After two years, Loudeye's chief executive quits post
Gioia, a principal at Regent Pacific Management, will also assume Baker's position as president, said Andrew Cullen, a spokesman for the Seattle-based company with an outside firm. Charles Waite, a Loudeye director, will succeed Baker as chairman, he said.
Baker, 43, became CEO in March 2001 and chairman in October of that year. He and Loudeye's board reached a mutual decision for him to resign, Cullen said. Loudeye said sales last year were as much as 10 percent below its previous expectations of $13.5 million to $14 million.
Parkway SuperCenter near Southcenter is sold
TUKWILA — What to do with a thriving retail development that boasts such tenants as Old Navy, Gart Sports and Babies 'R' Us?
Sell it.
Which is what MKB Northwest has done with its Parkway SuperCenter, the big-box shopping center at 17547 Southcenter Parkway. The company said it sold the remainder of the shopping center to Kimco Realty of New York for $88.5 million, which is expected to be one of the biggest retail deals of the year.
MKB redeveloped the 700,000 square foot SuperCenter in 1997 and has been selling portions of the property over the past two years.
Everett developer expands corporate-park construction
EVERETT — More construction is planned at the Quadrant I-5 Corporate Park.
Developer Ned Backus bought just over five acres from Quadrant for $2.1 million. Backus plans to build 75,000 square feet of office and light-industrial space at the business park, which is off Interstate 5 at 135th Street in Everett.
The development's tenants include Premera Blue Cross and State Farm.
Shurgard Europe executive is promoted to president
SEATTLE — Shurgard Storage Centers, a real-estate-investment trust specializing in self-storage operations, said yesterday that it had promoted David Grant to serve as president and chief operating officer effective Aug. 1.
Grant had been executive vice president and chairman of Shurgard Europe, the company said. He first joined Shurgard in 1985 as its U.S. director of real-estate investment.
Icos' rival to Viagra now available in Europe
SEATTLE — Icos, a Bothell biotech company, and Eli Lilly said yesterday the impotence drug Cialis is now available at pharmacies in the United Kingdom, Germany, Denmark, Finland, Sweden and Australia.
Icos spokeswoman Lacy Fitzpatrick said the drug is being priced similarly to Pfizer's Viagra. Cialis is not available in the United States, but the company expects a decision from the Food and Drug Administration this year.
Microsoft disciplines workers over reselling of software
REDMOND — Microsoft said it has taken disciplinary action against an undisclosed number of employees for buying Microsoft software at cost from the company and reselling it for a profit.
Microsoft spokeswoman Stacy Drake declined to comment on the number of workers or the action taken. Microsoft employees can buy software at reduced prices for personal use from a company store and procure programs for business use through an internal system.
The crackdown comes after a midlevel executive in the company's .Net group was accused of ordering and reselling $9 million of Microsoft software in December. Daniel Feussner is free on bond and is facing charges of mail, computer and wire fraud.
Nation / World
Prices of iMac, eMac PCs lowered in bid to boost sales
SAN FRANCISCO — Apple Computer lowered the price of its one-piece iMac and eMac PCs by as much as 13 percent as it tries to boost sales with faster and lower-priced systems.
The company reduced the number of flat-panel iMac computers it sells from three to two, keeping the two best sellers, while knocking $200 off the price of each, said Greg Joswiak, the head of marketing for Apple's hardware division.
Apple will charge $1,799 for a flat-panel iMac with a 17-inch screen and $1,299 for the 15-inch model. Faster processors were added to each machine. Apple cut the price of its one-piece eMac computers to $999 and $1,299, from $1,099 and $1,499, Joswiak said.
Major insurer underestimates claims; company's shares fall
NEW YORK — American International Group (AIG) sent shock waves across the world insurance industry yesterday, as it admitted it had drastically underestimated U.S. liability claims on its books.
The world's largest insurer, American International Group is to take a $1.8 billion charge to pay for heavier-than-expected workers' compensation and executives' liability claims, which have built up over the past few years.
It blamed U.S. courts handing over large awards and a spike in shareholder lawsuits from corporate scandals such as Enron and WorldCom.
Maurice Greenberg, the company's chief executive, suggested that other insurers were suffering from the same problems.
The company's shares fell 6.6 percent, and shares of rivals ACE, Travelers Property Casualty and Chubb — which also announced a small reserve addition yesterday — all fell sharply.
Compiled from Seattle Times business staff and news services.