SoundTrack stores to take on new name
Ultimate Acquisition Partners, a Thornton-based retailer, on Thursday said it is converting its nine SoundTrack consumer electronics superstores in Colorado to the Ultimate Electronics brand next month.
The name change brings all 32 retail stores in the company’s nine-state operating area under the Ultimate Electronics name. The name change is part of an ad campaign launching this fall.
DIA in May drops to 7th-busiest U.S. airport
Denver International Airport was the seventh-busiest airport in the nation ranked by the number of domestic passengers in May, down from sixth busiest a year ago.
More than 1.6 million domestic passengers boarded planes at DIA in May, according to figures released Thursday by the Bureau of Transportation Statistics at the Department of Transportation. The busiest airport in the nation was Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International with nearly 3.5 million passengers boarding planes there in May.
BLM’s oil-and gas-lease sale nets $10 million
The Bureau of Land Management Colorado state office conducted its quarterly oil-and-gas- lease sale Thursday, netting $10 million in proceeds.
Unofficial results show 79 out of 85 parcels sold, totalling 71,589 acres. BLM Colorado said it was the second-highest revenue-producing lease sale held.
Global imaging firm hires senior directors
Dulles-based Orbimage Inc. announced Wednesday that it hired managers from DigitalGlobe in Longmont and Space Imaging in Thornton.
Mark Tuohy, former director of international sales at DigitalGlobe, becomes Orbimage’s senior director for international sales, and Howard Klayman becomes senior director of federal civil programs. Klayman was director of customer service and channel-partner operations for Space Imaging.
Holiday shoppers apt to pinch more pennies
Shoppers will be more cautious in spending their discretionary income throughout the 2005 holiday season, according to a report released recently by Denver-based G. A. Wright Marketing Inc.
“Although middle-income shoppers are expected to spend more carefully this year … there is reason to be optimistic,” chief executive Gary Wright said. “The overall expectation for 2005 is an expected increase of more than 4 percent.”
Unemployment fraud convictions obtained
The Colorado Department of Labor and Employment announced Thursday that it has obtained five criminal convictions for unemployment insurance fraud in the month of July.
The convictions represent a total restitution of $76,192 awarded by the courts.
Xcel agrees to explore air-friendly facility
Xcel Energy signed an agreement with the Electric Power Research Institute of Palo Alto, Calif. to help evaluate the operational and economic feasibility of a gasification facility in Colorado.
The facility would use a chemical process to turn coal into a gas that is then burned in a modified combustion turbine to make electricity. Benefits of the technology includes reduced emissions and less carbon dioxide.
Denver energy firm joins in Belize oil find
Denver-based Aspect Energy is a partner in a 500-barrel-per-day oil find in Belize the Belize newspaper Amandala reported last week.
Belize Natural Energy Ltd. and its partners, Aspect and CHx LLC, had found naturally flowing oil in the Spanish Lookout area of the Cayo District. Additional testing over the next few months will determine the commercial viability of the site.
Auto sales boost July retail sales 1.8 percent
Sales incentives at auto dealerships sent retail sales up in July, despite lackluster demand at department stores and a number of other retail establishments.
The Commerce Department reported Thursday that total retail sales rose by 1.8 percent, the best showing in three months, but almost all of that strength came from auto sales, which soared by 6.7 percent.
Wells Fargo settles in credit-card fee case
Wells Fargo & Co. agreed Thursday to pay as much as $34 million to settle allegations that it imposed improper credit-card processing charges on about 96,000 California businesses over a four-year period.
The settlement amounts to a partial return of what plaintiffs contended were “junk fees” not properly disclosed beforehand.
Ex-Rite Aid CEO gets jail sentence trimmed
A federal judge Thursday trimmed a year from former Rite Aid Corp. chief executive Martin L. Grass’ eight-year sentence for conspiring to obstruct justice and defraud the nation’s third-largest drugstore chain and its shareholders.
U.S. District Judge Sylvia H. Rambo said she acted to reduce a disparity between Grass and other defendants sentenced for similar crimes.
$13 billion in 10-year Treasury notes sold
The Treasury sold $13 billion of 10-year notes Thursday at a yield of 4.35 percent, the highest since March 10.
