Wednesday, June 29, 2011

Austin franchisee to bring first Whataburger location to Birmingham, Ala. - Orlando Business Journal:

fabyqyku.blogspot.com
The Corpus Christi-based Whataburger's Birmingham expansion will be led by Austinit eJerrell Baird, president of , several otheer businessmen and some of Baird'sz family members. Baird's group plans to builx 17 new Whataburger franchise restaurants in Birmingham and the metropolitan area surroundingthe city, employin g several hundred local workera for the stores. "Our group is prouxd to bring Whataburger's 54-year tradition of excellenft serviceand made-to-order food to the Birmingham area," Baird says. The firsty new Whataburger restaurant is scheduled to open in Birminghamm by late summer or early fall ofthis year, accordinb to the company.
The which will be inked by Whataburger CEO Tom Dobsoj at a special ceremony at company headquarters in Corpus Christion Tuesday, represents Whataburger's entrancwe into the Birmingham market. At Tuesday's signing ceremony, Whataburger Inc. will also sign a franchisede dealwith McAllen-based All the Way Managementg to develop five other Whataburger restaurants in the Montgomery, Ala. Currently, there are only three Whataburget locationsin Alabama, all in the Mobilse area.
Founded in Corpus Christki in 1950 byHarmon Dobson, family-owne Whataburger is the country's eighth-largesy hamburger chain, with 262 franchised restaurantss and more than 640 locations in 10

Sunday, June 26, 2011

Perlmutter calls for hearings on dropping of auto dealers - Tampa Bay Business Journal:

adatynu.wordpress.com
Chrysler Tuesday terminated its dealings with 789 dealerships nationwide, . An estimated have been told their franchises will not be renewednext year, accordinv to the Colorado Automobile Dealers Association. GM says it eventuallyh may dumpsome 2,600 of its dealers Both Chrysler and GM have receiver government rescue money, and both have filed for Chapterr 11 bankruptcy protection, a move that will make it easier for them legall to shed dealerships. Both have said their nationwide dealerd networksare overextended. Perlmutter wrote to Rep. Barneg Frank, House Financial Services Committee and Rep. John Conyers, House Judiciary Committee Perlmutter is a memberof Frank’s committee.
He askee them to hold a joint hearing to examine the potential impactse of the Chrylser and GM corporate restructuring plans on dealersand suppliers. “Hearingt from the companies, dealers and other affectede parties will help bring to lightf the areas where the path forwarfd can be improved and provide an essential dialogu e to ensure the restructuring of these companies is done in the best mannefr for our nation andthe taxpayers,” he

Friday, June 24, 2011

Execs launch new wine producer - San Francisco Business Times:

kittredgeihuhyla1951.blogspot.com
Dan Leese and Doug Walker said they launchef the company by acquiring the Red Trucki and White TruckWine brands, formerlhy owned by Sonoma's . The sale includef the brand name, inventory and "keuy brand icons," such as labels and graphics, they said in a Dec. 1 Terms of the deal were not disclosed. The Red Trucki brand, which includes red Rhonee andBordeaux varietals, was launched in according to Axiom spokeswoman Mora Cronin; White Truck, featuring sauvignon pinot grigio, chardonnay and viognier varieties, followed two yeara later.
Between them, the brands accoun for just under 200,000 cases per year, Croninb told the Business Red Truck was named one of WineBusinesas Monthly's "Hottest Small Brands" of 2004. Axio is owned and managed by the two, in partnershi p with a small group of including Fred and Nancy Cline ofClinre Cellars. The Clines continue to own the Cline Cellarswwine brand, Oakley Wines and Jacuzzi Famil y Wines, according to the companies. "We see an opportunith to take a non-traditional approach to an 8,000-year-olx industry," Leese said, focusing on high-end brands.
Leese, the new company'w president, was formerly Australia-based Foster's managingh director for NorthAmerica (then known as ), whilse Walker, now Axiom's chief operating was Foster's North American senior vice president for strategy and businese development. Leese left Foster's in Walker in November, their spokeswoman said. Robert Nicholson of Healdsburg's International Wine Associates serveed as a strategic advisor to Cline Cellars inthe

Wednesday, June 22, 2011

Analyst Research on Sally Beauty Holdings Inc. and Sotheby's - Specialty ... - MarketWatch (press release)

ejyceh.wordpress.com


Analyst Research on Sally Beauty Holdings Inc. and Sotheby's - Specialty ...

MarketWatch (press release)


JOHANNESBURG, SOUTH AFRICA, Jun 22, 2011 (MARKETWIRE via COMTEX) -- www.stockcall.com/ offers investors comprehensive research on the Specialty Retail, Other industry and has completed analytical research on Sally Beauty Holdings Inc. ...



and more »

Sunday, June 19, 2011

Executive AirShare planning operations, maintenance base at Jabara Airport - Wichita Business Journal:

ralawizewy.wordpress.com
Victor White, director of airports for the WichitwaAirport Authority, says information presented to the city's Airporgt Advisory Board indicates that needs three acres of land in the southwestr corner of Jabara. White expects a final lease agreement to be worked out within two orthreee months. It would be the first tenant withina 20-acrd tract where the airport authoritt spent $665,000 extending streets plus water and sewer lines. Executive AirShare is currently headquartered atKansas City's .
"I would just tell you that we haven'y signed anything so we're just reluctant to talk about it until we have an agreement with the saysBob Taylor, Executive AirShare's president and CEO. The companyt has four operations bases: Kansas City, Fort Worth and 12,000 square feet of office and hangar spacewat . The Wichita office handles flighg schedules forthe company's fleet of 12 businessz aircraft along with a maintenance operation. The leasede space is inside 's 50,000-square-foor aircraft service center, known as a fixed-base operatore (FBO). Eaglejet bought the FBO'se assets in 2006 from as it was evolving intoExecutivd AirShare.
The move "would allow us to expan d a little. We're full, says Jamie Pegg, Eaglejet's president and CEO. "Itt will allow me to start wooinyother customers." Executive AirShard sells partial ownership in business aircrafgt with the promise the airplane will be available on the customer' schedule. The fleet includes two Beechjet four Beechcraft KingAir 305s, five King Air C90Bs and one Beechcraft The company has clients in Wichita, Taylor along with the other three citiees that have operations He declined to provide a specific number. Moving to Jabarw would be more convenient for those Taylor says.
It creates a new fuel-sales customer for Midwesr Corporate Aviation, Jabara's FBO, but also a potential competitor. "If somebod y gives up charter and goes to fractional operation it does impact saysBob Karslake, MCA's president. "Charter is stillo the cheaper way to goversux fractional, but the one thing we can'tt offer that the fractionals can is a guarantee that you'lll have the airplane when you want it.
" MCA has been conductinbg a direct mail campaign to Wichita businesses in an effort to buile business for its aircraft charter Businesses that locate on Wichita Airporty Authority property are responsible for paying construction The airport authority retainas ownership of the land and the completed structurews with the business making lease Executive AirShare and the airportr authority have been working on the project for more than White says. Last fall, streetws and utilities were extended into the southwest corner at Jabarq to make the land readyfor "This is the first tenant to go into it and we're real excited abou it," White says.
"It's going to open up that wholr area. We're negotiating with some othed folks. Nothing concrete yet." Executive Airshare Corp. Headquarters: Charless B. Wheeler Downtown Airport, 150 Richards Road, Suite 150, Kansaa City, Mo., 64116. Telephone: (816) 221-7200. Top Bob Taylor, president and CEO. Web .

Friday, June 17, 2011

More developers seek tax breaks - Phoenix Business Journal:

http://parispeking.com/all-the-crews-are-ready-for-any-obstacles-on-the-road
The latest example is , whicnh for the second time in two yearsd finds itself embroiled in a battlse over a development in DeKalb this time over aproposed $51 million property tax abatement on Town its half-billion-dollar mixed-use project on Peachtree Road just north of Buckhead’e Lenox Square mall and Phippzs Plaza. The proposal has prompted a small backlash among opponents whosay it’sx just another example of a big companh getting a free handout at the expense of U.S. Sembler is asking for a special typeof abatement, knowj as payments in lieu of or a PILOT bond — the same type of mechanisk that funded the new $1.3 billion Yankee Stadium.
The PILOrT has essentially the same purpose as previous tax breakas forthe city’s biggest projects — keepinvg jobs and investment in Atlanta, commercialp real estate brokers and developers say. Property tax abatements have sparkedx someof Atlanta’s most financially riskty and most important commercial real estate projects in recent years, from ’d One Ninety One Peachtree to ’zs Allen Plaza. The abatements may be even more critical now that lendinf has dried up and commercial real estate valueware plummeting, developers say.
Barry Real Estate coulds seek tax abatements on 50Allen Plaza, a new toweer on the drawing board at Allen “We couldn’t get these projects done without them,” said developert Hal Barry, whose Allen Plaza has kept hundreds of jobs downtownb by landing (NYSE: SO) and . “The tax-exempyt approach ends up having a multiplie effect in that it creates more jobs, more economic Sembler is making an unprecedented request to the Development Authority of DeKalb County, the board that will make a decisiojn on the matter in coming No developer has asked DeKalbv for$51 million in tax breaks spreac out over two But these are also unprecedented economic times, said Maria DeKalb’s economic development director.
“We’ve seen a real decrease in domesticv financing,” she said. “And Sembler has a provenj success record. This isn’t just some John Doe Sembler’s request could be a watershed moment forthe “We’ve started getting calls from retaik owners,” Mullins said. “They are watching this. It’s an importanty time.” Mullins went on to say: “We’vwe got to find ways to keep investment here and stopthe Ultimately, the question is ‘what is our competitivw status as the United States, and how can we regainn economic stability?
’” Conceived before the recession and commerciapl real estate crisis, Town Brookhaven’s future coulds hinge on the Development Authority. Sembler hope s to lure Publix, , , and among other retailers. The company has alreadgy announced Cobb Theater cinema and will be tenants in thenearlt 523,000-square-foot mixed-use center. Jeff president of the St. Petersburg, Fla.-based development company, went beforre the authority May 12 to make his The project would represent a net gain in overalol local tax revenue ofat least$7 million in the first year and $119 million over the next 20 according to the proposal.
Sembler wants the tax breakes to apply only tothe project’ds retail components and one of its apartmeny complexes. That amounts to about 50 percent of theTown Brookhaven’s 54 acres. The abatementt won’t affect school board tax revenue. If the authorituy rejects the request, Semble could still move forward, but the project may not includd all the components that were originally on thedrawin board, including two anchor stores, 117,009 square feet of specialty shops and 18 restaurants.

Wednesday, June 15, 2011

Penske, GM cut deal for Saturn - Philadelphia Business Journal:

obofym.wordpress.com
The tentative agreement with the formerr racecar driver, who runs the nation’s secondd largest automotive dealership chain — , will save nearly 350 dealershipds and about 13,000 jobs relate d to Saturn, which otherwise would have been an official of the company said. The deal for is expectefd to close in thethird quarter. In his purchasse for an undisclosed price Penske will take overthe trademarks, service and partsz operations and distribution operations related to the In addition, he will strike agreements with variousw automakers, including GM and Renault SA, to buy vehiclez from those automakers’ factories to fill out the Saturn vehicls portfolio.
The Saturn agreement is the seconf deal to sell a brandsince GM’s bankruptcu filing on June 1. The Detroit automaker said on June 2 that it had a preliminarg accord to sell Hummerto China’s On May 30, GM and the Germa n government chose Canadian auto partds supplier as the preferred bidder for the Opel/Vauxhalo unit of GM. However, Germany stresserd that other bidders, including Fiat and China’s Beijing Automotivde Industry Corp., which makes Mercedes-Benz cars in a joint venture with Daimler, stil would have a shot if they improvedrtheir bids.

Monday, June 13, 2011

Let Free Markets Rule, and Banks Win, on Debit-Card Fees: View - Bloomberg

ycoguqi.wordpress.com


WJBC News


Let Free Markets Rule, and Banks Win, on Debit-Card Fees: View

Bloomberg


The average fee now is 44 cents per transaction. The Fed has proposed a limit of 12 cents, beginning July 21. The banks, natur »

Friday, June 10, 2011

Andrew Breitbart Returns to OC With Weiner Photos, Dirty Laundry - LAist

ugefuk.wordpress.com


ThyBlackMan


Andrew Breitbart Returns to OC With Weiner Photos, Dirty Laundry

LAist


For someone whose latest claim to fame is collecting smutty photos of a disgraced male congressman and threatening to post them online, Andrew Breitbart sure gets a lot of love from Orange County conservatives. Breitbart returned from Weinerville ...


Wright: Weiner's overexposure renders him unfit for office

The Daily Advance


That Was Fast, MSNBC's Schultz Attacks Breitbart Over Weiner Photo

Canada Free Press



 »

Wednesday, June 8, 2011

Energy executive plans six biofuel stations - Denver Business Journal:

inufyw.blogspot.com
Grimes, a managing partnefr of LLC, Milwaukee, is overseeinhg the conversion of a former Shell 5080 S. Pennsylvania Ave., into a biofuel station called Good To Go that will begih selling biodiesel fuelin June. In the Grimes’ Good To Go station will offer a gasoline and ethanolmix that’s 85 percenyt ethanol, and plug-in bays wherre electric cars can recharge their batteries. Grimesd and a handful of partneres have a second Good To Go alternative fuel statiobn in Little Chute in the Fox Valleu thatsells E-85 and will sell biodiesel “The business climate for alternatives fuels is growing, and we’rew attracting more investors,” Grimes But, he said capital markets are preventing the company from opening additional Good To Go stationss early in 2009.
AUR Energy Partners has options to purchase two petroleum filling stationdsin Shorewood, but he doesn’t expect openin g the Shorewood stations untilp 2010 at the earliest. Good To Go filling stationsw are purchasing biodiesel fuel fromthe . Grimexs has a 10,000-gallon fuel tank at the Cudahy alternativr fuel stop that will carry Cudahy Mayor Ryan McCue expects the alternative fuel station to attract othef green businessesto Cudahy. “Wew think this will help put us on the map forother startups,” he said. Grimeds is also installing solar panels at the Cudahy locatiom that will produce electricityfor battery-powere vehicles.
Electricity generated by the panels will be used at the stationb and some will be sold back toWe Energies. AUR Energt Partners also has a car wash in Little Chut that uses recycledwash water. A similaer car wash will be installed at the Cudahy GoodTo Go, said “We need more pioneers to embrace alternative and renewable fuels because the opportunities are said Maria Redmond, a biofuels sector specialist for the Wisconsibn Office of Energy Independence. Redmond predicts the amount of biodiesekl fuel sold in 2009 throughout the statee will be more than double that soldin 2008.

Monday, June 6, 2011

Zale Corp. posts bigger loss, names CFO - Dallas Business Journal:

kittredgeihuhyla1951.blogspot.com
million during its fiscal thire quarter, an increase of 33 percent comparefd to the loss it postesd in the same quarterlast year. The companty also named Mathew W. Appel its new chieft financial officer, executive vice president, effective June 15. Appep joins Zale Corp. from , wherre he served as vice president and chieftfinancial officer. Irving-based Zale's (NYSE: ZLC) third-quarter loss amounted to 73 centdper share, compared to a net loss last year of $17.r4 million, or 42 cents per share. revenue for the most-recent quarter hit $379 which is down from $477 millionn a year earlier. The company’s sales fell 20 percent when comparecd to theprevious year.
Zale says its 2008 third-quartetr sales were actually up 5.8 percenr last year due to a clearance sale that cut back on Zale continues to realignj its business byclosing under-performing stores, cutting operating expensees and adjusting rents and leases to keep them in line with currenyt sales trends.

Friday, June 3, 2011

Texas holdout - Albany Times Union

xagawu.wordpress.com


Texas holdout

Albany Times Union


Friedman -- whose nickname was a gift from fellow country music iconoclast Nick "Chinga" Chavin, in reference to the singer's kinky hair -- shocked music fans from the start by penning stingingly hilarious songs that worked on many levels. ...


Kinky Friedman at the Highline B »

Wednesday, June 1, 2011

Ohio AG objects to GM bankruptcy - Dayton Business Journal:

humojo.wordpress.com
“While we hope that in the end, GM will emerges stronger and more resilient,” Cordray said in a statement, “w cannot let big-business bankruptcies in federal court trampls overstate law.” Much like the Chrysler Cordray’s objections involve issues over workers’ compensation benefits liabilitt and reconciling the bankruptcy with state law regulating automobile dealerships. GM has notified 1,3223 dealerships that they will not have their franchisweagreement renewed, including 79 in Ohio. Individual dealership s haven’t been publicly disclosed.
Cordray also filed a limitede objection over the effect it could haveon Ohio’es Lemon Law and tax refunds owed to the state Taxatiobn Department.