Arizona Republic from Phoenix, Arizona • Page 79

REPUBLIC The Arizona Republic i tCTV A- ron jr7 Friday, January MML NYSE tables E3 i Amex tables E4 1 OTC tables E5 i Mutual funds E6 Outlook dim for proposed mall Chances are slim that construction will begin this year on the long-delayed Shiprock Shopping Center. The Navajo Tribe has been trying to build a shopping center in Shiprock, the largest community on the reservation, since 1972. E2. Surging yule sales continue into new year Today Majc U.S. retailers reported double-digit sales gains for December, and analysts said Thursday that the yearlong consumer spending spree continued past Christmas without losing momentum.

"Robust sales made this Christmas our merriest in years," said Bernard M. Fauber, chairman of mart which said its sales last month were up 11.3 percent from December 1982. One of the stronger performances was turned in by Sears, Roebuck and whose December gain of 17.5 percent was the largest since 1977. And sales topped $3 billion in a month for the first time in Sears' 97-year history. Other retailing groups reported healthy increases as well.

Christmas season got off to an early and strong start. Sears, the nation's largest retailer, said gross sales in the five weeks that ended Dec. 31 totaled $3.75 billion, up from $2.79 billion a year ago. That is a gain of 34.6 percent but includes revenue from Simpson-Sears of Canada, which the company took over last summer. Excluding the Canadian unit's contribution, December sales were up 17.5 percent to $3.27 billion.

Most retailers begin their fiscal years in February. mart, the No. 2 chain, reported a December sales gain of 11.3 percent to $3.07 billion from $2.76 billion. Fiscal year-to-date sales rose 11.2 percent to $17.5 billion from $15.77 billion. Third-ranked J.C.

Penney Co. Inc. said December store and catalog sales were up 10.5 percent to $2.1 billion from $1.9 billion. Federated Department Stores the fourth-largest retailer, said its December gain was 12.4 percent from a year ago. Sales in the latest period were $1.56 billion, up from $1.39 billion, minus sales of a division that is being liquidated.

For the fiscal year-to-date, sales rose 13.4 percent to $8.09 billion from $7.13 billion. Among the other top retailers' reports: F.W. Woolworth, up 7.2 per-cent in December to $939.7 million; up 6.2 percent for the 11 months to $5.13 million. Dayton-Hudson up 24.9 percent to $1.31 billion for December; up 23.1 percent to $6.4 billion for the year-to-date. Montgomery Ward, up 14 percent to $1.03 billion in December its first month over $1 billion; up 7.5 percent to $5.68 billion for the year.

May Department Stores up 16.8 percent to $779.1 million for the month; 15.6 percent to $3.99 billion for the year. Wal-Mart Stores up 41 percent to $710 million in December; up 38 percent to $4.34 billion for the 11 months. Allied Stores up 16.4 percent to $674.2 million for the month; up 14.6 percent to $3.49 billion for the year. Carter Hawley Hale Stores up 22.4 percent to $710.9 million for the month; up 18.6 percent to $3.4 billion for the year. Diamond's to close Tri-City Mall outlet Diamond's has announced it will close its department store in Mesa's Tri-City Mall on Jan.

14 and transfer the store's 108 employees to positions at its seven other Valley locations. No replacement tenant has been found for the department store, which is the second-largest in the mall at Dobson Road and Main Street. J.C. Penney operates the mall's largest store. A spokeswoman for Diamond's said business at the Mesa store had been waning because the company also operates a store at Fiesta Mall, which is less than two miles from Tri-City Mall.

"Our customers are more comfortable shopping at the Fiesta Mall store," said Bonnie Burton, vice president for marketing at Dia-, mond's. "It is a bigger store, and the assortment (of merchandise) is stronger there." Burton said Diamond's has been using only one of its two floors at the Tri-City store since October legend: 4 Excellent -A' Excellent New York (33) 2 3 3 3 4 3 4 3 4 4 Chicago (31) 3 4 3 3 3 4 3 1 3 4 Dallas (31) 3 4 4 3 3 3 3 3 2 3 Good Baltimore (30) 3 3 2 4 3 3 3 4 2 3 Tulsa (30) 3 3 3 3 3 4 3 3 3 2 Denver (29) 4 4 3 3 2 4 2 2 2 3 Detroit (29) 4 4 2 2 3 .3 3 3 2 3 Hartford (29) 2234434223 Minneapolis (29) 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 2 3 Atlanta (28) 3323332324 Houston (28) 44 33332213 'Milwaukee (28) 3323342332 Philadelphia (28) 33333333 22 Phoenix (28) 4 4 2 3 3 3 2 3 2 2 San Antonio (28) 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 2 2 Fair LasVegas(27) 3 3 2 3 2 3 3 3 2 3 Los Angeles (27) 22334 332 23 Tampa (27) 3 3 3 2 2 3 3 3 2 3 Washington O.C. (27) 2 2 3 3 4 2 3 2 2 4 Austin (26) 3 3 2 3 2 3 3 3 2 2 Cincinnati (26) 3 3 3 3 2 3 2 3 2 2 Kansas City (26) 4 3 2 2 2 3 2 3 3 2 Miami (26) 2 2 3 3 2 3 3 3 2 3 New Orleans (26) 3 4 3 2 2 3 2 2 2 3 Pittsburgh (26) 3 3 3 2 3 3 2 3 2 2 Anchorage (25) 2 2 3 3 3 2 3 4 2 1 Honolulu (25) 3 3 2 3 2 3 3 2 2 2 San Diego (25) 3 3 2 2 2 3 2 2 3 3 St. Louis (25) 33222 32323 Seattle (25) 3322333222 Poor Boston (24) 2 2 2 3 3 3 3 2 2 2 Cleveland(24) 3 3 2 2 2 3 2 3 2 2 Columbus (24) 2 2 2 3 2 3 3 3 2 2 San Francisco (22) 1 1 1 4 3 3 3 1 2 3 Canadian Cities Toronto (29) 2 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 Calgary (27) 3 4 3 2 2 3 3 3 2 2 Montreal (27) 3 3 3 2 3 3 2 2 3 3 Ottawa(27) 3 3 3 2 2 3 2 3 3 3 Edmonton (24) 3 3 2 2 2 3 2 3 2 2 Quebec (23) 3 3 2 2 2 3 2 2 2 2 Inter-Tel chalked up loss in '83 for first year ever Benefit seekers increase Jobless Americans visited unemployment offices in increasing numbers in the week just before Christmas, although new applications for benefits were about 100,000 below the level of a year before, according to government figures released Thursday. The Labor Department's Employment and Training Administration, adjusting the first-time claims figures for such seasonal variations as weather and school closings, said 413,000 people sought benefits in the week ended Dec.

24. Money-fund assets plunge Assets of the nation's 316 money-market mutual funds dived $954.4 million in the latest week, the third straight weekly decline and the biggest drop in more than six months, according to the Investment Company Institute. The decline, to $163.5 billion, followed a $577 million drop in the funds' assets the previous week and a $761 million slide a week earlier. It was the steepest weekly fall since the $1.3 billion drop in the week ended June 29. The seven-day average yield on the money-market mutual funds rose to 8.94 percent from 8.71 percent, according to Donoghue's Money Fund Report.

The 30-day average yield also rose, to 8.74 percent from 8.65 percent. Mobil settlement approved A Texas judge has approved an agree-; ment in a huge Mobil Oil Co. lease lawsuit that officials say will earn the state school fund $100 million and rancher Clinton Manges $400 million over the next 10 years. Exxon which blocked the settlement for three weeks while pressing its own claims, cleared the way for the action by agreeing to drop its demand for 30.9 percent of one-half of any settlement. Job-safety rules proposed After months of battles between its budget office and job-safety agency, the Reagan administration has unveiled a new regulation to reduce grain elevator fires and explosions.

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration said the standard could cut deaths and injuries in half. But an AFL-CIO spokesman called the proposal a travesty and said it would allow operators to comply by sweeping the floor once in a while. Newspaper's fate in doubt Editorial employees of the St. Louis Globe-Democrat have voted to grant wage concessions to magazine publisher Jeffrey Gluck, but they refused to endorse his agreement absolving the Herald Co. of financial responsibility to union workers.

The split vote left the fate of the 131-year-old newspaper in limbo. World Bank trims rate The World Bank has lowered the interest rate it charges developing nations for loans to 10.08 percent from 10.47 percent. The new rate applies to loans by the bank's principal branch, the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development, for six months starting Jan. 1. GM to furlough 850 General Motors Corp.

is laying off 850 workers indefinitely at its Willow Run assembly plant near Ypsilanti, because of slow sales of its X-car models. The automaker said the layoffs will take effect Jan. 16. A spokesman said GM hopes some of the idled workers can be placed at other GM operations. Longshoremen, firms meet Negotiators for the International Longshoremen's Association have resumed talks with shipping and stevedoring companies in an effort to avert a Jan.

15 strike. A spokeswoman for I LA Local 3000 said union officials had not indicated whether progress was being made in the negotiations for a contract for dockworkers in Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and the Florida Panhandle Inside: Stock market Stocks exploded Thursday for the second consecutive session, with prices climbing to near-record levels on an Many stores reported a general consumer preference for high-quality merchandise and big-ticket items, such as television sets and jewelry. Wall Street analysts continued to point to restrained inflation and an improved employment picture, which restored consumer confidence in 1983, as the main impetus for the sales gains. Figures for post-Christmas clearance sales indicated that buying should continue well into the new year, producing back-to-back years of aggressive consumer spending, Merrill Lynch Inc. analyst Jeffrey Feiner said.

Some industry watchers had been apprehensive about whether sales would hold up throughout the period because the ness growth in the Valley during the next 20 years. He said the expansion follows the corporation's longtime goal of developing office and industrial projects in growth areas such as Phoenix. The new company, which will, occupy offices at 5060 N. 40th will bepn its work in the Phoenix Ecker said that, lower vacancy rates Phoenix, the gave Phoenix its For purposes of four for excellent Scores of 22 to 24 to 27 reflect fair conditions. Scores Phoenix received "good" range with New York, Chicago excellent office At the same Valley National office space in during the next 15 Between now demand 48 million space, the bank The Valley predicted that job to outpace total probably will slow 1982.

The store was constructed in 1969. There was speculation in the Valley retail industry that the loss of Diamond's could be the downfall of the 15-year-old Tri-City Mall, where business has declined since Fiesta Mall opened in 1979. However, Grant Malouf, owner of Tri-City Mall, downplayed the Diamond's closing. "I don't think it's any big deal," Malouf said. "I think it's going to be good for everyone involved." He said one positive aspect of the closing is that he could lease the unused second floor of the store to a new tenant.

"I need that space," he said. "The potential is too great to let it sit" Malouf said the fact that only two of Tri-City Mall's 65 stores are vacant indicates that Fiesta Mall is not taking business away from his shopping center. "There is enough business for everybody out here," he said. loss until a firm's books are audited, Mihaylo said. The losses follow Inc.

magazine's pronouncement that, in 1981, Inter-Tel was one of the fastest-growing small companies in the United States. Mihaylo said profits for the company are expected to increase this year, when Inter-Tel plans to expand its offerings in business communications and to enter the consumer market for the first time. The court-approved breakup of the Bell System gives telephone manufacturers their first real opportunity at supplying Bell operating companies with telephone equipment, and Inter-Tel already is discussing deals with regional holding firms such as West, which owns Mountain Bell, Inter-Tel officials said Thursday. Inter-Tel conducted a tour of the its new Chandler headquarters Thursday. The facility, which houses about 150 employees and cost more than $6 million, now serves as the company's corporate offices.

finance NYC hotel credit through the life of the loan, Leonard said. Phillip Wilson, vice president and division manager for real estate at First Federal, said the savings and loan got involved with the hotel financing through its longstanding Relationship with Marriott. "We also were involved with the financing for Marriott's Camelback Inn in 1973," Wilson said. The New York hotel, under construction on Times Square, will be the flagship of the Marriott hotel chain. It is scheduled for completion in spring 1985.

exercise room, sauna, conterence room and underground parking. "The architectural and construction quality of this development and the intensive landscaping which will set it apart will maintain the tradition of excellence for which Scottsdale is recognized," Brigham said. The general contractor iwill be Opus of Phoenix. A survey by Howard Ecker Real Estate, of Chicago, lists North America's top, office markets for 1983. Valley office market rated healthy By Sam Stanton Republic Staff Inter-Tel, a Valley telecommunications firm that three years ago was the nation's 19th fastest-growing small company, experienced its first money-losing year in 1983, the company's chairman said Thursday.

However, sales have been strong, and much of the loss resulted from write-offs of excessive inventories and other expenses, so Inter-Tel expects 1984 to be a "very profitable year," Steven G. Mihaylo said. Inter-Tel, which manufactures and supplies telephone systems, lost $1.5 million during the second quarter of last year and reported a $39,000 loss in the third quarter. The 15-year-old company expects the fourth-quarter figures to be in the red also, giving the firm its first losing year and marking the only time the firm has seen three consecutive quarters of losses, Mihaylo said. Securities Exchange Commission regulations prohibit company officials from estimating the size of a First Federal to First Federal Savings and Loan Association of Phoenix said Thursday that it has arranged $328.5 million in financing for the 50-story New York Marriott Marquis, which will be the tallest hotel in New York City.

The financing package, led and structured by First Federal, in-t volves 23 financial institutions from' 15 states, according to George Leonard, executive vice president of the lending institution. First Federal developed the loan package and put together the group of lenders to fund the project The Phoenix lender will administer the although some other cities have or more desirable rental rates than combination of all the factors surveyed high rating. the survey, scores of one for poor to were awarded in each category. indicate poor market conditions, 25 conditions and 28 to 30 indicate good above 30 reflect excellent conditons. a score of 28, placing it in the 11 other cities.

Only three cities and Dallas were rated as having markets. time that the survey was released, Bank reported that the demand for Phoenix is expected to expand strongly years. and 2000, the Phoenix market will to 55 million square feet of office predicted. National study of office needs also opportunities in offices will continue employment, although the pace in future The Phoenix area office market is one of the healthiest in the country, a survey of the top 40 markets in North America has found. The survey, conducted by Howard Ecker Co.

Real Estate of Chicago, rated the Phoenix market excellent in terms of rental rates and available office space. Overall, Phoenix received a good rating for its office market Howard Ecker, president of the office-leasing firm that conducted the study, said that relative to other cities examined, Phoenix earned high marks on a number of economic and political factors that affect office markets. "Phoenix has one of the healthiest office markets in the country, and that strength will continue into the forseeable future," he said The Phoenix market is helped by. the area's healthy housing market, executive salary levels and labor availability, the survey found. "We also made relative comparisons of local government relations with the business sector, the local transportation infrastructure and accessibility to the city by air," Ecker said.

Phoenix received fair ratings for business strength, transportion and airport service. Boston development firm picks Phoenix as site of its first regional office Construction of a three-story office building as the first phase of the project is expected to begin in March, with completion due early in 1985, he said. Plans call for the. building to contain 60,000 square feet and feature a two-story atrium in the main lobhv and a stained-glass ceiling. Amenities will include an area with a $12 million office project on a 5-acre site on the southwestern corner of Pima Road and Via de Ventura, Scottsdale.

Brigham said the site, which overlooks the McDowell Mountains and is adjacent to the Salt River Indian Reservation, was purchased from a San Francisco firm for $2.3 million. Bay Financial a Boston-based development company that specializes in office, commercial and industrial projects, has selected Phoenix as the site for its first regional office. Donald Brigham, a Bay Financial, vice president who will head the Arizona subsidiary, Bay Colony Development said Phoenix was selected because of expected busi unprecedented 159.H9 million shares. Institutions stampeded the market in fear of missing out on what could be the second step in the bull market that beean in August 1982 but has cooled off since last summer. The Dow surged 13.19 points, to 1,282.24, just under iU record 1,287.20, se Nov.

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