Austin American-Statesman (Austin, TX) articles from November 2000

Austin American-Statesman (Austin, TX) archives from November 2000

Gateway Warns of Slow Computer Sales in 2001.
November 30, 2000... Byline: Bob Keefe Nov. 30--SAN DIEGO--Gateway Inc. on Wednesday joined the parade of computer makers warning of a dramatic slowdown in business, telling Wall Street that it wouldn't meet its growth projections for the fourth quarter or...

Most Texas HMOs Report Losses for Third Quarter.
November 30, 2000... Byline: Amy Schatz Nov. 30--Some of Texas' largest health maintenance organizations continued to report heavy losses during the third quarter, according to financial reports released Wednesday by the Texas Department of Insurance. ...

Internet-Based Nonprofit Lending Group Helps Those Forsaken by Big Banks.
November 30, 2000... Byline: Shelley Emling Nov. 30--NEW YORK--Geneva Francais has been cooking since she was 5 years old, when she was so small she had to stand on a milk crate to reach the counter. And in recent years, she has owned a restaurant. But when...

Canadian Competitor Buys Austin, Texas-Based Software Development Firm.
November 30, 2000... Nov. 30--Until Wednesday, Tantau Software Inc. was a household name only in its own household. The low-profile software development company based in Austin was spun out of Compaq Computer Corp. last year, but most of its workers and...

Amazon-Toys R Us Deal to Face Crucial Test of Holiday Shopping Season.
November 29, 2000... Byline: Bob Keefe Nov. 29--Sometime in early December, Amazon.com Inc. founder Jeff Bezos and about 400 employees will leave their headquarters in a former hospital overlooking Seattle, roll up their sleeves and fan out to the company's...

Sales Increase During Thanksgiving Weekend at Austin, Texas-Area Stores.
November 29, 2000... Byline: Elizabeth Goldman Nov. 29--Stores in Central Texas and around the country reported an increase from last year's sales during Thanksgiving weekend, the traditional kickoff of the holiday shopping season. Sales increased across...

Prominent Austin, Texas, Lawyer Changes Firms after 35 Years.
November 28, 2000... Byline: Bruce Hight Nov. 28--Shannon Ratliff, a senior partner at one of Austin's oldest law firms, is leaving after 35 years to join the state's largest law firm, Akin, Gump, Strauss, Hauer & Feld, based in Dallas. Ratliff, 62,...

Apartment Developer Continues Projects for Austin, Texas.
November 26, 2000... Byline: Shonda Novak Nov. 26--Post Properties Inc. is scrapping plans to develop new projects in some markets " but not Austin. "Our strategy has not changed in Austin," said Kent Collins with Atlanta-based Post, the nation's largest...

Austin, Texas, Software Development Provider Sees Hard Times.
November 26, 2000... Byline: Jerry Mahoney Nov. 26--In 1999, Concero Inc. did a lot of business with fast-growing startups " a good customer base for the 4-year-old consulting firm. A year earlier, Concero had expanded its management team, hired...

Some Austin, Texas, Firms Fall Into Low-Priced Stock Category.
November 26, 2000... Byline: Elizabeth Goldman Nov. 26--It sounds tempting: Buy a stock for just a few cents a share, and if it goes up even a dime, the returns are huge. The allure of low-priced or small-cap stocks, often referred to as penny stocks,...

Austin, Texas, Technology Firms Work Hard to Stay Afloat.
November 26, 2000... Byline: Andrew Park Nov. 26--Something bad is happening out there in dot-com land. We can tell that simply by the steep, eight-month-long drop in the technology-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index and the financial struggles of many of Austin's...

Luxury Retailers in Austin, Texas, Enjoy Brisk Sales.
November 25, 2000... Byline: Shonda Novak Nov. 25--It wasn't just toys and scooters Austin shoppers stalked Friday. From Jaguars and Cadillacs to fancy sterling-silver and solid-gold belt buckles, Austin's luxury retailers reported that business was brisk as...

Mexican President Sows Seeds of Financial Hope among Poor Citizenry.
November 24, 2000... Byline: Susan Ferriss Nov. 24--LEON, Mexico--Three years ago, Sanjuana Lopez was one of the countless women who sit on Mexican streets at night, selling tacos from a tiny portable grill for a few pesos profit. She didn't exactly fit...

Austin, Texas, Real Estate Deal Near for Dallas Developer.
November 24, 2000... Byline: Shonda Novak Nov. 24--The deal is close for a Dallas developer who wants Rainey Street residents to sell their property so he can build condominiums, apartments, shops, offices and hotels in downtown Austin's last historic...

Air Force Enlists Aid of Austin, Texas Ad Firm in Recruiting Campaign.
November 22, 2000... Byline: Amy Schatz Nov. 22--If Austin advertising firm GSD&M has its way, the country's best and brightest will soon be joining the U.S. Air Force. On Tuesday, GSD&M announced it had beaten out two other finalists and won the Air...

Fort Worth, Texas, Wants a Bigger Piece of Dell Computer.
November 22, 2000... Byline: John Pletz Nov. 22--Fort Worth's City Council voted Tuesday to begin a round of "Let's Make a Deal" with Dell Computer Corp. in hopes of luring the computer maker to make a bigger investment there. Dell has leased a sales and...

Austin, Texas-Based Natural Foods Grocery Chain Ends Deal with Vitamin Firm.
November 22, 2000... Byline: John Pletz Nov. 22--Whole Foods Market Inc.'s painful three-year marriage with Amrion Inc. is over, but the breakup comes with a huge price tag. Amrion, the mail-order vitamin business Whole Foods bought in 1997, splattered...

Las Vegas Tech Show Turns Spotlight on Computer Security.
November 22, 2000... Byline: Bob Keefe Nov. 22--An epidemic of technology crime -- everything from laptop thefts to attacks of database-killing viruses -- is spreading almost as fast as technology itself. And it will only get worse with the growth of the...

Austin, Texas, May Be Test Market For Digital Future.
November 21, 2000... Byline: Kirk Ladendorf Nov. 21--As the federal government debates the big merger of Time Warner Inc. and America Online Inc., Austin could get a front-row seat for viewing the tangible results if the business combination is approved. ...

In Texas, Fast Internet Access Is Burdened by Glitches, Boosted by Prospects.
November 20, 2000... Byline: Kirk Ladendorf Nov. 20--Jump.Net Inc. decided in September to end its frustrating business relationship with Covad Communications Group Inc. The grounds for divorce: nonsupport. A year ago, the two companies looked like a...

Austin, Texas, Historic District Homeowners Must Decide Whether to Sell.
November 19, 2000... Byline: Shonda Novak Nov. 19--For residents of Austin's historic Rainey Street area, a momentous decision is at hand: to sell or not to sell by a developer's Wednesday deadline. Dallas developer Gordon Dunaway has offered to pay...

Austin, Texas, Advertising Agency Helps Clients Target Hispanic Consumers.
November 17, 2000... Byline: John Pletz Nov. 17--After more than a decade of marketing beer to the world, particularly to Hispanics, Manny Flores knew there was considerable demand in the advertising industry for someone who spoke their language. Two...

Santa Clara, Calif., Chip Maker Boasts a Record Quarter.
November 17, 2000... Byline: Kirk Ladendorf Nov. 17--Applied Materials Inc. rode the wave of factory expansion in the chip industry to record fourth-quarter profits and earnings. The world's largest maker of semiconductor manufacturing equipment reported...

Doctors at Austin, Texas, Women's Hospital Win Suit.
November 17, 2000... Byline: Andrea Ball Nov. 17--A Travis County jury awarded $6.9 million to doctors at the Renaissance Women's Center on Wednesday, saying the hospital's owner wrongly planned to close the Rollingwood facility. The jury, which reached...

Austin-based Internet Garden Retailer Plans to Pull Up Roots.
November 17, 2000... Byline: Heather Cocks Nov. 17--Plagued by multimillion-dollar losses, its stock price reduced to mere pocket change, Garden.com Inc. finally wilted on Wednesday. The company, broke and unable to find a financial savior, said it will...

Future Looks Bright for Austin, Texas-Area Real Estate Market.
November 17, 2000... Byline: Shonda Novak Nov. 17--Central Texas' economy will plateau next year -- one of the side effects of swallowing six painkillers the Federal Reserve prescribed for an overheated national economy in the form of six interest-rate...

IBM-Owned, Texas-Based Software Maker Tivoli Systems Cuts 50 Jobs.
November 17, 2000... Byline: Heather Cocks Nov. 17--Tivoli Systems Inc. trimmed as many as 50 local jobs this week, pruning its staff as part of a redirection that will focus the software company on more Internet-centric projects. Tivoli, which employs...

Austin, Texas, Chamber of Commerce Selects New Leaders.
November 15, 2000... Byline: Amy Schatz Nov. 15--In a bid to appeal to both "new economy" and "old economy" Austin companies, the Greater Austin Chamber of Commerce on Tuesday chose representatives of each to lead the group for the next two years. Susan...

Austin, Texas-Based Company Makes Bid for Data Management Technology.
November 14, 2000... Byline: Andrew Park Nov. 14--A technology developed by bankrupt e-tailer Living.com Inc. could live again, thanks to the company's founder. Andrew Busey, who founded Living.com in 1998, has submitted the highest bid for the company's...

Homes Go to the Swift in Central Texas' Hot Market.
November 13, 2000... Byline: Shonda Novak Nov. 13--Ron and Misty Newheiser had perused enough homes on the Web and heard enough warnings from friends to know they'd have to act quickly to get the house they wanted in Central Texas' hot market. By the...

Austin, Texas-Based Company Pulls the Plug on Popular Internet Access Device.
November 13, 2000... Byline: Andrew Park Nov. 13--After just a year in business, Austin-based Netpliance Inc. laid off 38 percent of its work force Friday and said it would abandon its popular Internet access device, the I-opener, by the end of January. ...

Austin, Texas, Firm Helps Technology Startups Polish Their Pitch for Funding.
November 13, 2000... Byline: Amy Schatz Nov. 13--Ken Johnson was trying to slow himself down, but the words poured out of his mouth like a Slinky down a flight of stairs. "It's a technology that produces higher returns with lower risks," Johnson said,...

Austin, Texas-Area Tech Companies Receive $337 Million in Venture Capital.
November 10, 2000... Byline: Jerry Mahoney Nov. 10--Venture capitalists fed Austin's semiconductor roots in the third quarter, pouring an unprecedented amount of cash into chip startups, while they took a breather from the software and telecommunications...

Austin, Texas-Based Internet Start-Up WebTaggers Shuts Most Operations Down.
November 10, 2000... Byline: Kirk Ladendorf Nov. 10--After 15 months in business, Austin software startup WebTaggers Inc. had a real service, paying customers and a few investors. But that wasn't enough. The 32-employee company shut down most of its...

Small Vienna, Va.-Based Telecom Firm's Deal with Deal Prompts Questions.
November 9, 2000... Byline: John Pletz Nov. 9--Teligent Inc., one of several troubled alternative telecommunications providers that are running out of cash, announced a marketing deal with Dell Computer Corp. on Wednesday. The deal was small and the...

Customers of Living.com Allowed to Get Their Goods.
November 8, 2000... Byline: Jerry Mahoney Nov. 8--Jim Chang got what he came for at Monday's bankruptcy court hearing for online furniture retailer Living.com -- permission to pick up $5,000 worth of bedroom and living-room furniture. Although the...

Austin, Texas-Based ClearCommerce Corp. Cancels Plan for IPO.
November 8, 2000... Byline: Heather Cocks Nov. 8--After eight months of waiting for a stock market thaw that never came, ClearCommerce Corp. said Tuesday it has iced plans to hold an initial public stock offering. In a petition sent to the U.S....

Online Retailers Ring In Season with Customer Service.
November 6, 2000... Byline: Andrew Park Nov. 6--On Christmas Eve last year, Kenny Kurtzman sat in Ashford.com's Houston call center, answering a trickle of phone calls from customers to the luxury goods retailer. At one point late in the morning, a man...

Online Listing Services Are Crucial to Central Texas Real Estate Agents.
November 6, 2000... Byline: Diana Dworin Nov. 6--Luxury condominiums in downtown Austin go up for sale. A ranch home available in Bastrop is taking backup offers. A few lots that kiss the waterfront along the Highland Lakes are ready for new owners. ...

Texas Retailers Are Optimistic about Holiday Sales Despite Slowing Economy.
November 6, 2000... Byline: Shonda Novak Nov. 6--With displays of Christmassy hand towels and dazzling sugar-plum fruit ornaments, Austin retailers are signaling that the holiday shopping season has arrived. Locally and nationally, many retailers...

Dell Improves Its Position in Server Market.
November 4, 2000... Byline: John Pletz Nov. 4--Dell Computer Corp. continued its impressive growth in server sales during the third quarter, according to data published Thursday by research firm Gartner Group's Dataquest unit. Dell's shipments of...

Austin, Texas-Based Consulting Firm Wins Contract with IBM.
November 4, 2000... Byline: Heather Cocks Nov. 4--In one quick swoop Thursday, Perficient Inc. struck gold. The Austin consulting company finalized a three-year contract to handle worldwide installations of IBM Corp.'s WebSphere software, a deal that...

Austin, Texas, Venture Capital Shifts from Internet-Based Firms.
November 4, 2000... Byline: Jerry Mahoney Nov. 4--U.S. venture capitalists turned away from dot-coms and other Internet-dependent startups in the third quarter, taking refuge in biotechnology, health-care and computer hardware companies, according to data...

College Fund Leader Joins Dell Computer's Board of Directors.
November 2, 2000... Byline: John Pletz Nov. 2--William H. Gray III, president of the United Negro College Fund and a former congressman, has joined Dell Computer Corp.'s board of directors. Gray, 59, was appointed to the board Wednesday when the...

Austin-Based Contract-Electronics Maker Posts Strong Sales.
November 2, 2000... Nov. 2--XeTel Corp's sales increased dramatically during the quarter that ended Sept. 30 from a year ago, and the company moved its financials out of the red and into the black. The Austin-based contract-electronics manufacturer posted...