St. Louis Business Journal articles from March 1999

St. Louis Business Journal archives from March 1999

National in turmoil.(National Supermarkets Inc.; Family Company of America)
March 1, 1999... Grocery chain cuts staff, ads; supplier moves Three years after it acquired 23 National supermarkets and on the eve of a settlement in its longstanding dispute with Schnuck Markets Inc., Family Co. of America is struggling. The...

TWA weighs 2nd hub.(Trans World Airlines Inc. mulls secondary hub in Dayton, OH)
March 1, 1999... City officials from Dayton, Ohio, have approached Trans World Airlines about setting up a secondary hub in Dayton. Sources close to the airline said TWA also has looked at Indianapolis. Pilots, who asked not to be named, said the...

Gilster pops for $60 million firm.(Gilster Mary Lee Corp.)(Brief Article)
March 1, 1999... Private-label food manufacturer Gilster Mary Lee Corp. has swallowed Jasper Foods, the top-ranked manufacturer of private-label microwave popcorn. The deal closed Jan. 28. Gilster bought the Joplin, Mo.-based company from Ken and Dave...

Knight/Williams launches catalog for stressed women.(Brief Article)
March 1, 1999... Direct mail company Knight/Williams Corp. is launching a new women's catalog in July - Soft Surroundings. The venture will be run by St. Louis newcomer Robin Sheldon, formerly with the Indiana-based Coldwater Creek catalog company. Sheldon...

Sturm joins LaSalle Bank to start asset-based lending.(Jack Sturm appointed vice-president of LaSalle Business Credit's St. Louis office)
March 1, 1999... LaSalle National Bank is opening an asset-based lending operation in St. Louis with the help of a veteran banker who jumped ship to LaSalle from Firstar Financial Services. John "Jack" Sturm joined LaSalle Jan. 7 as first vice president...

Interiors, jewelry firm rings up $6 million.(Company Profile)
March 1, 1999... Business activity: At Decor Interiors and Jewelry, the unusual is the usual. The 72-year-old family business has grown from a small used furniture store into a multimillion-dollar business, offering hard-to-find decorations for the home...

Poole wades through tough issues.(William Poole, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis)
March 1, 1999... President of St. Louis Fed brings private-sector business philosophy to job William Poole isn't afraid to shake things up at the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis. Poole, a former Brown University economics professor who hadn't held a...

Commerce's Campbell has fund outpacing S&P 500.(Banking and Investments;)(Gary Campbell, chief investment officer of Commerce Bank N.A., St. Louis, MO)
March 1, 1999... When it comes to stockpicking, Commerce Bank's Gary Campbell is a number cruncher - bigtime. In his nine years at Commerce, Campbell, chief investment officer of the Investment Management Group, has built a research effort that depends on...

Schaub, Snowden say it's harder to take firms public.(Banking and Investments)(Dan Schaub, director of corporate finance at A.G. Edwards & Sons; Jim Snowden, director of investment banking at Huntleigh Securities Corp.)
March 1, 1999... Small companies are experiencing more difficulty going public as merger mania drives up the size of initial public offerings, experts said. The trend is causing them to turn to other sources for capital and, in some cases, go public when...

Argent's index gives big, small firms equal weight.(Banking and Investments)(Argent Capital Management LLC)
March 1, 1999... A St. Louis stock index developed by Argent Capital Management LLC shows local companies' financial performance is lagging other publicly traded firms throughout the United States so far this year. Argent's St. Louis Stock Index dropped 3.3...

Mercantile Capital Markets raises $5 billion for clients.(Banking and Investments)
March 1, 1999... Kirk Porter enjoys helping mid-size companies think big. Porter is the senior vice president of Mercantile Bancorporation's Capital Markets division, which has arranged financing for more than 50 mergers, acquisitions and recapitalizations...

Investment Counselors Inc. offers security for pensions.(Banking and Investments)
March 1, 1999... Employee benefits administrators admit that when it comes to dealing with the daily complexities of pension plans, it is wise to rely on a professional. For companies like Investment Counselors Inc. this level of trust has added to their...

Edison Brothers on the brink.(a group plans to acquire two of Edison Brothers Stores Inc.'s divisions)
March 8, 1999... People close to St. Louis-based Edison Brothers Store., Inc. said there are efforts afoot to acquire one or more of the retailer's seven store divisions. One person close to the company, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said that a...

Ray Holman memo: freeze.(hiring freeze imposed by Mallinckrodt CEO C. Ray Holman)
March 8, 1999... Workers at Mallinckrodt Inc. are watching their spending, after C. Ray Holman, chairman and chief executive, imposed a hiring freeze, restricted travel and put in place other expense controls. The cost-cutting measures, spelled out in an...

Capital GBS brought into Birch Telecom fold.(Capital GBS Communications)
March 8, 1999... Birch Telecom has acquired Capital GBS Communications in an effort to become a full-service telecommunications company. The purchase paves the way for Kansas City-based Birch to introduce itself to customers served by St. Louis-based...

Rusnack bets on refining.(includes related article on Rusnack's appointment as president and CEO in April 1998)(Clark USA CEO and President Bill Rusnack)
March 8, 1999... Clark USA Inc. is refining the way it does business. As Clark seeks to sell its marketing unit - with the prize being about 700 company-owned gas stations - its president and chief executive projects the Clayton-based firm could surpass $6...

Earthgrains heats up hunt for acquisitions; Philly bakery fits, analyst says.(Tasty Baking Co.; Gregg Griesemer)
March 8, 1999... As the Earthgrains Co. looks to expand, it might target Philadelphia-based Tasty Baking Co. for an acquisition, a company with $150 million in sales. That deal would add snack cakes to Earthgrains' bread business, said Gregg Griesemer, who...

St. Anthony's to expand surgery center.(St. Anthony's Medical Center)
March 8, 1999... Surgeons to take ownership stake in renovated center Some surgeons at St. Anthony's Medical Center would be able to boost their income as part of a $1.5 million plan to expand and renovate the hospital's outpatient surgery center. The...

Missouri Consolidated Health pumps up '99 payments.(Missouri Consolidated Health Care Plan)
March 8, 1999... Missouri's state-sponsored health plan has sweetened payments to managed-care companies on 1999 contracts. Missouri Consolidated Health Care Plan also will put its post-2000 business up for bid ahead of the end of current contracts. ...

Printing company goes by the books, stacking up $2.5 million in sales.(Pinnacle Press)(Company Profile)
March 8, 1999... Business activity: Tom Rohlfing and George Schoedinger, fraternity brothers and friends since their days in college, had talked for years about owning their own business. Two years ago, they finally realized their dream and left secure...

State Farm agents receive training to act as bankers; rollout of State Farm Bank will include St. Louis.(Insurance)(State Farm General Insurance Co.; St. Louis, Missouri)
March 8, 1999... Dozens of State Farm Insurance agents in the St. Louis area will be going back to school to learn about banking. That comes as the nation's biggest property and casualty insurer prepares to launch State Farm Financial Services. The...

Conning Corp. continues 20 percent growth rate.(Company Profile)
March 8, 1999... Conning Corp. is more than just another successful spinoff of General American Life Insurance Co. The company assets and earnings are growing 20 percent to 30 percent annually as insurance companies outsource the management of their...

Use of credit reports by insurers attacked.(Missouri insurance industry acts in both the Missouri House and Senate)
March 8, 1999... The Missouri insurance industry is taking aim at bills in both the Missouri House and Senate that would restrict the use of credit reports by automobile and home insurers in policy writing. "They've got an issue with credit reports," Calvin...

Civic Ventures eyes Edison.(Edison Brothers Stores Inc.)
March 15, 1999... Civic Ventures, a private St. Louis equity fund that invests in minority-owned businesses, has stepped up to buy two of the Edison Brothers Stores Inc. chains - the 126-store Coda and 240-store JW division. The national chains would be run...

Bakewell backs out on Duke.(Duke Realty Investments Inc.)
March 15, 1999... First Industrial says it won't bid a third time Bakewell Corp. has called off a deal to sell part of its real estate portfolio to Duke Realty Investments Inc. - the second time a Bakewell deal to sell to a real estate investment trust has...

Intertech given $26 million infusion.(Intertech Management Group Inc. gets fresh capital from Behrman Capital)
March 15, 1999... Local software developer Intertech Management Group Inc. has landed $26 million in fresh capital from a California investor. The Chesterfield-based maker of billing and customer service software for telecommunications companies will use the...

Stolar lands an all-star - $1 million Hardee's account.(Stolar Partnership; Hardee's Enterprises)
March 15, 1999... The Stolar Partnership has combined its expertise in real estate and a relationship with a former partner to land legal work for Hardee's worth more than $1 million. Stolar beat out three other national law firms, including Bryan Cave's...

McBride & Son expands to Atlanta, Indianapolis.(McBride and Son Management Co.; Atlanta, Georgia and Indianapolis, Indiana)
March 15, 1999... After five years of positioning itself for geographical expansion, McBride & Son Inc. has branched out into two new markets - Atlanta and Indianapolis. "For the last several years, our whole focus has been to really work at developing...

Post-Pratt United Industries eyes public stock offering.(former president David Pratt)
March 15, 1999... Former owner to stay aboard as chairman Stephen Brian, who has taken over as chief executive of United Industries, said he's aiming for aggressive growth and possibly an initial public offering for the lawn and garden products manufacturer...

Southwest Steel bought by industry giant Metals USA.(Southwest Steel Supply Co.)
March 15, 1999... Metals USA, a giant in the metals processing and distributing business, has bought Southwest Steel Supply Co. in Madison. Terms were not disclosed. Arthur French, chairman and chief executive of Houston-based Metals USA, said some of the...

Pollnow, Braxton team to buy Ni-Med operations in Farmington.(Fax Pollnow and Terry Braxton)
March 15, 1999... Real estate developer Fax Pollnow and Farmington, Mo., businessman Terry Braxton have bought Ni-Med, a Farmington firm that assembles hospital supply kits. Neither Pollnow nor Braxton would disclose how much they paid for Ni-Med, which...

$32 million apartments care center planned for Homer G. site.(former Homer G. Phillips Hospital)
March 15, 1999... A $32 million plan to turn the former Homer G. Phillips Hospital in north St. Louis into apartments and a residential care center for the elderly cleared a major hurdle after Missouri health-c e regulators determined the project was exempt from...

Maverick Tube Corp.(Proxy Reports Excerpt)(Company Profile)
March 15, 1999... Gregg M. Eisenberg Chairman, president and chief executive officer The Maverick Tube Corp. manufactures welded steel tubular products primarily for the completion of new oil and natural gas wells. The company also produces structural tubing...

A-B sued over pension: Lohr, Grey Eagle workers say pension benefits unfair.(Anheuser-Busch Inc.; Lohr Distributing Company Inc.; Grey Eagle Distributing Inc.)
March 22, 1999... Employees of two local beer distributing companies have brought a class-action lawsuit against Anheuser-Busch Inc. The suit alleges the St. Louis Teamsters Brewery Workers Pension Plan, an approximately $380 million pension fund...

IPO fever: sharing wealth: GenAmerica, Charter prepare to go public.(includes related article on planning for going public)(initial public offering; Charter Communications Inc.)
March 22, 1999... IPO Monitor, an Internet service that follows recent and planned initial public stock offerings, rates the current market for IPOs as exceptional. That might be why more than half a dozen local companies are planning IPOs or considering going...

Jacobs shakes up Sverdrup.(Jacobs Engineering Group)
March 22, 1999... Two months after buying Sverdrup Corp.; Jacobs Engineering Group is re-engineering the management and business units. Kraig Kreikemeier, president of Sverdrup Facilities since 1993, is out of that job but is leading an effort to form a new...

Prop B proponents spend $200,000 on TV ads.(proposed legislation on concealed weapons in Missouri)
March 22, 1999... Two-and-a-half weeks before voters go to the polls to determine the fate of Proposition B, the concealed-weapons proposal, campaign spending on TV ads has been lopsided. Missourians Against Crime, one of two campaign committees supporting...

Ameren puts $260 million into 6 natural-gas turbines.
March 22, 1999... Investment expected to keep prices cool Ameren Corp. plans to spend $260 million during the next three years to install six natural gas-fired turbines that can supply an extra jolt for its power grid during peak demand. That should be...

Stag Investments planning $25 million industrial park: Iremco leasing spec building at Hawk Ridge.(Hawk Ridge Industrial Park in St. Louis, Missouri)
March 22, 1999... Stag Investments, headed by Lake Saint Louis resident Don LaBrayere, is developing a $25 million industrial park in Lake Saint Louis. When it's finished, the 47-acre Hawk Ridge Industrial Park will have about 500,000 square feet of...

Santangelos invest $60,000 in market for downtown: New York-style grocery set for Washington Ave.(food vendors Charlie and Kristina Santangelo)
March 22, 1999... In what may be the surest sign yet of a budding residential neighborhood along Washington Avenue, plans are moving along to open a specialty grocery there in May. Food vendor Charlie Santangelo and wife Kristina are investing about $60,000...

Autco Distributing buys Brightman's appliance line: Brightman also liquidating floor-covering unit.
March 22, 1999... Autco Distributing Inc. is planning a push into the home building industry, following its purchase of Brightman Co.'s appliance division. The combination of the two wholesalers should give Autco, an electronics distribution company with...

Mallards Landing sold by Dominion before it's built.(Dominion Properties Inc.)
March 22, 1999... Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Co. is buying the Mallards Landing apartment complex under construction in O'Fallon, Mo., from St. Louis developer Dominion Properties Inc. The purchase price for the 253-unit complex, on 13.1 acres off...

Managed-care firms remain cautious with Celebrex: Cigna, GHP make members pay more for Monsanto drug.(Money & Medicine)(arthritis pain killer)
March 22, 1999... Cigna, GHP make members pay more for Monsanto drug Most local managed-care companies are making patients pay extra to take Monsanto Co.'s new arthritis painkiller, Celebrex. Celebrex, a new class of painkiller known as Cox-2 inhibitors,...

Baldwin/Priesmeyer raises revenue to $1 million; flag maker combines old, new to make the red, white and blue.
March 22, 1999... Business activity: Baldwin/Priesmeyer, a 90-year-old St. Louis company, is combining one of the country's oldest skills with new technology. Baldwin/Priesmeyer makes and sells flags, banners and signs, and sells advertising specialities...

TWA's Compton: jobs will go.(interview with incoming CEO of Trans World Airlines Inc, Bill Compton)(Interview)
March 29, 1999... Bill Compton, a pilot who's now in the cockpit at Trans World Airlines Inc., is confident the airline can fly out of its financial troubles. He said TWA will cut its costs by buying more efficient aircraft, reducing its work force and...

Truck Centers on a roll.(Freightliner-brand, heavy-duty truck dealer)
March 29, 1999... Expects $80 million gain in revenue Truck Centers Inc. is on the road to huge growth as it rolls toward the millennium. The Troy, Ill.-based company is building dealerships in Missouri and Illinois that are expected to generate at...

Milnot wants to buy Pet.(The Milnot Co; Pet Milk Co)
March 29, 1999... Pet Milk again could have a St. Louis connection if The Milnot Co. can pry the evaporated milk brand from The Pillsbury Co. St. Louis-based Milnot has bid on Pet Milk two or three times in the past few years and still is trying to buy the...

Enterprise No. 1 private company.(Enterprise Rent-A-Car Co rated first in St Louis Business Journal newspaper's list of 150 largest privately-held firms)
March 29, 1999... Companies mat supply cars and me fuel to run them top the St. Louis Business Journal's list of 150 largest privately hold companies. Enterprise Rent-A-Car, No. 1 on this year's list, grew sales by $500 million to $4.18 billion in 1998 and...

Four golf stores close as sales land in the rough.
March 29, 1999... This year has gotten off to a rocky start for some area golf retailers, with three mall-based stores and a golf superstore closing amid a glut of merchandise in the market. Mark Mills, owner of Golf Outfitters Pro Shops, is closing his...

Talx's 'The Work Number' dials up profit.(computer programming service's automated employment verification system)
March 29, 1999... Talx Corp. expects to end its 1999 fiscal year March 31 with a profit for the first time since 1994, based largely on growth of an automated employment verification system. The system, The Work Number for Everyone, contributes more than...

Great American Barbecue buys frozen foods company.
March 29, 1999... The Great American Barbecue Co., a 3-year-old food business with $3 million in annual sales, cooked up a deal to buy a meat-processing operation several times its size. The company, the frozen foods division of Double B Foods Inc. in...

Dressed for success.(Ladue, MO-based custom clothier and shirt maker/retailer Savile Row)
March 29, 1999... Savile Row suits up with more than $1 million in sales Business activity: When Billy Crystal was on "Saturday Night Live," one of his characters' favorite lines was: "It's not how you feel, it's how you look. And you look marvelous." ...

Enterprise-Rent-A-Car.(Largest Private Companies)(Company Profile)
March 29, 1999... Enterprise Rent-A-Car drove past the $4 billion mark in 1998. The company, the top-ranked rental car firm based on U.S. revenue, posted $4.18 billion in sales last year - up $500 million from 1997. Enterprise does not disclose income,...

Solutia.(Proxy Report Excerpts)(Company Profile)
March 29, 1999... Robert Potter Chairman and chief executive officer Solutia's portfolio includes 10 business units in three broad segments: fibers; chemicals; and polymers and rosins. Solutia is a major producer of nylon and acrylic fibers, as well as...