Show SUZANNE CARTER S'anaa'3 Examine s!at B ' While retail sales were rebounding in February across the nation as a whole Ogdcn retailers report mixed results for the month The Commerce Department Thursday reported nationwide retail sales climbed 4 percent in February led by a strong 144 percent jump in auto sales January was not a good month for automobile dealers with sales 277 percent below those of December when customers decided to purchase their cars before sales tax and interest deductions were eliminated by the new tax laws Excluding autos sales increased only 15 percent in February with a slight improvement in every category accord- ing to a report by The Associated Press which said the February report appeared good only in comparison with January's poor figures "When you put it in perspective it's not impressive at all" said Michael K Evans president of Evans Economics Inc "Consumer spending remains weak" But David Wyss chief financial economist for Data Resources Inc of Lexington Mass pointed to gains throughout all retail categories and called the advance "extremely strong" "The consumer is still spending over his head and shows every sign of continuing to do so" Wyss said Evans noted that at the same time the Commerce Department released the February figures it revised its preliminary January figures to paint an even J C Penney manager said February was a good month for the store "As I recollect the company's sales were up 4 percent or 5 percent and our store was in that same percentage" Rueckert said "I think the weather and early purchases of spring merchandise helped boost sales in our store" by February they decided they needed to buy a car anyway so they came back into the marketplace" bleaker picture The Commerce Department said total automotive sales in February were $269 billion compared with $235 billion in January and 325 billion in December a automobile dealers reBut ported modest to sizable increases in sales from January "We had about a 25 percent increase from January" said Joe Christopher general manager for Rocky Mountain Chrysler Plymouth Isuzu Renault At Toyota of Ogden the dealership reported an increase in sales toward the end of February "We started to see a reversal but not as quick as we hoped for" said Stan Titus general sales manager He said for imported automobile dealers the boom in sales won't occur until April when their new shipments arrive "but domestic dealers are doing well" he said store sales increased Department slightly nationwide up 2 percent The majority of Ogden-aredepartment stores did not have their February sales figures tallied but Sperry Rueckert "We're still off about 10 percent from last February but sales have increased dramatically "January was not as good especially here in Utah because customers were concerned about what was going to happen with our taxes" he explained "But Inflation over the last three months has totaled 15 percent Evans said and he suggested much of the increase in sales is because of higher prices rather than purchases He also said when auto sales are excluded because of the buying aberrations induced by tax changes retail sales rose only 22 percent over the last three months "That's not impressive" Evans said :Luxury Business resort planned PROVO (AP) — Estes Co of Tucson Ariz plans to build a luxury hotel on the south side of "Traverse Ridge at Point of the Mountain officials say Construction will commence as access is pro- -' soon as vided up the mountain to the site a major hotel operator is selected and project financing com- said mitments are obtained Jeffrey Mongan spokesman for Estes a development company based in Tucson XT fgJ$ " Local s 9j mm xmw w V 1 ! 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"We're confident that these pieces will fall into place quick-- 1 ly" he said '1 M v S W J ! 1 $ :J State regional The resort scheduled to be completed by 1991 will include an golf course 10 tennis courts indoor and outdoor swimming pools and indoor health clubs No estimate of cost was released Mongan said the resort's proximity to such attractions as Provo Canyon Bridal Veil Falls Sundance American Fork Canyon Temple Square and the state's national parks also will help ensure its success The facility will have an immediate economic impact on Utah County by providing 600 jobs I and creating a significant increase £ in the property tax sales tax and I bed tax base Mongan said I County Commissioner Gary Anderson said the resort's loca-- " tion just inside Utah County boundaries will give the central Utah area's sagging economy a badly needed boost without expending money for education or special services "The tourists can come here and visit leave their money and then go home to use costly ser-- j vices" Anderson explained "We can encourage people to come to " Utah and give us their tax dollars and to take their children home with them We don't ncd to 'build schools to educat their children and that is a re jenefit to us" Projected taxes fi tne resort include $628200 in Toperty tax $50000 in food an J beverage tax and $300000 to $4j0000 in transient room tax Anderson said Associated y Westin Hotel Utah Press to close be converted Hotel closure an unhappy surprise SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — The Mormon Church' announcement that the Westin Hotel Utah would be closed and converted into church offices has come as an unhappy surprise to many "The city is the loser and the loss will be felt in a lot more ways than just economic" said former Gov Scott M Matheson w ho was also a member of the hotel's 75th Anniversary Committee "I hate to have ideas considered smart only for the reason of economic justification We have to take a look at whatever else is important The value of the hotel is that it has been a major focal point of the community for 75 years" The hotel will be closed Aug 31 the First Presidency of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-da- y Saints announced Thursday The action comes at a time when downtown accommodations have been overbuilt In January almost half of the nearly s rooms available to visitors in the Salt Lake area were empty on any given night Average room rates of $52 jumped by only 50 cents over the last two years Occupancy last year averaged 633 percent The decision to close the hotel eliminating the jobs of 348 employees was made after weighing the need for costly refurbish ing of the building to maintain its status as a hostelry against the urgent need for new church office and meeting space in the downtown area said Jerry Cahill church director of public affairs for the Mormon Church "The planned conversion is consistent with the growth of the church the prudent use of church resources the plan for the church administration block and in harmony with a program under which the church has withdrawn from competition with private business interests" according to a statement released by the church Asked about rumors that the hotel has been losing money Cahill said only that the Hotel Utah's financial record has been "consistent w ith the hotel industry in gen- eral" He said the decision to close the hotel needs of the was based on the church not the profits of the hotel "Personally I'm very saddened to hear about the Hotel Utah closing It's a great hotel a great institution" said Mike Hughes general manager of the Doubletree Inn adjacent to the Salt Palace "Whether or not we're going to benefit? Probably" he said "I consider it a loss to the city" said Phil n Cutting general manager of the Triad basis anytime one "On a loses (room) inventory it has negative ramifications I don't see it as a boon (for competitors) I think it's sad we're losing a grand old lady" Cutting said At the Salt Lake Marriott general manager Dino Georgalascq said "whether it's a boon or not for us remains to be seen "Hotels come and go" Georgalas said "But this is a landmark and at least it will remain that" "We're going to miss them because they've been a good friend" said Richard Millard chief executive officer of Pearson Hospitality Group which manages among others Salt Lake and Ogden's Hilton enterprises "And people have come to Salt Lake just to see it" "I can see the good and the bad in it" said Julie Peck manager of the Utah Association "It's going to help the rest of the (Salt industry i think" she said "I think (the Hotel Utah closure) was inevitable because of the hotel's location (proximity to other church buildings) and the fact that the church didn't w ant to be in that commercial business any longer" she said Idaho Power to discuss offer wi th UP&L : I " By DAN CUNNINGHAM S'rc!rd E""wr asvsunt twyress Idaho Power Co is getting The sale of 95 million shares of London-baseImperial Continental Gas Association stock for $1085 million has been completed by Gulf Resources & Chemical Corp parent of Great Salt Lake Minerals & Chemicals Gulf Resources said the transaction will result in a pretax profit of about $196 million or $208 per share Gulf Resources still owns about 46 percent of IC Gas stock tV-- serious about buying Utah Power & Light's 41000-cus- tomer service area in eastern Idaho Executives from the Idaho utility will meet soon with Utah Power counterparts to discuss a possible offer said IP spokes- man Logan Lanham So far Utah Power isn't showing much enthusiasm for the proposal which surfaced about two weeks ago UP5L represcniaiivcs hac persuaded Idaho's House Commerce Industry and Tourism Committee to delay oting on a proposal to poll UP&L's Idaho customers on the rsue "We di not hae a Mgn on the property Hut if they want to make an of--I Iit we will listen But thi'r are o kinds of offers the kind that are considerable and the Kinds that are not considerable" Utah Power spokesman John Ward aid Ward estimated the system's value at several hundred million dollars A delegation of Idaho lawmakers recent-!hau- - stepped up its lobbying efforts f r switching UP&L's Idaho customers over to Idaho Power Other interested parties have joined forces with lawmakers from eastern Idaho An official from Ricks College Rexburg school told lawmakers the Mormon-rucould save $500000 a year in power costs if it switched from UP&L service The proposed buyout was introduced last month by Idaho state Rep Stan Hawkins who said his constituents continually complained about high power costs during his election campaign last autumn The commerce and tourism committee held another hearing on the issue earlier this week but took no action Both utilities and other interested parties testified "The committee did not vote on the matter and did not set another hearing date" Ward said "We put together some testimony on what we thought were the weaknesses of the proposal" said Ward Utah Power representatiscs questioned Hawkins earlier claims that an irrigator demand would pay with a $74431 per kilowatt hour on Idaho I'uw cr's system and $1618 on Utah Power's grid "He did not consider that we have a load control program which shifts usage to hours at a considerable savings we do not think the rate for irriBasically gators differed all that much" Ward said Ward conceded that a residential customer on UpiL'i Idaho system might pay 6 percent more than his Idaho Power counterpart "But 250000 other Idaho customers would have a rate increase" said Ward indicating the nse could be as much as 30 percent in some instances "Our position is that (a purchase by Idaho Power) would result in a substantial reduction for the rate payers in eastern Idaho and hopefully Ik rate indifferent to our other customers" said Lanham IP's senior sue president fur public affairs Lanham said a state Public Utility com missiuner questioned Utah Power's figures in its testimony and indicated more detailed study would be required e Idaho Power customers outside the area mighi not have to pay higher prices Lanham said because the utility has surplus power available and would not have to build additional generating capacity Ward estimated the transmission and delivery lines and other service facilities would cost Idaho Power hundreds of millions of dollars In addition Utah Power would want to of be compensated for the generating capacity the utility has built to provide power to southeastern Idaho Asked what the next step could be for the proposal Ward responded "It could go somewhere from here or it could die" Lanham said businessmen and politicians in eastern Idaho have lobbied Idaho Power for years to buy L'P&L's eastern Idaho system However Idaho Power has never discussed the matter with Utah Power officials he said Ward described the company's Idaho service area as mostly rural and small communities Utah Power would resist a forced sale of the system Ward has said Davis Meat Packing Co of Garden City Idaho which has served area grocery stores for decades was expected to close today the victim of the Treasure Valley's grocery wars Plant production has dropped from a peak of 120000 pounds of meat a week in 1977 to 42000 for the week ending Jan 30 said Bill Dunn manager and part owner National A federal grand jury indicted a former top broker at Paine Webber Inc Thursday in an alleged $700000 money laundering scheme US Attorney Rudolph Giuliani said former vice president Gary Eder 41 was accused of conspiring with other employees at a midtown Paine Webber branch to prevent creation of required federal currency transaction reports creating false records to disguise large customer deposits and destroying Paine Webber records to avoid detection Turning aside objections by Defense Secretary Caspar Weinberger Commerce Secretary Malcolm Baldrige has strongly defended the proposed sale to Iran of equipment containing American-madcomputers Baldrige claimed the relatively unsophisticated equipment could be easily obtained by Iran from foreign manufacturers More than 26 million jobs are expected to be created in the United States this year about half of them generated by businesses with less than 50 workers according to Dun & Bradstreet Corp "Small businesses continue to be the driving force behind job creation in the US economy" said Joseph W Duncan chief statistician of Dun & Bradstreet Sweeping trade legislation has cleared its first House hurdle as lawmakers put off a potentially explosive vote on how to curb huge foreign surpluses amassed in commerce with the United States The bill would give the administration new authority to use import restraints to open overseas markets and protect US industries hard hit by foreign competition Hearst Corp is making the newspaper purchase in its history with a $400 million acquisition of the Houston Chronicle the largest daily newspaper in Texas Houston Endowment Inc a corporation that owned the news paper had to sell it by 1989 because of a tax law change foundations requiring to divest themselves of control of operating companies biegest |