St. Louis Business Journal articles from July 1999

St. Louis Business Journal archives from July 1999

Express Scripts has prescription for the Internet.
July 5, 1999... When Express Scripts Inc. goes live with its Internet pharmacy this month, it will join a crowded field - but will wield a distinct advantage. That's because Express Scripts has one thing few of its competitors can boast: 47 million...

Rolling in the dough: bakery orders for custom cakes heat up.(includes related article on Schnuck Markets Inc.'s use of imaging machines to decorate personalized cakes)
July 5, 1999... Sweet Encores, a boutique bakery specializing in tiered cakes, just landed its biggest order ever. The bakery will create 350 individual wedding cakes - some accented with 23-karat edible gold, for a lavish reception this fall. Each of...

Stiritz family invests $18.8 million in bakery.(Interstate Bakeries Corp.)
July 5, 1999... William Stiritz, Ralston Purina Co.'s chairman and former chief executive, again is building his portfolio with Wonder bread and Hostess cakes. Stiritz and members of his family spent $18.8 million during 28 days in March and April to buy...

Louis London to be base for $30 million agency.
July 5, 1999... The Louis London marketing firm will become the North American hub for its parent company's combined sales promotion operations. As part of that expanded role, the agency is changing its name to Momentum. The name change was set to take...

Wash U. professors receive $6 million in venture funds.(computer science teachers Jerome Cox, Jonathan Turner and Guru Parulkar)
July 5, 1999... A trio of Washington University computer scientists have attracted a $6 million investment from a pair of high-profile California venture capitalists to develop new switching technology for the Internet. Jerome Cox, a senior professor of...

Assets of Gateway grow to $93 million with merger.(Gateway Metro Credit Union)
July 5, 1999... Credit union takes over St. Louis Federal Center Gateway Metro Credit Union has become the eighth-largest credit union in the area after merging with St. Louis Federal Center Credit Union. The merger, which became official July 1,...

Arts groups, Webster raising $5.5 million for Loretto-Hilton.(Webster University; university theater)
July 5, 1999... Money would go to expand backstage area Webster University, Repertory Theatre of St. Louis and Opera Theatre of Saint Louis, the principal users of the Loretto-Hilton Center, are launching a campaign to raise $5.5 million to expand and...

Small hospitals focus of Sallee's online X-ray company.(radiologist Skip Sallee's MedCentral)
July 5, 1999... A local radiologist is close to landing $5 million to $6 million in venture capital to start a company that aims to help small hospitals manage their X-ray images online. Dr. Skip Sallee, one of the 18 doctors at Des Peres-based Central...

Expanding umbrella: Stockell splits into two units and grows 37%.(Stockell Information Systems Inc.)
July 5, 1999... Business activity: Chip Stockell says his company could be called "Midwest Work-ethic Geeks." That's the term he likes to use to explain the success of his 19-year-old information systems company. Once a single entity - Stockell...

Brown Shoe Co. Inc.(Proxy Reports Excerpt)(Company Profile)
July 5, 1999... Ronald A. Fromm Chairman, president and chief executive officer Brown Shoe Co. Inc has footwear operations in retailing, wholesaling and worldwide sourcing. The company, formerly known as Brown Group Inc., operates store chains...

Top docs, SSM to build hospital.(SSM Health Care)
July 12, 1999... A group of doctors is partnering with the SSM Health Care to build a $33.6 million women's hospital on 25 acres in Chesterfield. Drs. Rick Muckerman, Ira Gall. James Ottolini and Dan Wagner are investors in the proposed SSM Women's Hospital...

Health-care co-pays jump.
July 12, 1999... Get ready to pay higher co-payments for your health care. The Out-of-pocket charge members must pay for doctors' visits or prescription drug purchases is shooting up at many of the area's managed-care plans. The co-payment on...

Allegiant seeks $14 million through sale of securities.(Allegiant Bancorp Inc.)
July 12, 1999... Allegiant Bancorp Inc. plans to raise more than $14 million by selling trust preferred securities to the public. According to a July 2 filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, the bank will use most of the proceeds to increase...

Safeco's search resumes after west county deal dies.(Safeco Insurance Co.'s search for office space)
July 12, 1999... The former Arena site is back on the list for Safeco Insurance Co.'s new offices after the company backed out of a deal to locate at Manchester Road and Interstate 270. Safeco is looking for about 100,000 square feet of space, down from...

Hunter's $3 million stock buy makes $900,000 in two weeks.(Huntco Inc. CEO Bud Hunter)
July 12, 1999... Bud "B.D." Hunter, chairman and chief executive of Huntco Inc., spent nearly $3 million last month to buy more than 1 million shares of the steel company's stock. His stock purchases, made between June 4 and June 25, already are paying...

Temporary workers aren't just used as temps anymore.
July 12, 1999... With unemployment at historically low levels, employers are turning to temporary staffing services not only for temporary workers, but also for permanent placements. Judy Sher, a district manager for Kelly Services, said one of the...

Landmark acts as peacemaker, manager on the job site.(Enterprise)(Company Profile)
July 12, 1999... Business activity: There is no firm quite like Landmark in St. Louis. It is both a construction contract management company and a dispute resolutions company - the only construction dispute resolutions firm in St. Louis. Founded by Brad...

Kendall and Davis grows with temporary market.
July 12, 1999... Increasingly, doctors, nurses and healthcare executives are working for companies that provide temporary medical staffing. About 60 percent of hospitals in the United States outsource some component of physician staffing, and the industry...

KV Pharmaceutical called a 'hot' company.
July 12, 1999... KV Pharmaceutical recently was named one of the fastest-growing companies in :he country by both Business Week and Fortune, and its stock price is expected to nearly double within a year. Business Week ranked KV, which specializes in drug...

INTRAV Inc.(Proxy Report Excerpts)(Company Profile)
July 12, 1999... Barney A. Ebsworth Chairman INTRAV Inc. designs markets and operates deluxe, worldwide travel programs and cruises. The company reported a profit of $68 million or $1.29 a share on revenue of $126 million for the year ended Dec. 31, 1998...

Smurfit headquarters to return.(Smurfit-Stone Container Corp.)
July 19, 1999... Smurfit-Stone Container Corp. will move its corporate headquarters from Chicago to St. Louis within the next two years, according to people familiar with the company. Smurfit-Stone was formed last year when St. Louis-based Jefferson...

Tri-Tek tops fastest-growing firms.(Tri-Tek Information Systems Inc.)
July 19, 1999... High-tech companies' revenues blossom Technology is taking off in the St. Louis area. Three of the top five firms on this year's St. Louis Business Journal's list of Fastest-Growing Private Companies deal in technology. About one in three...

Women head 5 of 80 firms on fast track.(women executives of the five of the 80 fastest-growing private companies)
July 19, 1999... Five of the area's 80 fastest-growing private companies are headed by women. In contrast, none of the area's approximately 77 public companies has a woman in the top job. Murray Weidenbaum, chairman of the Center for the Study of...

Reding, Liberman played roles in negotiating deal to sell CPI Corp.(Nidus Center for Scientific Enterprise Chairman Nicholas Reding and Laclede Gas Co. Chairman Emeritus Lee Liberman; acquisition of CPI Corp. by American Securities Capital Partners LP)
July 19, 1999... When CPI Corp. went looking for a buyer earlier this year, it sent former Monsanto Vice Chairman Nicholas Reding and Laclede Gas Co. Chairman Emeritus Lee Liberman to engage A.G. Edwards for an independent review of its game plan. The...

Grewe to build $200 million shopping center in Fenton.(G.J. Grewe Inc.; Fenton, Missouri)
July 19, 1999... G.J. Grewe Inc. is building a $200 million retail center on 280 acres in Fenton. Lowe's and Shop 'n Save will anchor the development, called Gravois Bluffs, which is just north of the St. Louis County and Jefferson County lines at the...

Spielberg bags $3.7 million in sale to Texas company.(acquisition of Frank Spielberg Sales by Tandy Brands Accessories Inc.)
July 19, 1999... St. Louisan Frank "Skip" Spielberg, a second-generation manufacturer of handbags, has sold his Frank Spielberg Sales handbag business to Tandy Brands Accessories Inc. for about $3.7 million in an all-cash deal. Spielberg and his team are...

Corporate Woods building to cost $20 million.(Tristar Business Communities' Corporate Woods II project)
July 19, 1999... TRISTAR Business Communities is starting work on a $20 million speculative office building at Corporate Woods Office Park in Earth City. The 148,000-square-foot building, called Corporate Woods III, is the final building in the $50 million...

G.A. Sullivan to tap into Scott talent with new office.
July 19, 1999... G.A. Sullivan has crossed the Mississippi in search of talent. The Maryland Heights-based custom software developer and consulting firm opened an office in Fairview Heights in early July, hoping to tap into a pool of technical talent...

More 'Quality' for area: four Country Hearth Inns coming.(Quality Lodging LLC and Buckhead America Corp.'s plans of building a hotel in St, Louis, Missouri)
July 19, 1999... Quality Lodging LLC and Buckhead America Corp. plan to expand into the St. Louis area with a 102-room Country Hearth Inn hotel in Chesterfield off Chesterfield Airport Road. "We' re into the phase of design approval with the city now,"...

Yaeger says deals aren't in pipeline, could flow later.(Laclede Gas Co. Chairman, President and CEO Doug Yaeger)(Interview)
July 19, 1999... Doug Yaeger wants to build a fire under Laclede Gas Co. The longtime Laclede Gas executive took the helm as chairman, president and chief executive in January. He replaced Robert Jaudes, who retired. Since then, the 50-year-old Yaeger...

Loomis, Paletta invest $50,000 in online exams.(Health Risk Interactive LLC partners Dr. Jim Loomis and Dr. George Paletta)
July 19, 1999... Two doctors are staking their claim to the health-care market in cyberspace. Dr. Jim Loomis and Dr. George Paletta, partners in Health Risk Interactive LLC, developed Sports Risk Interactive, an Internet tool that allows individual Web...

Charter's IPO imminent.(Charter Communications Inc.)
July 26, 1999... Charter Communications Inc. is expected to register by the end of this month for its $2 billion to $3 billion initial public offering, with Goldman Sachs & Co. as the lead underwriter, sources said. One source said July 21 that Charter's...

$30 million judgment: judge orders Siegel-Robert to pay former shareholders.
July 26, 1999... Judge orders Siegel-Robert to pay former shareholders A federal judge has ordered Siegel-Robert Inc. to pay nearly $30 million to former shareholders of the firm. The June 23 order from U.S. District Judge E. Richard Webber calls for...

Pension fund entitled to $2.8 million.(St. Louis Public School Retirement System)
July 26, 1999... The St. Louis Public School Retirement System is entitled to recoup $2.8 million from Coljon Holdings Inc. and related companies, according to a recent ruling by the American Arbitration Association. The $900 million Retirement System is...

New owner to beef up Arby's, add 26 stores.(United States Beef Corp. acquires Sage Systems Inc.)
July 26, 1999... One of the largest Arby's franchises in the country plans to build at least 26 more restaurants in the St. Louis area- matching the 26 restaurants the fast-food roast beef chain has here now. United States Beef Corp. of Tulsa. Okla., bought...

Ebsworth gets $81 million from Intrav sale to Swiss.(Barney Ebsworth, majority shareholder of St. Louis travel agency)
July 26, 1999... Barney Ebsworth will get $81.55 million in the sale of Intrav to a Swiss firm. Intrav, the deluxe travel company Ebsworth founded in 1959, is being purchased by Kuoni Reisen Holding of Zurich, which will pay $21.32 per share for Intrav, or...

Hobby Lobby store opens in Metro East, looks to Missouri.
July 26, 1999... Hobby Lobby Creative Centers, a regional discount chain specializing in arts and crafts and home decorating items, opened its first store here in Fairview Heights and is scouting the Missouri side for more locations. The chain, started in...

Lemay Bank hires Steinhoff away from Mercantile.(Lemay Bank & Trust Co.; Keith Steinhoff; Mercantile Bank of St. Louis N.A.)
July 26, 1999... Lemay Bank & Trust Co. has hired former Mercantile Bank executive Keith Steinhoff as executive vice president, a new post overseeing commercial banking. Steinhoff also will be a member of Lemay Bank's executive committee - an exclusive...

Firstar to merge 3 mutual fund families it has acquired.
July 26, 1999... Firstar Corp. is planning to combine the three mutual fund families it has assembled through acquisitions over the last nine months, according to brokers and investment advisers close to the Milwaukee bank holding company. Firstar wouldn't...

Drone & Mueller makes stage debut.(Company Profile)
July 26, 1999... Marketing firm to raise the curtain on an interactive theater this fall Business activity: Drone & Mueller, the first business-to-business marketing communications firm formed in St. Louis, provides a wide variety of solutions for its...

Clark adds top managers for new engineering unit.(Real Estate)(Bob Clark, founder of Clayco Construction Co.)
July 26, 1999... Bob Clark has hired nine people for the new architectural and engineering business he started to complement his design/build construction firm, Clayco Construction Co. Clark started the company, called The Forum, to design up to half of...

Taylor-Morley builds its division for custom homes.(Real Estate)
July 26, 1999... Revenue expected to jump to $80 million Taylor-Morley Homes is taking aim at the custom home market as a result of changing lifestyles and the growing popularity of tear-downs. "We've had a custom homes division for several years,"...

Burkhart grows Colliers' corporate services unit 50%.(Real Estate)(Mark Burkhart, CEO of real estate firm Colliers Turley Martin Tucker)(Interview)
July 26, 1999... Mark Burkhart took a summer job in high school cutting grass at the Chez Paree Apartments in north St. Louis County. From that humble beginning in the 1970s, he knew he would go into real estate. "I immediately became infatuated," Burkhart...