Allegiant flights to Bay Area begin Friday

Allegiant Travel Co., which currently runs non-stop flights between Idaho Falls and Las Vegas, Scottsdale, Ariz., and Los Angeles, starts its twice-weekly flights to Oakland, Calif., on Friday.

Fares for the first few weeks start as low as $40 one-way, although that applies only to certain dates. Using the booking program on Allegiant's Web site, if I wanted a round trip this weekend, flying out Friday and returning Monday, the cost would be $493.20 (that includes taxes). That's last minute, though. If I wanted to do the wine country for my birthday at the end of July, I could get a ticket and a room in Napa for as little as $542.83.

Other big news from Allegiant is that they are adding service between Las Vegas and Honolulu starting June 29. This doesn't mean you can book Allegiant out of Idaho Falls, change planes in Vegas and head for Hawaii.

"Our business model isn't based on connecting flights," said Sabrina LoPiccolo, spokeswoman for the company. Allegiant is more focused on offering travel deals to its customers by providing low-cost travel packages that include not only air, but hotel, rental car and attractions.

Bonneville County first-quarter home sales show growth over 2011

Today's big economic indicator story was new home sales and how they fell 7.1 percent in March. The Commerce Department said that sales dropped to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 328,000 units. That followed a 7.3 percent increase in sales in February. The figure from February had been revised up from an initial estimate that sales had fallen 1.6 percent.

If you haven't heard the story, here's the link from NPR: http://www.npr.org/2012/04/24/151276146/new-home-sales-drop-after-big-revision

And here's something even niftier, also from NPR, an interactive map that shows county-by-county foreclosure and unemployment rates, plus median household income: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=111494514. Here's what the local numbers were:

Bonneville
39,731 households
Foreclosures: 1 in 1,046

Bingham
16,141 households
Foreclosures: 1 in 2,306

Jefferson
8,722 households
Foreclosures: 1 in 2,907

Madison
11,280 households
Foreclosures: Data not available

Fremont
8,531 households
Foreclosures: 1 in 4,266

The best local figures I have for real estate come from the Snake River Multiple Listing Service. Crunching the numbers from the first three months of 2011 and 2012, it looks like business is picking up in Bonneville County and at least holding steady in the outlying areas. Take a look for yourself:

Dave & Buster's discovers Idaho

I picked this out of today's Idaho Statesman and thought it might be of interest to at least some BizMojo Idaho readers:

Dave & Buster's eatery, bar and arcade planned in Boise

The national restaurant chain based in Dallas filed plans with the city to open in the former Circuit City building in the Boise Towne Plaza on North Milwaukee Street.

What’s in the works? City records show the company wants to remodel the 24,500-square-foot building for restaurant and entertainment use. It would have seating for 279 people and 116 parking spaces.

What is Dave & Buster’s? It’s like a Chuck E. Cheese’s for grown-ups. The restaurant serves American fare like cheese fries, buffalo wings, steak and burgers. The bar has a full drink menu including liquor, beer and wine. The arcade includes sports, driving and flying, action and combat and classic video games. The chain also markets itself as a place for parties and events.

My thoughts: Isn't there an empty Circuit City in Ammon? Now that Dave & Buster's has discovered Idaho, maybe they'd be open to a pitch (if one hasn't been made already). Maybe the demographics aren't right for eastern Idaho to be considered. Perhaps all the liquor licenses in Ammon are tied up, which could be an issue.

But it's something to think about on a Tuesday morning, a possibility to explore if nothing else.

ostatesman.com/2012/04/24/2089585/dave-busters-in-boise-eatery-bar.html#storylink=cpy

Bella Vita releases new catering menu

Bella Vita Bistro and Coffeehouse, 901 Pier View Drive, has put out a new catering menu. If you're interested in seeing it, click on the picture and see if anything strikes your fancy.

 Or visit their Facebook page, https://www.facebook.com/pages/Bella-Vita-Coffeehouse/109018775817590

If you're a restaurant with any kind of news, e-mail us at bizmojoidaho@gmail.com. Our readers eat this stuff up.

Unemployment continues to drop in eastern Idaho

Idaho’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate continued to drop in March, and Idaho Falls and Rexburg put up even better numbers than the statewide average of 7.9 percent.

This was the first time in 2 1/2 years statewide unemployment dropped below 8 percent, as more Idahoans found work than during any other month since October 2006.

In the Idaho Falls Labor Market Area, the rate was 6.3 percent, down one-tenth of a percent from February and two-tenths of a percent from March 2011. The Rexburg area posted a rate of 6.2 percent.

The tenth-of-a-point decline in the jobless rate to 7.9 percent marked the eighth straight month that Idaho’s rate has fallen. It is now a full percentage point below the recession-era high in July 2011.
To read the full report from the Idaho Department of Labor, follow this link: http://labor.idaho.gov/news/NewsReleases/tabid/1953/ctl/PressRelease/mid/2527/itemid/2425/Default.aspx

For all the numbers, click on this chart: