If you spot a purple LINK light rail train in Downtown Tacoma Tuesday, don't think that Sound Transit has abandoned its blue, wave-like corporate paint scheme.

No, one of the light rail vehicles has become, for a fee, a rolling billboard for the Click! Network.

The train has been wrapped with a decal-like purple skin advertising Click!'s 10th anniversary.

The wrap, which cost the municipally-owned cable network $13,280, was designed by IMagic and applied to the train by Titan Worldwide, said Click! spokeswoman Diane Lachel.

The promotion will run through the end of the year when the train will return to its former color scheme.

Taiwan's China Airlines will cut service to Seattle next fall, an aviation publication says.

Airline Weekly said China, which began service to Sea-Tac in 2004 will end that service in September as part of its worldwide economy efforts. The airline is trimming away its least profitable flights as he struggles to cope with high fuel prices.

If China leaves Seattle, EVA Airlines will still link Seattle with Taiwan.

Seattle largely has dodged airline route cutbacks until now because business remains somewhat more robust in the Puget Sound area than in other parts of the nation.

Sea-Tac recently added service to Beijing via Hainan Airlines, and Northwest Airlines has announced new service to London and to Beijing.

Looks like Wal-Mart, once again, is going to try to go after the affluent bargain shopper cultivated by rival Target.

I covered retail not so long ago in California when Wal-Mart debuted its Supercenter concept there. At the time (way back in 2004), the chain told me it was all about providing low-cost options for working families so they could save money. (You might also recall a recent attempt to sell trendy clothing that didn't fly.) This comes at a time when Wal-Mart and other discounters are doing well as people rein in spending amid rising gas and food prices.

According to the Financial Times, Wal-Mart’s new Marketside grocery stores – the first new concept launched by the company in a decade – will be serving up “premium” food, indicating price/discounts will not be the focus.

Here’s an excerpt from the story:

Job advertisements for the new Wal-Mart business say the stores will deliver “unique solutions for time-starved consumers in a premium fresh/convenience oriented format” – an indication of the pricing position of the new 15,000 sq ft stores.

Wal-Mart has already indicated that the neighbourhood stores will be focused on delivering “meal solutions”. Store planning documents indicate that food will be prepared and served on the premises, in contrast to the minimalist utilitarian approach of Tesco’s hard discount Fresh & Easy stores.

A small, Portland-based airline has announced plans to do what giant, Dallas-based Southwest Airlines could not three years ago: set up air service between Seattle and another major city from Boeing Field.

SeaPort Airlines has announced a new service from Boeing Field near downtown Seattle to Portland beginning June 30.

The carrier will fly eight weekday roundtrips between the two airports using a single-engine turboprop Pilatus PC-12. The airline has scheduled four Saturday and Sunday roundtrips between the two airports.

It expects to attract travelers who want to avoid the security hassles at Sea-Tac Airport and at Portland International Airport. SeaPort will use a private terminal at Portland.

SeaPort's total passenger capacity in the 9-passenger planes is less than Horizon Air offers in one flight of its 74-passenger Q400 planes that fly frequently between SEA and PDX.

Tickets will cost from $149 to $224.

The airline's announcement is unlikely to generate the kind of massive opposition that Southwest did when it announced plans to move all of its 40-some daily flights from Sea-Tac to Boeing Field. Southwest planned to increase its flights to some 90 a day and build a new terminal at its expense.

The plan elicited opposition from other airlines at Sea-Tac, and rival Alaska Airlines said it would move some flights to Boeing Field to counter Southwest' move. Boeing Field neighbors also opposed the addition of regular jet commercial flights from the airport which is busy with private and corporate aviation and test and delivery flights by The Boeing Co.

Southwest's plan eventually failed when King County Executive Ron Sims withdrew his support for the plan.

Tacoma Mall owner Simon Property Group Inc. has announced the addition of four new retailers to its new "lifestyle center" due to open in October.

Those retailers are:

* Coldwater Creek. This retailer of women's apparel, gifts, jewelry and accessories will occupy a nearly 7,000-square-foot space. The Tacoma Mall store will be Coldwater Creek's eighth in Washington. The chain has 300 stores nationwide.

* The Walking Company.This shoe-oriented store specializes in comfort shoes and accessories. It will open a 1,842 store with brands such as ECCO, Mephisto, Dansk, UGG and Merrell.

* AT&T this communications company will supplement its mall kiosk presence with a 3,051-square-foot full-scale store featuring the Iphone and other wireless technologies.

* Bose will be retailing its high-end sound systems and electronics in a 3,069-square-foot location.

The lifestyle section of the Mall is currently under construction on the Mall's south side. That new section along with a new Nordstrom being built at the former Mervyn's location, is on schedule to open before the Christmas shopping season begins in earnest this fall.

Tacoma Mall management said it wil soon be announcing three more new stores for the lifestyle addition.