Philadelphia Business Journal articles from November 1994

Philadelphia Business Journal archives from November 1994

Ecogen plans to rebound from setback. (Ecogen Inc.)
November 25, 1994... LANGHORNE -- When D. Blech & Co., a New York investment banking firm, suspended operations in September, several biotechnology companies that it helped finance saw their stock values plunge. Among the hardest hit was Ecogen Inc., a Bucks...

QVC buys Commodore's headquarters. (QVC Inc.)
November 25, 1994... WEST CHESTER -- QVC Inc. has bought the former office and manufacturing plant formerly occupied by bankrupt computer maker, Commodore International Ltd. A source familiar with the transaction said the home-shopping retailer spent more than...

Hanson cures identity crises for companies. (Hanson Associates Inc.)
November 25, 1994... When Maaco Enterprises decided to apply a fresh coat of paint to its franchises and marketing, it bypassed several big agencies, choosing instead Manayunk artists whose previous work included whipped cream and shoe polish package design....

Walnut Street's boutique banks are busy surviving, not thriving. (Regional Report: Philadelphia)
November 25, 1994... In the power blocks of Walnut Street, where big-dollar deals are consummated over pricey multicourse meals at Striped Bass and Le Bec Fin, "relieved" is not the term that start-up bankers who have survived the critical first five years are...

Family-run Travel One agency is flying high.
November 18, 1994... MOUNT LAUREL, N.J. -- All fathers-in-law should be as fortunate as Jerome S. Goodman, a pharmacist who made a mini-fortune when he sold his six Save Way drug stores to Rite-Aid and decided to dabble in the travel business. Goodman figured...

Rhone-Poulenc Rorer forming biotech division.
November 18, 1994... COLLEGEVILLE -- Rhone-Poulenc Rorer's quest to become the leading pharmaceutical company in the emerging field of gene therapy took another step forward this week. On Monday, the Montgomery County company announced it was forming RPR...

SmithKline CEO predicts global future. (SmithKline Beecham PLC CEO Jan Leschly)
November 18, 1994... Jan Leschly, SmithKline Beecham plc's new chief executive officer, sees a day not too far in the future when the pharmaceutical industry is dominated by five to 10 "global mega-companies." While room will always exist for businesses that...

Living large in the land of kids' parties. (Party Land store chain)
November 18, 1994... Todd Potter, Brian Feller and Ken Gross want to celebrate the holidays with you. Whatever holidays you celebrate. The principles of the Southampton-based Party Land store chain want to be there for you -- whether you need big cardboard...

Name change, new exec: port plans to focus on its facilities. (Philadelphia Regional Port Authority renamed Port of Philadelphia and Camden; Paul deMariano appointed executive director)
November 11, 1994... Mondays are still something of a sure bet on the Camden waterfront. Joseph Balzano, executive director of the South Jersey Port Corp., can pretty much count on a "banana boat" unloading its cargo to provide port visitors some good sights to...

FNX helps others with their risks. (software developer FNX Ltd.)
November 11, 1994... KING OF PRUSSIA -- This year FNX Ltd.'s summer T-shirts for employees featured a surfer dude riding a wave and talking on a cellular phone with the caption, "Make It Happen." But FNX doesn't make beach recreation gear. And it doesn't sell...

Could Phillies sell the concept of 'scab-ball?' (baseball club Philadelphia Phillies)
November 11, 1994... As they enter their winter of discontent, are the people who run the strike-bound Philadelphia Phillies testing the climate for what sports wags would dub "scab-ball"? It's a worst-case scenario. And it could be just more negotiating through...

Optimism is the order of business at SL Industries.
November 11, 1994... MOUNT LAUREL, N.J. -- For the first time in three years, SL Industries Inc.'s annual shareholders meeting will not be marred by a proxy fight. Owen Farren, president and chief executive officer of a technology company trying to rebuild and...

Grocery shopping and banking at the same time.
November 11, 1994... Among the rutabaga and rump roasts, Tom Cush -- 6-feet-tall, blue eyes and slicked back hair -- sidles up to shoppers at the Acme Market in Horsham and delivers the same smooth pickup line. "Do you shop here often?" Soon after, the Mellon...

City wage tax projections toned down. (Philadelphia, PA)
November 11, 1994... Chasing Philadelphians who work in the suburbs isn't as lucrative as City Hall once thought. The Rendell administration -- armed with a long-sought state law -- is pursuing city residents who work elsewhere in the state, but dodge the...

PHOs failing to get managed-care firms' contracts. (Physician-Hospital Organizations)
November 11, 1994... The number of Physician-Hospital Organizations in the Philadelphia region has almost doubled in the past seven months, but so far they haven't had much success achieving their purpose: securing contracts with managed-care firms. Those are...

SBA gets only half it expected from capital-generating program. (Small Business Administration)
November 11, 1994... A new federal program that hoped to increase the amount of venture capital may not have the big effect originally promised. The Small Business Association received only half the money it expected from Congress to fund its new "participating...

Boston Chicken hatches its expansion strategy.
November 11, 1994... Conservative thinkers might warn: Don't count your chickens until they're hatched. But Tony Wedo, chief executive officer of Boston Chicken's local area development company, has hatched 29 locations so far this year in the Philadelphia area...

Rendell: with Ridge as governor, riverboat gambling in two years. (Philadelphia Mayor Edward G. Rendell; Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Ridge)
November 11, 1994... Mayor Edward G. Rendell remains confident that -- with Tom Ridge's election as governor -- riverboat gambling will begin in Philadelphia within two years. "It will probably happen sometime in 1996," Rendell said the day after the election....

Who's hot and who's not among the largest law firms. (Philadelphia, PA)
November 11, 1994... The biggest get bigger. The bigger jockey for position. And sometimes, the smaller get bigger. So it goes for the Philadelphia area's largest law firms. The latest Philadelphia Business Journal list shows flux continues to be a way of...

Reform efforts stall for Pennsylvania Supreme Court.
November 11, 1994... HARRISBURG -- Proponents of court reform had hoped the hoopla behind the impeachment of Pennsylvania Supreme Court Justice Rolf Larsen would provide the public and legislative impetus for change. After years of pushing for improvements in the...

Two deals make Morgan Lewis nation's no. 4 law firm. (Morgan, Lewis and Bockius law firm in Philadelphia, PA)
November 11, 1994... At a time when most law firms are struggling to maintain the status quo, Morgan, Lewis & Bockius is in an expansion mode. Last month, Morgan Lewis -- the largest law firm based in Philadelphia -- announced 55 lawyers from Lord Day & Lord,...

Firms face tough environmental liability disclosure.
November 11, 1994... How is it possible for a healthy company worth $5 million to $6 million to fall into bankruptcy without showing any signs of financial decay? It can when hidden, undisclosed environmental costs from a Superfund site are the culprit....

Lotman and Haines will clash in race for 1997 bar chancellor. (Arlene Jolles Lotman and Clifford E. Haines compete to become Philadelphia Bar Association chancellor)
November 11, 1994... Three years ago, former Philadelphia Bar Association Chancellor Peter Hearn ran for mayor of Philadelphia. Hearn lost in the primary, but his candidacy marked the increasing role that the bar association, its leadership and its former...

Blank Rome begins slow expansion after trying times. (Philadelphia law firm Black Rome Comisky & McCauley)
November 11, 1994... "Vote for Tom Ridge," David Girard-diCarlo was pressing. This was no idle political banter. As chief fund-raiser and treasurer for the Republican governor-elect, the pitch ended a pre-Election Day interview on Blank Rome Comisky & McCauley,...

Softlock system tries to secure computer files until users pay. (data security system for Softlock Services Inc.)
November 11, 1994... MALVERN -- Changing jobs from biological psychology professor to electronic locksmith wasn't what John Schull predicted for his career path. But the former Haverford College instructor studies how things change and shift over time, so the move...

Restructuring shaves in-house legal departments.
November 11, 1994... When the restructuring ax falls, corporate in-house law departments don't necessarily escape the pain. While large companies rarely eliminate their legal staff, the cuts can be quite deep. Scott Paper Co., for example, announced a massive...

Nan Duskin close to closing store. (Nan Duskin Inc. store at Rittenhouse Square in Philadelphia)
November 4, 1994... Nan Duskin, the cash-strapped upscale clothing store, is on the verge of closing its doors on Rittenhouse Square. An Oct. 24 federal court judgment allows the liquidation of the store's inventory to pay off debts. The beleaguered landmark...

Minority business participation with city is down. (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania)
November 4, 1994... Louis Applebaum, who runs City Hall's purchasing agency, doesn't like the results when it comes to contracts with minority-owned businesses. "I do not like to be 50 percent below my goal," said Philadelphia's procurement commissioner. His...

Banking while grocery shopping. (Mellon Participating Mortgage Trust, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania)
November 4, 1994... HORSHAM -- Mellon PSFS yesterday debuted the first in a planned network of supermarket branches in the Philadelphia area, confident that customers will find taking out a mortgage as convenient as picking up a couple of steaks. While shoppers...

Meet a plugged-in, relentless community banker. (Founders Bank President and Chief Executive Officer Robert F. Whalen)
November 4, 1994... BRYN MAWR -- Mergers, closings and automated teller machines haven't scared the old-fashioned approach to community banking out of this affluent Main Line community. If anything, local pride is strong and getting stronger. "Unless I know...

In '94, venture firms increased money raised. (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania)
November 4, 1994... The Philadelphia area's venture capital firms raised more money in 1994 than 1993, but the number of firms remained about the same, according to the Philadelphia Business Journal's annual survey. This year's major fund-raisers increased their...

Just what this Center City neighborhood kneaded. (Metropolitan Bakery, South 19th Street, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania)
November 4, 1994... Halloween began a little before 5 a.m. for Wendy Smith Born, mother of three and owner of Metropolitan Bakery. In the predawn hours, she packaged bread, then boxed her 7-year-old in a cardboard One Liberty Place costume. At 8 p.m., partner...

Getting a bang out of building implosions. (demolition industry, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania)(Industry Overview)
November 4, 1994... It lasted only seconds, left everything from pickups to a white limousine covered in gray soot and turned hairdos into dusty helmets. But thousands of thrill seekers arrived on Oct. 30 to bear witness to the dynamiting of the Sears complex on...

Local institutions applaud interstate banking law. (interstate banking)
November 4, 1994... The Great Wall of Banking is crumbling. A year from now, banks will be able to purchase or establish subsidiary banks in any state under the newly enacted interstate banking law. "I expect big, national banks like NationsBank, Bank of...

New Port chief deMariano appointed unanimously. (Port of Philadelphia and Camden First Chief Executive Paul D. deMariano)
November 4, 1994... The Port of Philadelphia and Camden's newly appointed first chief executive will be paid a $175,000 annual salary that is nearly twice that of the average U.S. port director's pay. Paul D. deMariano, a Florida-based maritime consultant and...

Muslim credit union chartered. (Muslim Community Credit Union, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania)
November 4, 1994... The first Muslim credit union in the nation was issued a state charter this week to operate from an office in the Old City section of Philadelphia. "It appears they have strong support for this type of an institution," said John F. Woodward,...

Switching from defense to amusement rides. (Chameleon Technologies Inc.)
November 4, 1994... IVYLAND -- Kids, and adults who like to act like kids, may be playing "Labyrinth Rangers" someday soon thanks to technology originally developed by a Bucks County engineering firm for the Naval Air Warfare Center in Warminster. The amusement...

Advanta commits $100 million to invest in acquisition program. (ADVANTA Corp.)
November 4, 1994... HORSHAM -- A 5-month-old limited partnership formed by Advanta Corp. to find investment opportunities in the financial and information services industries may reap benefits for its general partner by early next year. "We have several deals...

Pa. information access system searches for funds. (Pennsylvania's Business Information Access System)
November 4, 1994... The Business Information Access System -- offering Pennsylvania entrepreneurs the research firepower usually only available to big companies -- received its last installment of federal funding, $140,000, in September. At the end of the...

Astra Merck will be private firm, seeking to attract new products. (Astra/Merck Group)
November 4, 1994... WAYNE -- Astra Merck, which until Tuesday operated as a division of New Jersey-based Merck & Co. responsible for marketing products developed by Astra AB of Sweden, is now Chester County's newest stand-alone pharmaceutical company. On...