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

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

Texas Officials Concerned about Privacy Violations by Internet Retailer.
September 5, 2000... Byline: Andrew Park Sep. 5--Texas Attorney General John Cornyn has contacted living.com Inc. with concerns that consumer privacy could be violated if the bankrupt online furniture retailer sells off its database of customer information....

Austin, Texas, Lawyer Registers Internet Domain Names for Tire Recall Lawsuit.
September 5, 2000... Byline: Omar L. Gallaga Sep. 5--As if Bridgestone/Firestone Inc. didn't have enough to worry about after its publicity meltdown over recalled tires, the company now has to contend with 40 Internet domain names registered by an Austin...

College Students' Trends Keep Austin, Texas, Merchants Hopping.
September 6, 2000... Byline: Katy Marquardt Sep. 6--As students sweep onto local college campuses, they're bound to bring with them new ideas, attitudes -- and animal prints. They're also likely to bring new dormitory essentials such as butterfly chairs,...

Third Austin, Texas, Tech Exec Makes Fortune Magazine's '40 Richest Under 40'.
September 6, 2000... Byline: Kirk Ladendorf Sep. 6--Move over, Michael Dell and Joe Liemandt. A third Austin tech executive has made it onto Fortune magazine's list of "America's Forty Richest Under Forty." Navdeep Sooch, the co-founder and chief executive...

Carrollton, Texas-Based Online Grocery Company Forms Alliance with Safeway.
September 7, 2000... Byline: Heather Cocks Sep. 7--Hoping the heft of a brand name will woo curious grocery shoppers, Carrollton-based GroceryWorks.com Inc. said Wednesday it will join forces with Safeway Inc. to create online stores for the nation's No. 3...

Motorola Promotes Two Executives from Within for Semiconductor Group.
September 7, 2000... Byline: John Pletz Sep. 7--Motorola Inc. looked inside to two company veterans Wednesday to lead its semiconductor business, which is based in Austin. Fred Shlapak, 56, who was the No. 2 executive in Motorola's chip business, replaces...

Samsung to Invest More in Chip Making.
September 8, 2000... Byline: Kirk Ladendorf Sep. 8--South Korea's Samsung Electronics Co. plans to spend heavily to increase its chip manufacturing capacity for at least the next two years, a top company official said this week. Samsung, the largest maker...

Austin, Texas, Residents Renovate Homes While Economy Stays Strong.
September 11, 2000... Byline: Katy Marquardt Sep. 11--For Southeast Austin homeowners Monty and Vicki Goff, remodeling their century-old farmhouse has been like taking on a second job. Despite warnings from friends, builders and architects, the couple has...

Bankrupt Austin, Texas-Based Online Furniture Retailer Reveals Asset Details.
September 12, 2000... Byline: Andrew Park Sep. 12--The assets of Living.com Inc., a bankrupt Austin Internet company, amount to less than what it owes its single largest creditor, according to documents filed Monday in U.S. Bankruptcy Court . Living.com,...

Austin, Texas-Based Tech Company Sued by Shareholders.
September 13, 2000... Byline: Kirk Ladendorf Sep. 13--NetSolve Inc. of Austin was hit with a shareholder lawsuit this week that claims the company misled investors about earnings results prior to a disappointing report in July. This is the first shareholder...

Austin, Texas-Based Motorola Semiconductor Division Appoints New Executive.
September 14, 2000... Byline: Kirk Ladendorf Sep. 14--In a move aimed at bolstering its ties to key customers, Motorola Inc.'s Austin-based semiconductor business named a top sales executive as its head of worldwide manufacturing and related services. Hans...

Austin, Texas, Judge Moves Sentencing Date for Former College Football Star.
September 15, 2000... Byline: John Pletz Sep. 15--Say what you will about Russell Erxleben, the former University of Texas star kicker whose failed foreign-currency business cost investors more than $30 million. Call him a disappointment. Call him a...

Austin, Texas, Online Retailer Settles Fraud Lawsuit with Federal Government.
September 15, 2000... Byline: Jerry Mahoney Sep. 15--Accusing Austin online retailer 1stbuy.com of misleading investors who were hungry to be in on an initial public stock offering, the Securities and Exchange Commission on Thursday sued the company and its...

Austin, Texas-Based Online Home Furnishings Store Dies Tragic Death.
September 18, 2000... Byline: Andrew Park Sep. 18--In the summer of 1999, Living.com Inc. began hiring executives with stellar business backgrounds to lead it from startup to stardom in the e-commerce world. Founder Andrew Busey had started the company in...

Austin, Texas, Firm to Donate Stock to University for Endowment of Chair.
September 18, 2000... Byline: Kirk Ladendorf Sep. 18--Among local high-tech companies, Silicon Laboratories Inc. ranks as an also-ran in terms of management alumni ties to the University of Texas. The founders of the 4-year-old chip company, Nav Sooch,...

Dell Computer Corp. to Focus on What It Knows Best.
September 20, 2000... Byline: John Pletz Sep. 20--When Dell Computer Corp. hosted its private shindig for customers, DirectConnect, in Austin last year, the company pulled out all the stops, bringing in the four horsemen of high tech: Microsoft Corp.'s ...

Austin, Texas-Based Tech Firm Unveils New Dry-Film Processing Technique.
September 20, 2000... Byline: Andrew Park Sep. 20--Austin's Applied Science Fiction Inc. will use the backdrop of the Photokina international photo industry exhibition today in Cologne, Germany, to unveil what it says is the first dry film processing...

Notorious Austin, Texas, Businessman Sentenced to Prison.
September 20, 2000... Byline: John Pletz Sep. 20--Nearly two years to the day after a little-known foreign-currency trading firm closed its doors, former owner Russell Erxleben was sentenced to seven years in federal prison. About two dozen of the nearly...

Austin, Texas-Based Web Educator Changes Name.
September 20, 2000... Byline: Heather Cocks Sep. 20--NotHarvard.com Inc. is not keeping its name. This morning, the Austin company will rechristen itself Powered Inc., scrapping the controversial moniker that sparked a legal scuffle with Harvard University....

Dell Computer Corp. to Unveil New Design for Desktop Computers.
September 21, 2000... Byline: John Pletz Sep. 21--When the curtain goes up on the DirectConnect conference's first full day today, Dell Computer Corp. again will try its hand at bringing something new, but not revolutionary, to the computer desktop. Like...

Austin, Texas, Sees Big Expansion of Supermarket Industry.
September 21, 2000... Byline: Kirk Ladendorf Sep. 21--Austin's rapid population growth is fueling a surge in grocery store construction. Both Randalls Food Markets and H-E-B expect to build or expand several Austin-area stores in the next year as they...

Austin, Texas, Holding Company Looks Ahead to Future Projects.
September 22, 2000... Byline: Katy Marquardt Sep. 22--Although LBJ Holding Co. scrapped plans this month to convert a downtown Austin office building into condominiums because sales were disappointing, the company said it has another project in the works. ...

Dell Challenges Competitors to Invest More in Web Ventures.
September 22, 2000... Byline: John Pletz Sep. 22--Michael Dell, playing his favorite role of master salesman and motivator, opened his company's two-day customer conference Thursday by challenging companies to make more of an investment in the Internet. ...

Internet's Effect on E-Commerce Likely to Be Large, Study Finds.
September 22, 2000... Byline: Andrew Park Sep. 22--News flash from the University of Texas and Dell Computer Corp.: This Internet thing is going to be big. Really big. At Dell's DirectConnect customer conference Thursday, UT researchers released the results...

Presidential Candidates Address Issues of Housing, Home Ownership.
September 25, 2000... Byline: Krissah Williams Sep. 25--Home builder Harry Savio usually pays little attention when the presidential campaign season rolls around every four years. The issues that affect his industry get little ink and are rarely exciting...

Intel CEO Downplays Financial Impact of Stock Plunge.
September 25, 2000... Byline: Kirk Ladendorf Sep. 25--The market value of Intel Corp.'s stock plunged by $91 billion Friday, but chief executive Craig Barrett kept his cool, despite high heat and humidity in downtown Austin. Barrett, who was in town to...

Charles Schwab Installs New Call Center in Northwest Austin, Texas.
September 25, 2000... Byline: Amy Schatz Sep. 25--Shortly before Charles Schwab Corp. opened its $30 million call center in Phoenix in 1996, co-Chief Executive Officer David Pottruck got a frantic call: There was no covered parking for employees. "What?...

Bankrupt Austin, Texas-Based Online Furniture Retailer Promises Privacy.
September 26, 2000... Byline: Andrew Park Sep. 26--In an apparent bid to stave off a lawsuit from state Attorney General John Cornyn, the bankruptcy trustee for Austin's Living.com has pledged that information about the company's former customers won't be sold...

Time Warner Cable to Carry Belo's Texas News Channel.
September 26, 2000... Byline: Heather Cocks Sep. 26--Belo Corp. on Monday scored a huge coup for its fledgling 24-hour Texas news channel, signing a long-term deal with Time Warner Cable to make the station available to the company's 1.5 million cable...

Texas Energy Provider, Utility Want to Build Power Line through Six Counties.
September 27, 2000... Byline: Jerry Mahoney Sep. 27--The Lower Colorado River Authority, a state-created energy provider and conservation district, plans to team up with one of the largest U.S. utilities to build a controversial 150-mile transmission line...

Struggling Austin, Texas-Based Online Garden Supply Retailer May Cut Workers.
September 28, 2000... Byline: Andrew Park Sep. 28--In what is fast becoming a ritual in Austin, executives and employees of a once high-flying Internet startup are girding themselves for a crash. This time, the company is Garden.com, one of the first dot-com...

Austin, Texas, Area Is Near Top in Loan Rejections, Group Says.
September 28, 2000... Byline: Jerry Mahoney Sep. 28--A national nonprofit group said Wednesday that the Austin-San Marcos region last year had the second-highest denial rate for Latino mortgage-loan applications among 50 metro areas it studied. The...

Double-Digit Health Service Increases Put Squeeze on Austin, Texas, Employers.
September 29, 2000... Byline: Amy Schatz Sep. 29--Trilogy Software Corp. gushes about its "cool" benefits: Friday afternoon patio parties and a free concierge service that picks up dry cleaning and ferries employees' cars to and from oil changes. But...

Austin, Texas, Demand for Luxury Housing Higher Than Ever, Developers Say.
September 29, 2000... Byline: Katy Marquardt Sep. 29--Despite the shadow of a failed condominium project, local builders say the demand for luxury housing in downtown Austin is stronger than ever. With at least four high-dollar developments scheduled to...

Austin, Texas, Austin Software Firm Shows Plan for New Downtown Headquarters.
September 29, 2000... Byline: Leah Quin Sep. 29--Vignette Corp., a fast-growing Austin software company, has shown business leaders a preliminary sketch of a new downtown headquarters, which includes three large office towers and a parking garage on the north...

Troubled Web Garden Retailer to Fire 30 Percent of Employees.
September 29, 2000... Byline: Heather Cocks Sep. 29--Struggling online retailer Garden.com Inc. will fire 93 people, or 30 percent of its staff, and cut back on spending in a last-ditch attempt to stay in business. The Austin gardening-supplies e-tailer...