for candy, Thecouplealso planto dress Stores not only are stocking Halloween items earlier, they are devoting more space to the holiday and offering a wider stretchy pants andvests. Cooler weather moving into parts of the country also lifted boosted clothingsales. See HALLOWEEN, Page C-6 B anking Reform B oosts Utah Industry Helper’s Utah Railway Latches Onto SLC Southern The Utah companies are I*Sim BY STEVEN ORERBECK Corp., Surgery.com and Tru Vision THE SALT LAKE TRIBUNE company inthe cosmetic surgery pro Utah Railway Co. is still highballing it down the growth track The Helper-based rail carrier, which throughout most of its 86-year history concentrated on hauling coal be- fession. tween Price and Provo, has acquired the Salt Lake City simulators. Salt Lake City-based Surgery.com is an Internet-based patient referral Tru Vision, also of Salt Lake City is a sales and marketing organization that has developed a v arepack age offering a suite of vision benefits Southern Railroad from Railtex Inc, of San Antonio for $675,000. Salt Lake City Southern picks upfreight cars from to health-care plans, medium and ind large member based organizatior In all, 14 companieswill be present at the conference, one of several the year, Basedin Salt Lake City, thein stitute educates companies about venture capital and helps them make contacts. OOR COPY | | railroads covering more than3,500 miles of track in 15 Stat Utah Railway officials declined to comment onthe purchase. The company, however, has been growingsince1996, when it began to take advantage of expansion opportu nities offered when Union Pacific and SouthernPacific railroads merged. Federal regulators approved that $5.4 billion merger on the condition that the combined company allow its tracks to be used by other freight carriers. That gave Utah Railway the chance to carry freight as far as Grand bigger railroads such as Union Pacific and delive nom to business rail spurs throughout the Salt Lake Valley, said Ron Rittenmeyer, Railtex's president and chief ex Junction, Colo,, more than doublingits availabletrack. ecutiveofficer ered to customers and outbound cargo gets switched It was created when Union Pacific sold to the Utah ‘Transit Authority a portion of its track stretching from the border between Utah County andSalt Lake County to 900 South Union Pacific, howev ained rights to haul freight over the track and subsequently sold those rights to Railtex, which operates about 30 short-line freight up, and will take their children to several Halloween-related events. “By the time you add it all up, I can see howit easily could exceed $100,” Amy Cowleysaid ments Inc *Sim of Murray develops and nearly $100 this year on ers with their wide selection andafford. able prices. Kmart, however, reported disappointing sales due to aggressive price-cutting by competitors on back-to homes The agreement gives Pacificorp shareholders 2.32 Scottish Power shares for each share they hold THE SALT LAKE TRIBUNE BOUNTIFUL Maes Hobby & Craft has been selling Hal loween decorations since July, when customers first began to try to keep the economyfromover state regulatory approvals byoffering reliability improvements whilerefus: ing to cut rates, As negotiations with BY LESLEY MITCHELL Costunies, cent months that borrowing and spend. ing wouldslow after the Federal Reserve raised interest rates twice this summer planned$10.8 billion purchase of Pacificorp. It is the second of six Wayne Brown Institute holds each Salomon said. ail indicationsarethatthis will continue throughtheendof the year and intothe Consumers worried about buying sucha vehicle shouldlook for dried mudorsilt on enginepartsorin re large employer ran becomea big mess tofix if you wait until you're readyto retire,” spouse and children will receive if they level in more than two months. state’s Lemon Lawcovers only those who buy newcars vehicle that long, come severely disabled or what their unemployment benefits to the highest ingly buythese vehicles cannot seek relief fromher division because the manufactures andeven30ye rlier. Becausepeople do not keep W-2 forms 67 or 70. They also provide the monthly “The hurricanedid hurt somein September, but overall, sales were good, and couldbe very costly.” Giani said Utahns who unknow | ‘The statements estimate what work better manage your money." business because of Hurricane Floyd, which battered the East Coast last month. The stormalsoboosted the num: ber of Americansfiling new claims for cine Giani, directorof the Consumer Protection Division. “When it does,it Scottish Power has won 4 lem. “In the past, you had to request a statement,” Empey said. “Getting it automatically each yearis a great idea.” — oe A weeklylook at ways to While sales reports Thursday were generally strong, some merchants lost “With the electronics in cars these jays, water can cause damagethat might not be apparent to the naked eye, or might not show up for some time after the purchase,” said Fran- fromOregonregulators for whenthey retire andoffer basic information aboutthenation’s SocialSet urity Rita Salomon, a spokeswoman for the Social Security Administration. Many of those who requested statements often were near retirement, and mistakes they discoveredrelatedto jobs they held 10, 20 terest rates. throughout the United States, where peoplewill buy them without knowing they havewater damage. i ploymentand earningshistories, provide an estimate of what workerswill receive In the past, too few people requested statements and mistakes often went un detected, sometimes for decad d tained their shopping spree at the nation’s stores and malls in September, hardly slowed byvolatility in the stock market, stormy weather and rising in- trucks e damagedby floodwaters in the Carolinas. Many are beginning to find their wayto used-car lots Utility Wins Oregon OK The Social Security Administration this week began sending statements to 25 million workers age 25 and older who are notalready receiving Social Security benefits. Thestatements, beingsentat the rate of 500,000 each business day, detail em. NEW YORK — Americans main- of Consumer Protection warned. As man 5,000 automobiles and | OCTOBER8, 1999 steady despite shifts ie their way to Utah, the Utah Division | H OBITUARIES, C-7 American Shoppers Don’t Scare Easily Stocks closed mostly lower Thi investors tookprofits from Wednesday's umeprices aed looked nervousy ahead to thegovernmentsemployment report on Fri ~ | Are YourSocial Security Files Correct? Checklist Is in the Mail mj Industrials siematemeias ME BUSINESS GLANCE, C-3 SECTION, Burlington Northern Sante Fe acts as Utah Railway's agent in Utah, making sure inboundfreight gets deliv onto Burlingtontrains headed west to northern Califor niaor east to Denver: DaveParkinson, owner of Park Sierra Rail Group in Napa, Calif, said Sait Lake City Southern couldproveto be a good businessfor its new owners. Parkinsontried to buy Salt Lake City Southernlast year fromRailtex but the negotiations fell through BY STEVEN OBERBECK | | | | THE SALT LAKE TRIBUNE Uncertainty over which direction Congress will takein reforming the nation’s banking system has led nationalfinancial-services companies to take ing interest in Utah's thrift and loan industry. The number of companies interestedin acquiring a charter to ope Utah industrial loan corporation is at an all-time high this year, said Ed Leary tom. missioner of the Utah Department of Financial Institutions. Leary hasfielded inquiries from 2hout 14 compa nies, The interest could stem from the debate over whether Congress will loosen the laws governing the business areas in which banks and otherfinancial in stitutions can operate, he said. See THRIFT AND LOAN,Page C-6 }