BJ's, the new restaurant and brewhouse that is moving into the remodeled section of the Tacoma mall, is hiring workers.

The company has set up a temporary shop to interview and train workers in the spot where B. Dalton Bookseller was located, across from Old Navy.

The magazine racks are stacked with clipboards. Two rows of folding chairs sit against a side wall.

Go to the company's Web site for more information.

The store is open Monday through Friday 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Saturday 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.

BJ's will be located on the mall's south side and will open this fall.

BJ's opened a restaurant at Southcenter as part of that mall's renovation. The restaurant has an extensive menu that includes burgers, pizza, salad and sandwiches.

When the Port of Tacoma bought 745 acres near Maytown in Thurston County two years ago, the port's plan for the property seemed ripe for implementation.

But port commissioners Thursday, battered by local opposition to its plans and by a slowing economy, will take the first concrete step toward backing out of its ambitious deal.

The commission is scheduled to hire a real estate advisor to market the tract and to manage its eventual auction.

The port's request for proposal calls for that real estate advisor to assemble a property profile including its potential uses, identify potential buyers, create a bidding package and to manage the bidding process.

The port's request notes that the real estate advisor should work closely with stakeholders in the area.

Potential buyers could include industrial firms, railroads and conservation groups.

The port originally planned to create a large rail storage and sorting yard on the site 12 miles south of Olympia. That rail facility was expected to attract rail-dependent businesses and warehouses.

But opposition from a local group, Friends of Rocky Prairie, torpedoed the port's plans, and its partner in the deal, the Port of Olympia, pulled out in late June.

The port payed $21 million for the tract, which was formerly the site of an explosives plant.

Who would have thought a few months ago that consumers would be cheering as crude oil prices approached $100 a barrel?

Of course, after a summer in which oil prices passed $140 a barrel, $100 seems cheap.

Oil prices today briefly flirted with $105 a barrel before rising a few dollars higher.

But some analysts are predicting that oil prices may dip to $100 or below before oil-producing countries cut production to drive prices up.

But that may be difficult to do for some countries who've become as addicted to high incomes from high oil prices just as we've become addicted to cheap gas.

Meanwhile in Washington, retail gasoline prices continued falling today. Statewide the average for a gallon of regular now stands at $3.876 a gallon, down six cents from the Aug. 25 average price, according to AAA Washington.

A month ago, average gas prices in Washington were $4.138 a gallon. Gas prices peaked in the Evergreen State at $4.352 a gallon two days after the Independence Day holiday.

And in Tacoma, gas prices broke the $3.60-a-gallon barrier today with the price at the ARCO station at Portland and Puyallup avenues at $3.59 a gallon, reported TacomaGasPrices.com.

Nationwide, the least expensive gas on average was in Delaware today where a gallon cost $3.461

United Airlines did a quick about-face today on its plan to eliminate hot meals on its economy class flights to Europe from Washington, D.C's Dulles Airport.

The airline said that a strong customer reaction to its announcement that the meals would disappear caused it to reconsider.

The airline was reportedly inundated with complaints particularly from its most frequent fliers about the plan.

Those fliers told the airline that the least it could do on a seven or eight-hour flight to Europe was serve up a decent meal.

The airline apparently feared that fliers would defect to competitors who still manage to serve up hot food despite the pressure of higher fuel prices.

Some 25,000 Puget Sound area Machinists Union members are voting today on a three-year contract proposal from Boeing.

The company says the offer with its 11 percent raise and 3 percent cost-of-living adjustment and $2,500 signing bonus is a good deal.

What do you Boeing union members think of the proposal?

Let us know with your comments if you're voting up or down on the offer and why.

Starbucks has added oatmeal to its menu. It's all part of an effort to revise the company's menu to entice consumers to spend more money at the stores.

I noticed the signs yesterday at a couple of shops around Tacoma. Other items were added as well:

Starbucks Perfect Oatmeal: Each order can be customized with three different toppings; a portioned 50-calorie pack of brown sugar, 100-calorie pack of dried fruit and 100-calorie pack of a nut medley.
Calories: 140 to 390 calories depending on topping selections.
Other nutrition information: Up to 7 grams of fiber and 1.5 servings of whole grains.

Chewy Fruit & Nut Bar: Ingredients including oats, dried fruit, nuts, seeds, and honey.
Calories: 250
Other nutrition information: 4 grams of fiber and 5 grams of protein.

Apple Bran Muffin: Made with whole wheat flour, oats and wheat bran, and baked with real apples, tart cherries and honey.
Calories: 330
Other nutrition information: 7 grams of fiber, 7 grams of protein.

Berry Stella: A 100% whole grain breakfast pastry with whole grains and real fruit
Calories: 280

Power Protein Plate: A combination of a cage-free hard-boiled egg, 100% whole wheat bagel, peanut butter, cheese, and fresh fruit.
Calories: 330
Other nutrition information: 16 grams of protein and 5 grams of fiber.

Here's the official word from Starbucks: "Many Americans are too busy to make a healthy breakfast at home, but it’s the most important meal of the day," said Katie Thomson, registered dietitian and senior nutritionist, Starbucks Coffee Company. "Our customers have told us they want delicious choices that offer real nutrition including whole grains, fruit, and lean protein to help fill them up and give them energy to make it to lunch."

The National Retail Federation is out today with its “Global Powers of Retailing" annual report.

It pays to be in the grocery business, with grocers taking 98 of the Top 250 slots.

Global sales for the world’s top 250 retailers rose to $3.25 trillion in 2006 – the year covered by the latest compilation. That was up 8 percent from $3.01 trillion the year before.

The Top 10: Wal-Mart, grocery and discount; Carrefour S.A. (France), club grocery; Home Depot, home improvement; Tesco (U.K.), grocery and discount; Metro A.G. (Germany), apparel and discount; The Kroger Co, grocery; Target, discount department; Costco, club grocery; Sears Holdings, department; Schwarz Unternehmens Truehand (Germany), grocery.

Walgreen, Lowe’s, CVS and Safeway represent the U.S. in the balance of the Top 20. SuperValu and Macy’s (the former Federated) come 27th and 28th. Sweden’s IKEA came 35th.

Buyers in the U.S. represented 45.5 percent of worldwide sales.