Briefcase

Red Lion adds California hotel

A Concord, Calif., hotel will become a Red Lion Hotels Corp. franchisee next month, the Spokane-based chain said Thursday.

The Holiday Inn Concord, with 189 rooms and 5,400 square feet of meeting space, is the third Northern California hotel to convert to the Red Lion brand in the last month. The others are in Rancho Cordova and Oakland.

All three are expected to make the change in January.

“Red Lion owns and operates hotels, in addition to franchising them, which is something appreciated by franchise owners who have similar types of hotels,” interim Chief Executive Officer Jon Eliassen said.

As of Sept. 30, Red Lion owned or franchised 43 hotels in the western U.S. and Canada.

Bert Caldwell

Retailers report strong sales

NEW YORK – Retailers are reporting strong November revenue results, raising hopes for the holiday shopping season.

Deep discounting drew in shoppers throughout the month, including the crucial Thanksgiving weekend.

As retailers report their results Thursday, many types of stores reported robust gains that beat Wall Street expectations. Those include Costco Wholesale Corp., Target Corp. and the owner of Victoria’s Secret.

That underscores that many people were not only buying gifts for others but throwing in items for themselves.

The results are based on revenue at stores open at least a year.

Associated Press

Mortgage rates up from record lows

WASHINGTON – Rates on fixed mortgages edged up again this week after hitting their lowest level in decades last month.

Freddie Mac said Thursday that the average rate for 30-year fixed loans rose to 4.46 percent from 4.40 percent last week. Three weeks ago, the rate hit 4.17 percent, the lowest level on records dating back to 1971.

The 15-year loan also rose, to 3.81 percent from 3.77 percent. It hit its lowest point since the survey began in 1991 a month ago, when rates fell to 3.57 percent.

The brightening economic picture has reversed the direction of mortgage rates, which had been falling since April.

Associated Press

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