In brief: Liquidation World closing its doors

The last Liquidation World location in the United States will close in Spokane Valley in about six weeks.

At one time, the Toronto-based reseller of liquidated or distressed items had nearly 20 U.S. stores.

The store at 12606 E. Sprague Ave. has been open more than 15 years, warehouse manager Mike Baughn said.

Liquidation World has more than 75 stores in operation across Canada, he said.

A company spokesman did not give a reason for closing the local store.

The discounter plans to open a new store this spring in Chicago.

Tom Sowa

Former hotel exec gets cash, options

Ousted Red Lion Hotels Corp. chief executive officer and president Anupam Narayan will receive $727,693 in severance and retain an option to buy 80,000 shares of company stock, according to a filing last week with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

Narayan was dismissed Jan. 13 by Red Lion’s board of directors, which named board member Jon Eliassen the interim replacement. No reason was given for the change.

Narayan resigned from the board Jan. 29.

Narayan was hired by Red Lion in 2004 and became CEO and president in 2008. That year, he earned $594,473 in salary, stock and stock options. Numbers for 2009 are not yet available.

The options are exercisable at $5.10 per share. They lapse July 30.

At Tuesday’s closing price of $5.99, the options would be worth about $72,000.

Bert Caldwell

Micron to purchase memory chip maker

Boise – Micron Technology says it plans to buy fellow memory chip maker Numonyx in an all-stock transaction the companies value at $1.27 billion.

Micron plans to issue 140 million shares to Numonyx shareholders, Francisco Partners and chip makers Intel Corp. and STMicroelectronics NV. Numonyx was created by the three companies in 2008.

Micron will issue up to 10 million additional shares to Numonyx shareholders, depending on Micron’s average share price for 20 trading days. The transaction is expected to close within three to six months pending regulatory approval, Micron says.

Micron expects the transaction to add to its earnings beginning in 2011.

Micron makes memory chips for mobile phones, cameras and other electronics.

Associated Press

Google launches its own social hub

San Francisco – Google Inc. opened a new social hub in its e-mail service on Tuesday, leaving little doubt that the Internet search leader is girding for a face-off with Facebook.

The new Gmail channel, called Google Buzz, includes many of the features that have turned Facebook into the Web’s top spot for fraternizing with friends and family.

The Google Buzz features won’t reach all of Gmail’s estimated 176 million users worldwide for several more days. A link to the service will appear on the top left of the page, in a prominent position just under Gmail’s inbox tab.

Associated Press