TREND WATCH

Fuel Switch: Natural gas is usurping electricity as the fuel of choice in the Northwest. Currently, 98% of new homes built in the Puget Sound area are furnished with gas appliances. And the cost advantage of using gas is prompting 900 homeowners a month to convert to gas through Washington Natural Gas. As demand continues to boom, there is some concern that pipeline capacity will be stressed, pushing prices up. Spokesman-Review and Spokane Chronicle Marathon Marketing: Customer service has been pinpointed by 3M as key to its success in the European Economic Community. Because of its strong European business, which this year should reach $3 billion, or 55% of the company’s overseas revenue, 3M surveyed 18,000 European customers on its customer service. The company will not disclose the results but is upgrading data processing operations to reduce order time and has moved service representatives from its 16 European subsidiaries and divisions into the companies they serve. The 3M vice president for Europe calls its marketing efforts “a marathon where there is no finish line.” St. Paul Pioneer Press

Downturn Special: A recession may mean a sales slowdown at restaurants, but because it also means soft real estate markets and lower development costs, many restaurant chains are gearing up for expansion, increasing outlets by as much as 31%. Healthy companies such as Chili’s and Showbiz Pizza Time of Texas and Shoney’s in Nashville, Tenn., can obtain bargain leases from landlords and developers eager to fill vacant space and find that contractors are submitting unusually low bids for construction and conversion jobs. Nation’s Restaurant News