St. Louis Business Journal articles from June 1996

St. Louis Business Journal archives from June 1996

HealthLink expanding; 15% growth seen. (HealthLink Inc. moves to new markets)
June 3, 1996... Managed care firm expects $31 million in 1997 revenue About 11 years ago, when a consortium of hospitals decided to dabble in managed care with a $3 million investment, John O'Rourke was hired to oversee their experiment. In a matter of 22...

Let there be light: United Energy to power up 30 franchises by '97.(Company Profile)
June 3, 1996... United Energy 3333 Iowa St. St. Louis, Mo. 63118 Business Activity: United Energy helps businesses upgrade their lighting and energy management systems, with savings to customers ranging from 30 percent to 60 percent. Started as a St....

Tripos Inc. (proxy report excerpts) (Company Profile)
June 3, 1996... John P. McAlister III President and chief executive officer Tripos Inc. is a leader in discovery information technologies, services and products for compound research in life science organizations worldwide. The company's products include...

$225 million cash infusion gives Venture shot at increasing sales. (Venture Stores Inc.)
June 10, 1996... A new $225 million line of credit to Venture Stores Inc. from BankAmerica Business Credit breathes life into the company's nearly yearlong repositioning effort. The infusion of cash will enable the 107-store chain to reopen six stores, fill...

Ralcorp considers selling resorts. (Ralcorp Holdings Inc.)
June 10, 1996... Sliding cereal profits mean ski spots could go New, lower prices on Post Cereals have been a bonanza for consumers. But price cuts on Post Toasties and Grape Nuts have been a headache at Ralcorp Holdings Inc. Profits at Ralcorp's Chex and...

Freund bankruptcy follows Edison Brothers' troubles. (Edison Brothers Stores Inc. executive vice president Michael H. Freund)
June 10, 1996... The poor financial performance of Edison Brothers Stores Inc. has followed one of its top executives home. Michael H. Freund, executive vice president of corporate administration for Edison Brothers, recently sought protection from creditors...

Analysts put Kodak in line for CPI photofinishing unit. (Eastman Kodak Co., CPI Corp.)
June 10, 1996... CPI Corp. may be on the verge of selling its entire photofinishing business to Eastman Kodak, according to some analysts. The photofinishing business, a low margin unit at CPI, could bring as much as $110 million, the analysts who follow the...

Regional's Salter looks for collaboration deal by month end. (St. Louis Regional Health Care Corp. acting chairman Robert Salter)
June 10, 1996... The four health-care systems in the St. Louis area are looking to the Missouri Hospital Association to take the lead in working out a proposed collaborative arrangement with financially pressed St. Louis Regional Medical Center. The board of...

D&K hopes new staff will help reverse poor '96 results. (D and K Wholesale Drug Inc.)
June 10, 1996... D&K Wholesale Drug Inc. recently announced key additions to its information operations in an effort to reverse its disappointing performance in fiscal year 1996. D&K hired Dennis A. White as vice president and chief information officer. White...

Taking a bite: co-op controls 15% of dental equipment sales. (American Dental Cooperative Inc.)(Company Profile)
June 10, 1996... American Dental Cooperative Inc. 111 West Port Plaza Suite 1111 Maryland Heights, Mo. 63146 Business Activity: American Dental Cooperative has 24 member-owners across the country who function as full-service dental equipment and supply...

Reliv International Inc. (proxy report excerpts)(Company Profile)
June 10, 1996... Robert L. Montgomery Chairman, president and chief executive officer Reliv International is a network marketing firm that sells nutritional supplements, weight-management products skin care products, nutritional bars, sport drink mixes and...

Kranson's sales a $125 million with L.A. buy. (Kranson Industries's acquisition of Textberry Container division from RXI Holdings)
June 17, 1996... Bottle distributor has 10% of market Kranson Industries - a national packaging distributor in St, Louis County - has sealed its latest acquisition. The privately held business distributes bottles for everything from Thompson's Water Seal to...

Enterprise expands; Heartland moving, adding branches. (Enterprise Bank; Heartland Bank)
June 17, 1996... Record profits are driving the expansion of two local financial institutions. Heartland Bank is moving its corporate headquarters from downtown to Clayton and opening new branches in Clayton and Town & Country. Heartland also has acquired a...

A ClubHouse in West Port won't hurt, competitors say. (ClubHouse Inns)
June 17, 1996... The West Port Plaza area is getting another mid-priced hotel, but the competition doesn't seem concerned. ClubHouse Inns, a nationally ranked operation in terms of quality, is spending $9.5 million to develop a 137-room hotel at 1950 Craig...

Clark digging out of hole; new refinery, stores help. (Clark Refining and Marketing)
June 17, 1996... Clark Refining and Marketing lost $13.6 million in the first quarter, but that was a big improvement over the $21.9 million loss for the same time period last year. A new refinery in Texas, new retail stores in key areas and improving profit...

British-American merger clouds TWA's London plans. (British Airways; American Airlines Inc.; Trans World Airlines) (includes related article on TWA stock projections)
June 17, 1996... The proposed link between British Airways and American Airlines Inc. could be trouble for Trans World Airlines and other carriers. Although the U.S. Department of Transportation is insisting on an open skies agreement that would allow other...

Brandt, Bourey paid well for saving companies, jobs. (William Brandt and Arthur Bourey of management consulting firms Development Specialists, Inc. and ABM Management Co., respectively)
June 17, 1996... When Central Hardware Co. ran out of cash three years ago, it did what a growing number of companies are doing: It called in a turnaround specialist. Enter Buccino & Associates Inc., a New York-based turnaround firm, in early 1993. "The...

Laclede Gas promotions reflect emphasis on marketing. (Laclede Gas Co.)
June 17, 1996... Job movement within Laclede Gas Co. has put several managers in positions increasingly important to the company's future success. Laclede has announced four promotions and two hirings since the beginning of the month. Of the six personnel...

Demo work: Spirtas' wrecks shape St. Louis skyline. (Spirtas Wrecking Co.)
June 17, 1996... Spirtas Wrecking Co. 951 N. Skinker St. Louis, Mo. 63112 Business Activity: Spirtas Wrecking Co. has probably had more to do with the skyline of St. Louis in the past 40 years than any builder. Today, Spirtas is still taking down buildings -...

St. Anthony's Medical Center. (proxy report excerpts)(Company Profile)
June 17, 1996... David P. Seifert[*] President St. Anthony's Medical Center is one of five hospitals that comprise Unity Health System, a member of the Sisters of Mercy Health System-St. Louis. The other Unity Hospitals are St. John's Mercy Medical Center in...

Caffeine high: coffee houses pour in, more brewing.(Industry Overview)
June 24, 1996... Ann Gallardo pointed out at least four competitors to her City Coffee store in Clayton all within a few blocks - Coffee Cartel, Caffe Paradiso, Northwest Coffee and Tuscany Coffee. Three years ago Northwest Coffee Co. had the market to itself....

Paul McKee and Richard Jordan, Paric Corp.(1996 Entrepreneur of the Year)
June 24, 1996... When Paul McKee and Rick Jordan founded their construction company, they realized customers in their industry needed more control of multimillion dollar projects. Founded in 1979, Paric Corp. developed out of an idea to establish a rapport...

Dennis Jones, Jones Medical Industries Inc.(1996 Entrepreneur of the Year)
June 24, 1996... Dennis Jones started working at the age of 10 after school and on Saturdays in his father's farm equipment business in southern Illinois. It was there, he says, he learned the art of entrepreneurship - selling, marketing, serving customers - and...

Zsolt Rumy, Zoltek Corp.(1996 Entrepreneur of the Year)
June 24, 1996... Zsolt Rumy started Zoltek in 1975 with a staff of two: himself and his wife, Mary. He raised $8,000 for the company by taking a second mortgage on their home. Zoltek began as a distributor for the local chemical industry, but the company's...

Pulitzer backs Heuris in multimedia venture. (Pulitzer Publishing Co.; Heuris Logic)
June 24, 1996... Known for its newspaper and television properties, Pulitzer Publishing Co. is backing what was once a basement operation to compete against the likes of Sony Corp. Pulitzer entered the digital revolution three years ago and hopes to make money...

Jack Thomas, Royal Vendors Inc.(1996 Entrepreneur of the Year)
June 24, 1996... Jack Thomas left his life as an attorney behind to explore the vending machine market. Less than 10 years later, Thomas heads up a rapidly growing company. Thomas co-founded Royal Vendors Inc. in 1987 with partner Roy Steeley on the premise...

W. Grant Williams III, Knights Ltd. Catalogs.(1996 Entrepreneur of the Year)
June 24, 1996... W. Grant Williams III started his direct marketing business out of a walk-in closet in his apartment, The distribution center was a garage. And he was undercapitalized. It was all worth it, though. He fell in love with the industry and knew he...

Earl Lindenberg, Lindenberg & Associates Inc.(1996 Entrepreneur of the Year)
June 24, 1996... Earl Lindenberg has turned his years of experience in business and 23 years as an instructor at Washington University into a growing, successful computer consulting firm. Since founding his company in 1988, Lindenberg has turned Lindenberg &...

James Gould, Misco Shawnee.(1996 Entrepreneur of the Year)
June 24, 1996... Eleven years ago, Mohawk Carpet pulled the rug out from under James Gould. But Gould, the president of Misco Shawnee Inc., is still standing, and the company is on solid ground, with $50 million in sales around the world. Misco Shawnee had...

Kiku Obata, Kiku Obata & Co.(1996 Entrepreneur of the Year)
June 24, 1996... From the time she was 5 years old, Kiku Obata knew she wanted her own business, so she started her own paper route. Obata's creativity has paid off, and now she is the head of her own design firm, Kiku Obata & Co., which offers a complete...

Cutting edge: Kim Gordon interacts to put companies in touch. (K Gordon and Associates)(Company Profile)
June 24, 1996... K Gordon & Associates 103 West Lockwood, Suite 6 Webster Groves, Mo. 63119 Business Activity: K Gordon & Associates is an interactive media company that provides support computer programs through Web sites, CD-ROMs and touch-screen kiosks....

ESCO Electronics Corp. (proxy report excerpts)(Company Profile)
June 24, 1996... Dennis J, Moore Chairman, president and chief executive officer ESCO Electronics Corp. is a holding company for seven operating subsidiaries: Systems & Electronics Inc., Rantec Microwave & Electronics Inc., PTI Technologies Inc., Vacco...