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| Friday, September 28, 2007 |
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Survey suggests LV furniture market gaining tractionThe World Market Center is touting results of a survey of furniture industry insiders that suggest the multibillion dollar tradeshow venue in downtown Las Vegas is posied to become the leader in its field. Operators of the market funded the survey, but hired a third-party company to conduct it with a double-blind method, to get a feel for their standing in the home furnishings industry. Status is important because one of the goals of the market is to become the epicenter of home furnishing trade shows in America, which would mean surpassing a 118-year-old market in High Point, N.C. According to the survey, 31 percent of furniture buyers who responded said Las Vegas is the most important market today. But 65 percent said it would be the most important in five years. Among sellers who responded, 29 percent said Las Vegas was most important today, 58 percent expect it will be the most important in five years. Benjamin Spillman
Nevada's seasonally adjusted unemployment rate hit its highest level since November 2003 in August, reaching 5 percent. That is higher than the 4.6 percent unemployment rate nationally for the month. Most of the worsening jobless picture is due to continued layoffs in the home building and casino industries as well as cutbacks at temporary employment agencies, according to officials at the state Department of Employment, Training and Rehabilitation. In Las Vegas alone, the jobless rate was 5 percent, an increase of 0.1 percent from July's rate. It was also sharply higher than the 4.2 percent rate recorded last August. Statewide, the Silver State's jobless rate was also up 0.1 percent from 4.9 percent in July and up 0.4 percent from a year ago. John G. Edwards Review-Journal Las Vegas Sands Corp. and Las Vegas-based Pinnacle Entertainment were two of six companies to submit bids for one of four casino licenses in Kansas. The companies are bidding to place a single in Wyandotte County in suburban Kansas City, which is on the Kansas-Missouri border. Lawmakers enacted legislation this year to bring four Las Vegas-style casinos into the Sunflower State, marking the first tangible domestic casino expansion since Pennsylvania paved way for slot machine-only casinos and racinos a year ago. Las Vegas Sands, which is opening the $1.8 billion Palazzo on the Strip in December, was the only Nevada operator to win one of the five Pennsylvania licenses. The company is building the $600 million Sands Bethworks in Bethlehem, Pa., at the site of the closed Bethlehem Steel Mill. Pinnacle Entertainment, which does not operate a casino in Las Vegas, said it would build a Kansas casino in one of two locations off Interstate 435. The Kansas casinos, which will include slot machines and table games, required a minimum investment of $225 million. The stand-alone casinos are slated for four locations -- Kansas City, Wichita, Dodge City and southeastern Kansas. The tax rate will be 27 percent, with certain parameters for entry. Howard Stutz Review-Journal Tom Hantges, the former owner of failed USA Capital, had few answers during a bankruptcy hearing last week, although he did say he was working hard to recover assets for the 6,000 investors who entrusted him with $962 million. "We're going to try to get investors back as much money as possible" despite the downturn in real estate markets, Hantges said. However, during the hearing, Hantges refused to answer dozens of questions. He took the Fifth Amendment against self-incrimination when asked about whether any investors were defrauded or if Hantges had sold or transferred assets to hide them from creditors. USA Capital became insolvent and filed for bankruptcy in April 2006. USA Capital solicited money from individual investors and used the money to make loans to developers; some loans were for projects that Hantges was developing John Edwards Review-Journal Former PurchasePro.com CEO Charles "Junior" Johnson is trying to have securities fraud charges dismissed before his new trial starts Oct. 9 based on a claim that his first trial ended in a mistrial and a new trial would result in "double jeopardy." The former dot-com executive is scheduled to begin a new federal trial next month in Alexandria, Va. His first trial ended abrubtly last year after U.S. District Judge Leonie Brinkema declared a mistrial for undisclosed reasons after Johnson's attorney, Preston Burton Jr. asked to withdraw as Johnson's attorney. U.S. District Judge Walter Kelley, who is presiding over the new trial, has said Burton had "an irreconcilable conflict" that prevented him from representing Johnson. John G. Edwards Review-Journal Nevada Gov. Jim Gibbons said he'll convene a summit on Oct. 4 to discuss solutions to the housing credit crunch and the jump in foreclosures in the Silver State. Gibbons, who made his announcement at a Sept. 20 breakfast meeting of the Nevada Development Authority, said the summit would include executives of Nevada's five biggest mortgage lenders. The stumble in the housing market has forced thousands of layoffs in real estate-related fields, Gibbons said, and contributed to a 34 percent jump in new unemployment claims in the state in July. Job losses and looming mortgage defaults have also checked consumer spending, leading to a 0.3 percent drop in taxable sales statewide in July, he said. "We owe it to our businesses, employees and working families to ensure their wealth is protected to the greatest extent possible," Gibbons said. Jennifer Robison Review-Journal |
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