Recent Stories in Business

"New Kindle Leaves Rivals Farther Back" is the headline in the New York Times, which is the home of serious readers who don't need--never asked for--color. Yes, there's a fervent hallelujah chorus from tech blogs and magazines, but if you're selling a long-form e-reader, the long-form newspaper is where you want to be.

Tech columnist David Pogue weighs in on the next-gen Kindle v. iPad match-up and concludes the two devices are really not for the same audiences, and in fact are more differentiated than ever before: "The Kindle 3 is ingeniously designed to be everything the iPad will never be: small, light and inexpensive."

Thank god, then, for the iPad, because previously the Kindle was not really setting records in two of those three departments, certainly not on price. Now comes a Kindle that measures 7.5 x 4.8 inches, that's only 3/10s of an inch thick, that weighs in at 8.5 ounces--and the Wi-Fi only version subtracts only $140 from your wallet (with 3G, $190).

In one of their context-free news releases, Amazon crows that the new Kindle is selling fast and is their hottest selling product (which is what happens when public relations becomes a marketing plaything). Contrast has increased "50 percent," and battery life is said to be up to a month if you're just reading (no wireless). Downsides: You're still tied to the Kindle's book format, and you can't loan your purchases to other Kindle owners.

The net neutrality Internet is like a series of happy pipes, glad to see all kinds of data. Thanks to our Flickr pool's zenobia_joy for this wonderful shot.

Special to The SunBreak by Mark Rushing of Orbis Lumen

[Ed.: A proposed agreement between Google and Verizon has pundits debating its merits at warp speed, while pixels are still free. Wired has the "real" story. HuffPo has seen it all before. We asked Mark to take a step back and give us the lay of the land. Here's the first part in a series on net neutrality.]

Would you be happier if you no longer were charged for voice minutes? What if you were no longer charged for voice minutes, but strangely you had unlimited voice talk time?

What if you suddenly had unlimited text messaging capabilities for free? And unlimited multimedia messaging as well? And what if you also were given a new telephone number for free, that rang your cell phone and home phone simultaneously, or any other phone, too? And all your voice mail messages were  recorded and transcribed, then emailed to you, and you never had to worry about copying people and their contact information to your phone again?

Well, you can get this right now, and the mobile telephone companies are not too pleased. Google, one of the Great Horsemen of the ongoing Internet Apocalypse--which is seeing the slow demise of such power institutions as traditional newspapers, the music industry, publishing, and is transforming the way we perceive our role in government, international issues, and the way we organize--well, Google is ruffling the feathers of the Powers that Be, namely the very few companies who own all the pipes that this Internet thing flows through.

And the power that forced these giants to allow others--such as Google--room to grow was...you and me, through the principles of net neutrality.

We may smugly believe the Internet has already arrived, but it is actually still in the process of arriving. And sometimes this behemoth of decentralized interconnections between us looks more like a planet crashing in ultra-slow motion through a steel and glass china shop than it looks like, well, just an amorphous thing of stuff, doing this and that. That china shop has been many things. Right now, that steel-girdered china shop is the mobile telecommunications industry, and they're doing all they can to stop that world from crashing through it.... (more)

Maybe our "brazen squatters" in Magnolia and Kirkland are simply adopting best practices. Almost two years ago, in late September 2008, federal bank regulators seized Washington Mutual and sold it to JPMorgan Chase & Co. for $1.9 billion. All around Seattle the WaMu signs came down and Chase signs went up.

Now a WaMu shareholder, armed with a FOIA, claims to have a document showing the deal has yet to reach a final settlement. The PSBJ reports:

Lam noticed that on pages 7 and 9, the original WaMu purchase and sale agreement allows the FDIC to extend the settlement date. He says he asked about it, and the FDIC confirmed in phone calls and emails that the settlement date was set for Aug. 30, 2010, and could be extended further.

The PSBJ's Al Scott called the FDIC and JP Morgan Chase for comment, only to be told they were "looking into it." [Ed: I'll be downtown later this afternoon putting up TSB signage on Chase branches, since there's apparently some confusion about when Chase bought WaMu and when they knew they'd bought it. The market rewards nimbleness!]

At the time of the sale, WaMu had assets of $307 billion and deposits of $188 billion, so the $1.9 billion "sale" price represented a remarkable bargain for JP Morgan Chase, who took over WaMu's assets while WaMu shareholders' claims were wiped out by bankruptcy. Those shareholders have been waging a battle ever since, to reclaim at least part of their investment.... (more)

In the beginning there was Mercata and the promise of discounts from group buying. And there was also ActBig, Zwirl, and C-Tribe. And the market liketh them not. Mercata was laid low in 2001, although its intellectual property would live on.

Today, a new generation of group and social buying sites have sprung up: Groupon, Living Social. And, since it's the Internet, a second (or third) generation. Seattle is home to Tippr, Wrazz, and DealPop. Chicago has YouSwoop. Buywithme is expanding. Whither Groop Swoop, SwoopOff, SocialBuy? One can only wonder.

The largest have millions of subscribers, across the country; the bulk are just starting out, and working a geographic niche furiously, advertising themselves as the way to connect with your city. The shared, cloying cuteness of Internet naming conventions aside, the clock is also ticking for all these second-generation companies as they try to define themselves for customers.

TechFlash already sat down with Tippr for a differentiation chat: They see themselves as a collaborative, deal-delivering platform, less tied to brand recognition than Groupon. We knocked on DealPop's door to see what they were all about.

[Full disclosure: DealPop is a SunBreak advertiser and you should probably subscribe to their email alert service right now. Upper right-hand corner there. Do it.]

Right away what sets DealPop apart is that their downtown Seattle offices are the home of WhitePages.com. Alex Algard founded WhitePages in 1996 in his Stanford dorm room, stealing a march on Baby Bells and their printed phone books everywhere, and today the company has 200 million personal listings and 15 million businesses, with over 20 million monthly unique users. They're now incorporating Twitter and Facebook results into their people searches. They have a top 10 iPhone app.... (more)

The Benaroya Companies are moving to the Eastside, reports the PSBJ. They're taking up residence in a 79,000-sq.-ft. Benaroya-owned building they've been working on refilling since Zango closed. The short story seems to be that it was easier to pick up stakes and move themselves than find someone to lease the last 8,300 sq. ft. Still, it's a portentous shift, given that Benaroya is the name of Seattle's symphony hall.

Meanwhile, mega-developers Schnitzer West have sold two major properties, notes Eric Pryne in the Seattle Times, Bellevue's Advanta Office Commons and Seattle's Equinox apartments née condos. (Equinox and Escala were among the last--if not the last--condo buildings to complete as the downturn shut off financing.) In both sales, Schnitzer West beat the properties' appraised value by wide margins--$75 million for Advanta, and almost $20 million for Equinox.

And last week Target announced they were coming to Seattle's Pike Plaza, at the foot of the Newmark. Downtown residents rejoiced at the news, and if CHS polls are to be believed, Capitol Hill hipsters think it's just far enough away for them to retain credibility while slinking off-Hill for bargain-shopping.

Escala's news release last Wednesday reported 65 new sales, with 38 closings, in the last three months. That's 38 of a total of 275 units, after the condo tower reopened with prices reduced 20 to 50 percent at the end of March. (Last February, the PSBJ was reporting that only six units had sold, and current King County tax records show just eleven units in private ownership.)

Designed by Thoryk Architecture (Mulvanney G2 were architects of record, and DiLeonardo International, Inc., did the interior design), the 30-floor, $370-million tower from developer Lexas Companies has come down in the world since 2006, when you could "reserve a home" with a $10,000 deposit. (Urbnlivn took the video above, and wrote a review, after touring an open house.)

The idea was to overwhelm Seattle's highest-living with luxury amenities, including a "spa, library, billiard room, theatre/screening room, fitness center with a lap pool, a catering kitchen, a formal dining room, and an events center." There was a marble staircase at the entrance, of course.

In 2007, as the Seattle Times reported, it was the "year of the condo" in Seattle: "Real-estate economist Matthew Gardner shared Thyer's optimism, telling an audience of about 700 that demand for new places to live downtown will remain 'very positive.'"... (more)

Since last summer, Alaska Air Group has been testing out its "Greener Skies" project at Sea-Tac. This week, they made eight landing approaches in a Boeing 737-700, using Required Navigation Performance (RNP) technology to make satellite- and GPS-optimized "continuous descents."

The results, with a 737-700 weighted as if carrying passengers, were eye-opening. During descent, the 737 used 400 pounds less fuel*, and cut emissions by 35 percent. Extrapolating those results to the Alaska/Horizon fleet at Sea-Tac, that's a savings of 2.1 million gallons annually--and not releasing the 22,000 metric tons of CO2 would be like taking 4,100 cars off the road.

How does it work? As you remember from your last trip in an airplane, descents usually involve a set of turns and stair-step drops in altitude, as the plane works its way down from cruising at about 30,000 feet. You might remember how the plane almost glided for a bit, then the engines powered up strongly as the plane advanced along the "flat" part of the stair step.

With an optimized descent profile (ODP), the plane descends from cruising altitude as in the illustration up top, with engines working much less. Instead of tower crews relaying the descent instructions in segments, the plane's path for landing is computed and cleared all in one go. Here's the FAA's description of ODP:... (more)

Photo courtesy of Gilman Park blog.

Coincidentally, I happen to be reading Mark Bittman's screed against agribusiness, junk food, and fast food, Food Matters, just as McDonald's "localwashing" ad campaign splashes across Seattle billboards. Gilman Park blog apparently broke the story on July 18, and it is now spreading across the internet. See Grist.com, Change.org, Fast Company, and Web Design Cool for various takes on the fast food giant's blatant and insulting attempt to hitch a ride on the locavore wagon.

The irony of the campaign is that a marketplace such as Seattle, with strong farmers markets, restaurants committed to sourcing locally, and an educated, informed populace, is not likely to respond well. That doesn't really matter. McDonald's has a marketing budget of over a billion dollars, the bulk of which (over $800 million, as of 2006) is spent on U.S. media. That's about 16 percent of gross sales, paid for with every Big Mac, fries, and shake. Test marketing an ad campaign that will be about as successful as their pizza trial a few years ago is just a part of the equation.

What will be significant is the how much media attention the campaign gets, whether the campaign becomes a "teaching moment" for consumers in other markets, and whether other communities heed the warning: Localwashing appears to be the next frontier for advertising. It's certainly easier and cheaper than actually sourcing and using local, sustainable, and organic ingredients. Very, very low hanging fruit for McDonald's, in fact, since the company is the single largest purchaser of beef, pork, potatoes, and apples in the U.S.... (more)

The reception that Bombardier's fuel-saver C series is getting at the international air show, Farnborough, has Boeing and Airbus agreeing on one thing. Bombardier has got to go.

The Financial Times quotes John Leahy, chief of sales for Airbus, as saying:

If Airbus offers a new engine option and Boeing offers a new engine option on their 737, there is absolutely no business case for the CSeries at all. It ceases to exist at that point.

Both Airbus and Boeing are signaling--to potential buyers at Farnborough--that they are ready to move now on fuel efficiency if that's what customers need. Both the A320 and 737 models have been long-lived cash cows, and the airplane manufacturers have been waiting for a "Great Leap Forward" in engine design before committing to a major reworking. (Bombardier is predicting a 20 percent reduction in fuel use, and says its Pratt & Whitney engines will be four times quieter.)

Leahy mentioned September as a possible time for decision between "simply" adding new engines or redesigning the A320. According to the Boeing Twitter account, Commercial Airplanes CEO Jim Albaugh says, "our focus is extending 737, 777 and making them more efficient," and "decision on 737 most likely this Fall."...

Hey, kids! If you are enrolled* in a college or university (*must be taking at least one course), and have an .edu email address and an Amazon account, you're eligible for a year's worth of Amazon Prime shipping for free. Here is the full explanation and here is the TOS.

When you sign up to become an Amazon Student, they'll ask you for your college's name and your major. In return you get no-minimum-order, two-day shipping for free--one-day shipping is just $3.99. You also get, free, "e-mail alerts for exclusive deals and promotions." How sweet is that.

(Photo: Boeing)

Boeing's new Phantom Eye prototype elicits a welter of contradictions in the environmental pacifist.

It's powered by two 2.3-liter, four-cylinder Ford Ranger engines that have been converted to hydrogen fuel.

If all goes as planned, it'll be able to cruise at 65,000 feet for up to four days. Plus, it looks kinda cute. How hard would it be to airbrush him into this picture?

On the other hand, the visual similarity of Phantom Eye to a cartoon bomb strapped to a wing is evidence of its genesis in the bowels of Boeing Defense, Space & Security. Darryl Davis, president of Boeing Phantom Works (and who doesn't dream, really, of having that title on your business card), is quoted as saying Phantom Eye will usher in a new era of "persistent intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance," and offer "game-changing opportunities for our military, civil and commercial customers."

With their 150-foot wingspan, future Phantom Eyes are envisioned as criss-crossing the globe at 150 knots (carrying up to a 450-pound payload). Boeing's goal is to extend the craft's time-in-air from four days to ten, so that three to four Eyes are all that would be necessary to provide portable global surveillance and communications. (Somewhere, Enemy of the State's keyhole satellite is sulking.)... (more)

Photo courtesy Royal Australian Air Force

Just to clarify, we're talking planes here, not bioengineering.

Back in 2007, Australia put in an order for 24 Super Hornets from Boeing at a cost of nearly AU$3 billion. Five were delivered in March of this year, and another six F/A-18Fs have just reached Australian soil--"on time and on budget," as Boeing is quick to announce. (The F/A-18F is the two-seater model.)

The time-lapse video below, of a Super Hornet's construction, gives you an idea of how complicated it is to build a plane "able to perform virtually every mission in the tactical spectrum, including air superiority, day/night strike with precision-guided weapons, fighter escort, close air support, suppression of enemy air defenses, maritime strike, reconnaissance, forward air control and tanker missions."

The Super Hornet is the Navy's plane of choice--it's nominally a McDonnell Douglas model, adopted by Boeing after the Boeing-McDonnell Douglas merger, and sold to Congress on being a low-risk "upgrade" of the Hornet platform...though it's essentially a new plane. New or not, Boeing says every Super Hornet has been built on budget.

TechFlash sees afterimages of Webvan in Amazon's new Tote delivery service, but I can't help thinking of the gold standard: Kozmo.com couriers delivering lunch half an hour after I ordered it. Tote won't be quite that fast, but from a cost perspective, Amazon has one-upped Kozmo: the twice-weekly Tote service is free, and there's no minimum spend. (You do have to complete your order two days before the next delivery date.)

If you order something from Amazon and you'd like them to deliver it the next time they're delivering in your neighborhood (the delivery days are zip code-specific), they'll truck it on over. The first zip to get Tote is 98112. The Tote bags are weather-resistant and reusable, and one way you can reuse them is to return items if there's any problem. Get the Tote FAQs here. (Perhaps you'd like to order a discounted Kindle? Even the Kindle DX has a lower price.)

Meanwhile, today inaugurates 1) a City of Seattle ordinance mandating that all single-use food service packaging at restaurants and grocery stores be either recyclable or compostable, and 2) a fully operational battlestar Starbucks recycling and composting program that incorporates front-of-store waste, too (i.e., there are more bins out front).

You've probably seen evidence of this, since Starbucks has been rolling out the new program at its 90 Seattle stores over the past month. The city's goal is to keep 6,000 tons of packaging and compostable waste out of landfills each year. Starbucks' goal is to get front-of-store recycling into all company-owned locations by 2015. (Their paper cups will head back to the plant for a second life as paper napkins.)... (more)

First it was the Kindle. After Barnes & Noble knocked the Nook down, Amazon cut the price for the basic Kindle model (not the DX) from $259 to $189, which analysts nervously noted had to be close to Amazon's cost of production. Will they make it up on the back-end, in e-books?

Now it's Microsoft's Kin. Verizon has "quietly," says PC Mag, dropped the price of the Kin One to $29.99 with a two-year contract. A Kin Two is now $49.99. (Previously the devices were $99.99 and $49.99, respectively.) So far there are over 30 stories on this quiet price cut.

Starbucks and Boeing don't seem to sell anything that begins with "kin," but Nordstrom is selling the Kinerase "Ultimate Repair" Moisture System (a $146 value!) for just $95. It's uncanny.

Redfin CEO Glenn Kelman

Last week, Redfin CEO Glenn Kelman was quoted by CNBC's Diana Olick, saying:

The real estate market is like a fat man that can't get up. The U.S. government has modified loans, extended tax credits, lowered interest rates; we've fired a lot of our guns, and at this point the market is just going to have a long slow period of decline.

(Kelman is good with quotes: "I've sometimes wondered if God calibrated the size of our brains and the amount of fuel in the sun to give us just enough time to figure out the universe & send a space-ark toward a new galaxy, but the only guys who could figure this out are working for Wall Street.")

This is the kind of wry observation that appeals to skeptical inquirers like Seattle Bubble, who have applauded Redfin's entry into monthly real estate data reports: "Redfin has taken a page from the NWMLS playbook, torn it out, shredded it, burned it, flushed it down the toilet, and written a whole new book from scratch on the subject of monthly data releases."

Full disclosure: the Bubble's Tim Ellis contributes to Redfin's "Sweet Seattle Digs" blog, but this would only seem to add to Redfin's credibility, since the Bubble's readership is, if anything, more critical than Ellis, and would probably turn on him in minutes if he slipped up. (In this I seem to disagree with 360Digest's Marlow Harris, who couldn't see any point to noting real estate was over-priced, back in November 2008, and questioned Redfin's viability. She will have to wait a bit longer for Redfin to fail.)

But Redfin's credibility isn't simply derived from a refreshing bluntness. Old school real-estate watchers often sound like they have a crystal ball secreted away somewhere--they employ the astrologer's and psychic's tools of saliency and confirmation bias. They are exquisitely sensitive to the "mood" of the market, so far as ad hoc rationalizations go. In the absence of a testable, fresh-data-driven model, there's a tendency toward superstition and making bets. (As Dan Ariely points out, our intuition works best when drawing on observable cause-and-effect, throw in a time-delay and we're mainly guessing.)... (more)

Sunergy solar power projects

It seems every few days we are inundated with claims of new sources of clean, green energy. But these new directions tend to offer a lot of potential, rather than proven results. Yet, as the Gulf oil spill demonstrates, little good can come of staying the course of fossil fuel.

So what's behind door number three? Solar energy isn't a new technology. It's growing comfortable in middle age and showing surprising perseverance. Solar energy systems for homes are still pricey, but if you live in Seattle and have watched your electric bill rise almost 20 percent this year alone, you might have started weighing your options.

"The first question we get from customers is always, 'Will a solar energy system work in Seattle?'" says Jeremy Harvey, the advertising and marketing director for Ballard-based Sunergy Systems. "The answer is yes." (A thick cloud cover does reduce the electricity you get, but partly cloudy days can actually improve power production.) Our long summer days help compensate for the dark December half-days, and at the exact time of the year when our hydroelectricity supply is at its limit.

Sunergy is one of the largest installers of solar energy systems in Washington. (Find more here.) They focus on residential systems, but can also install commercial systems, and Harvey says they are on track to double their installation total from last year.

The sun has been harnessed for energy in a variety of ways since the earliest days of man, but the solar power industry as we know it is really about 40 years old. It first began to attract public interest as a viable residential application in the 1970s and many people's perceptions are still shaped by early versions of solar energy technology.

One thing is still true, which is that the sun pours out much more power than we can get at: Even cutting-edge photovoltaics don't transform more than 30 percent of sunlight into electricity. (They're working on it.) But in terms of what you need to power your home, panels take up much less space and look snappier to boot.

Shoreline Community College's 18-kW system

"We've evolved in every way," Harvey says. "The systems are more efficient, easier to install and maintain, and there are many more types of systems available. Some of the biggest innovations in the industry are government incentives."

Solar energy systems are not cheap up front. The "average" price for the installation of a 5-kW solar electric system is between $20,000 and $40,000. Seattle City Light says a 2-kW system can run $12,000 to $20,000. To make that money back through electricity bill savings and incentives might take 10 to 12 years, though that recoupment time, remarkably, is down by almost half from what it used to be.

Costs are lessened through tax breaks and incentives at the county, state, and federal levels--more or less, depending on where you live. It's not just a free ride for hippies with big screens--policy wonks, like our friends at Sightline, have been pushing for incentives that take into account not just homeowner savings, but also the savings from not adding power infrastructure. Do you know what a new nuclear power plant costs these days?

Issaquah Fish Hatcher's 1-kW panel

Currently, the IRS will allow a tax credit equal to 30 percent of the cost to purchase and install a system. Below that, the incentive game can get confusing. The state will reimburse 15 cents per kilowatt-hour, and up to 54 cents/kWh if your system was manufactured in-state (currently, there is only one manufacturer in Washington State).

Snohomish County has a magnificent program of financial incentives--offering an instant rebate or low-interest loans to pay for installation--but King County has no such program. Seattle City Light will let you collect "rollover" kilowatts, as any excess energy you generate flows back into their system. Sunergy aims for a system that leaves you holding a $0 electric bill over the course of a year.

According to Harvey, the typical solar energy customer so far is in their mid-40s to 60s--in other words, people likely to live in a home long enough to reap the long-term benefits--though some younger, green-conscious families are signing up too. Because photovoltaic panels have no moving parts, maintenance is virtually nil. Occasionally defects in manufacture appear, but these are covered by warranty.

Solar heating tubes

Though solar electric is the most common system ordered, it is not the only type of system you can install. Solar-heated hot water systems are gaining in popularity.

Hot water production is the second highest energy expense in any home, right after central heating (it may be the highest, obviously, if you have radiant heat). Solar hot water makes the most efficient use of the sun's energy, netting you almost three times the energy you'd get from photovoltaics.

In Western Washington, according to Harvey, families can meet about 90 percent of their hot water heating needs in summer, 75 percent in the fall and spring, and 30 percent in the winter. (The solar hot water heaters are "hybrid" systems, with an electric supplement that handles the darkest, coldest months.) And all it takes is some tubes filled with a biodegradable antifreeze solution.

Hot water systems cost substantially less than photovoltaics, so they can pay you back for installation through fuel bill savings in well under ten years. If you'd like to learn more, Sunergy holds special Solar Energy 101 and 201 classes in their Ballard location; contact them for the next date.

Yesterday afternoon came reports that Boeing had "grounded" its five 787 test planes because of problem with the tail's horizontal stabilizer.

This morning, Boeing says grounded isn't the right word--it's just that the test planes will see a delay of a few days for inspection before they fly again. "Boeing has made the decision to inspect the horizontal stabilizers on all flight test airplanes before their next flights to ensure any rework is completed as quickly as possible."

It'll take a little longer to inspect the 23 787s built so far, says the Seattle Times. Because it's a workmanship issue, some planes may be fine.

The culprit, once again, is Italian workmanship. Forbes says manufacturer Alenia improperly installed shims and over-torqued fasteners. This kind of thing is the reason you have test programs; Boeing says it shouldn't affect delivery of the first 787s to All Nippon Airways end of 2010.

A hazy Mount Rainier

Coal, you may be surprised to learn, here in the cradle of hydroelectric power, supplies about eight to ten percent of Washington's electricity. That's thanks to a single coal-fired plant in Centralia, owned since 2000 by Canada's TransAlta, proponents of "the greening of power generation." Not coincidentally, the plant was also responsible for "11 percent of the state’s 99 million metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalents (MMT CO2e) in 2008."

(Speaking of green, Seattle can feel smug about the fact that Seattle City Light gets over twice as much electricity from wind power as from coal.)

This week, after months of negotiation, the Department of Ecology and TransAlta announced an Agreement and Consent Decree that will govern the plant's emission of smog-producing pollutants and mercury vapor. Essentially, Ecology (as the department troublingly synechdochizes itself) argues that it got the best voluntary deal from TransAlta it could, and on a faster implementation timeline, than if it instituted mandatory requirements. Sightline sighs in exasperation at this, along with a host of conservation and environmental groups.

Mercury emissions are to be reduced by half by 2012. (Half of what? The Ecology staffer I spoke with didn't have the precise numbers in front of him, but elsewhere in the agreement documentation there's reference to cutting mercury emissions by 200 pounds--indicating 400 pounds of mercury are released annually. [See UPDATE below.]) To be fair, TransAlta thinks they may achieve 70 percent--they just wanted some regulatory cushion, apparently.

TransAlta's existing controls for haze-causing pollutants will be deemed "good enough." TransAlta says they've invested $300 million in pollution controls since they took over the plant, reducing sulfur dioxide emissions by up to 90 percent. (They've also stopped burning Centralia coal and switched to cleaner-burning stuff from Powder River Basin.)... (more)

You can trust a beekeeper, can't you? Biologist Bernard Chevilliat moved to France's Ardeche region in 1977, and started an apiary which grew to 500 hives. In 1983, he founded Melvita, stocking his shelves with processed bee products: your  soaps, your honeys (which they still sell).

By 1991, Melvita had grown into a full-fledged organic cosmetics company (similar to Burt's Bees development on these shores). "Melvita's total product range consists of 250 articles manufactured from more than 580 natural ingredients," reports Organic-Market.Info.

This year, Melvita has come to America, opening its first store in San Francisco and its second in downtown Seattle, at Pacific Place. (A grand opening ribbon-cutting and wine-and-cheese reception is tonight, June 16, from 5-8 p.m. One shopper will win a gift basket, presented at 7:30 p.m.)

Their current worldwide expansion has come from the strength of their merger with Provence's L'Occitane back in 2008. Chevilliat remained managing director of his firm, which is still staunchly eco-friendly. It's what's best for the bees.

Two grown-in-the-Northwest business giants are ready for summer, whether summer's ready or not. REI is kicking off their Family Adventure Program, and BECU is celebrating their 75th year with community events (BECU and community events go together, in general).

REI is pushing for kids to see some outdoors this summer. The young'uns start by picking up (or downloading) an "Adventure Journal" at any REI location. Then, in theory, the family huddles up to review family-friendly hikes and bike rides in the Seattle area (again, at any REI store or online). Hiking options are Tiger Mountain, Carkeek Park, Boardman Lake, Franklin Falls Trail, and Twin Falls Trail, if that gives you some idea.

After the kid survives at least one outdoor jaunt, they can send in a tear-off postcard from their journal to get a certificate of completion. What, no store credit? What about half-off on some trail mix?

BECU, the daddy-of-'em-all area credit union, is 75 years young and celebrating with its 600,000 members. As you know, BECU was founded by 18 Boeing employees who wanted to pool their resources to buy tools. (I'm going to go out on a limb and suggest these were 18 men.)

They're starting with a week of events in the South Sound, and then moving on to four days of events around Seattle (and on the Kitsap Peninsula) from June 8 to 11. Free food and dollar giveaways are promised, along with charitable donations for each new account. Drum roll! And you can enter to win an Apple iPad at the following events:... (more)

Starbucks' Facebook fan page is the epicenter of Sonics fan protest this morning. It all starts rather innocently, with Starbucks announcing the "We love you Seattle" promotion. Every Friday through June 18, you can pick up a special gift at "local participating Seattle Starbucks."

A nice gesture, sure to engender smiles of gratitude from happy Seattleites, yes? Well, in the unlikely event that this blog post is optioned for a movie, the trailer might say: "But Starbucks forgot one thing..."

Sonics fans. Who have not forgotten that Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz' spearheaded the team's sale to Oklahoma Cityites, the overwhelming factor precipitating the team's desertion of Seattle. Sonics fans are not feeling the love. To put it lightly. And they aren't being shy about it.

"f*** starbucks an howard shultz, c***sucker!!" comments one Kyle Mortensen on SBUX Facebook.

Thomas Kohnstamm is a little more coherent: "Thanks for the offer of a free coffee, but I'd rather have the basketball team that I grew up on."

The directors of Sonicsgate have even chimed in with a link to their Webby-award winning film about the team's departure.... (more)

The Washington State Convention Center downtown is hosting the Society for Information Display’s 48th Annual Display Week, with a gathering of the world’s best display screen manufacturers showcasing some astounding future technologies.

Without question, the big news at the SID 2010 conference has been the unveiling of LG's 84-in. ultra high-definition 3D screen. You read that right: 84 inches. The resolution is 3840 x 2160. It’s been the talk of the tech geek blogs for a while, but this is the first time it's starred in its own trade show. Currently, it's also an 84-in. paperweight of sorts; there's nothing out there retail-wise that can deliver a signal of that resolution, let alone in 3D.

Still, you can't help lusting for that clear, clean picture. The 3D images are razor sharp, with little motion blur, delivering vibrant colors with solid blacks. If there is a downside, it’s that LG has outpaced 3D technology. That clarity makes the lack of focus outside of the focal point pop out at you, along with the lack of even graduation from foreground to back that gives 3D a pop-up book feeling. And even in a short viewing period, the glasses combined with the screen gave me a little eye fatigue.

The thinnest LG is 2.6mm, and it's hard to believe your eyes, until you walk around the show and see that that record may not last long. It’s basically the width of a magazine, and the whole screen weighs about 8 pounds. And the image is crisp, colorful with great gray scale and true blacks. There is no image distortion if you view the screen from even the most extreme angles.... (more)

Seattle is "ready for take-off," ranking just behind Austin, TX, on Kiplinger's "Best Cities for the Next Decade" list, which gives points for innovative thinking. Topeka, KS, was tenth. Portland didn't make the list. Kiplinger's is a personal finance and business magazine that apparently needs the kind of publicity that running a Top 10 list will bring you. (Just like we're the kind of magazine that reports on Top 10 lists!)

Senior editor Robert Frick lays out the rationale: "It’s no coincidence that economic vitality and livability go hand in hand. Creativity in music, arts and culture, plus neighborhoods and recreational facilities that rank high for 'coolness,' attract like-minded professionals who go on to cultivate a region’s business scene."

Ironically, the lede's money quote is from Mark Emmert, our skipping-town president of the University of Washington: "We only have two products here: smart people and great ideas." Kiplinger's is bullish on Boeing and the 787, the University of Washington's research-dollar magnetism, our global health scene (Gates Foundation, Washington Global Health Alliance), and clean tech (McKinstry).

They also noted we have tons of office space, and close with a quote from the OECD's Stephen Johnson: "We realized with this recession that our city and region need to be much more aggressive in business development."... (more)

CEO Tay Yoshitani's letter in the Port of Seattle's 2009-10 annual report lays the recession's effects out for you: air travel passengers down 3 percent, shipping container volumes down 7 percent, cruise passengers down 1.2. But the Port also trimmed $16 million from its budget, and has a triple-A rating from Standard & Poor's. Given the extent of the 2009 downturn, you might have expected a lot worse.

By reducing SeaTac's operating costs, the Port was able to reduce what it charges airlines (the cost per emplanement), which gives the airlines the option of charging passengers lower fares, or not going out of business, depending on how things are going. Alaska Airlines and Horizon Air account for 48 percent of the market share at Sea-Tac, with Southwest (9 percent) and United (7) as more distant runners-up. The opening of light rail to the airport gets a tiny sidebar, where it's noted the Port saved $11 million on projected costs.

On the seaport side, to no one's surprise, China remains the top trading partner, with an 8-to1 ratio of import value to export value. That is, Chinese goods worth $16.5 billion arrived, and we sent them just over $2 billion worth. Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan trail at some distance. Singapore and Australia merit the distinction of being net importers. Top five imports are toys and sports equipment, electrical and other machinery, and knit and woven apparel. Top export: the miscellaneous grain, seed, fruit category.

On the cruise side, after adding Carnival to a mix including Holland America, Princess, and Royal Caribbean, Seattle is the sixth cruisiest port in the nation. That said, cruise volume isn't expected to increase: There were 875,000 passengers in 2009, and about 860,000 are estimated for 2010. Still quite a change from 2000, when just 120,000 people set sail.... (more)

The PSBJ alerts me to new doings at the Greater Seattle Business Association. The LGBT chamber of commerce ("largest in the country") has launched a new online effort to promote the gay travel agenda. In this case, the agenda is to put out the welcome mat for gay travelers thinking about visiting Seattle. 

Though Seattle has the second-largest openly gay population in the U.S., we only recently broke into the gay travel spots Top Ten (#9, holla!). Community Marketing, Inc., says we're a "rising city" when it comes to seducing gay travelers. (Fact! Lesbians prefer beer, while you won't go wrong offering vodka to the new boy at the gym.) I say that metaphorically, of course.

"Travel Gay Seattle," runs the slogan, "Where OUT is IN." It's not Oscar Wilde but it gets the job done. The landing page whisks you off to the GSBA's airline partner (Alaska Airlines), provides hotel options, and offers a walking map that features GSBA businesses. (Purr Cocktail lounge gets a profile; corporate sponsors include Sheraton Seattle Hotel, Amtrak, and American Airlines.) The Travel Gay Seattle blog gets even more detailed, offering tips on public transit and Pride events. 

Yes, Pride: "Unaffected by recessionary influences, nearly a quarter of the respondents reported traveling to another city and spending at least one night in a hotel to attend a Pride event," says Community Marketing, Inc., adding that "gays and lesbians tend to be especially interested in visiting city neighborhoods and experiencing local, non-chain restaurants." 

Also--fact!--if you drop in at any coffee shop or bar on Capitol Hill, you have a 42 percent chance of seeing the peripatetic Dan Savage blogging there. And that is something that Las Vegas, New York, San Francisco, and Chicago can't offer.