St. Louis Business Journal articles from November 1997

St. Louis Business Journal archives from November 1997

Citicorp adding 200 jobs. (Citicorp Mortgage)
November 3, 1997... Low interest rates spark surge in mortgage loans It's a borrowers' market for home loans. Interest rates and upfront charges are among the lowest in years, and area mortgage companies have stepped up the competition, with many lenders...

$30 million redesign. (The Sporting News)
November 3, 1997... Times Mirror Co. will spend $20 million to $30 million during the next five years to redesign, relaunch and revive The Sporting News. The bulk of the money will fund the sports weekly's switch from a tabloid to a magazine format in an effort to...

Rainforest Co. takes $375,000 bite of crunch. (acquisition of Community Products Inc.)
November 3, 1997... There's a rain forest growing in St. Louis. With the help of a $1 million investment from a local venture capital company, The Rainforest Co. of St. Louis acquired the environmentally sensitive maker of Rainforest crunch nut brittle. The assets...

Heimburger countersues: seeks $412,500 in incentive pay from Blue Cross. (Roy Heimburger, former CEO of Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Missouri)
November 3, 1997... Roy Heimburger has filed a counter claim against Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Missouri, seeking $412,500 in incentive pay and other benefits he says he was denied by the company when it fired him as chief executive officer in March. A...

No lunch or meetings as brokers take market's side. (stock brokers)
November 3, 1997... The see-saw stock market this past week had one problem: the rebound came too fast. "If the prices would have lasted a week, we would've gotten more people in," said Don Boschert, an Edward Jones broker in St. Charles. He received few...

Convention hotel teams refining plans for Nov. 10.(Business Meetings/Conventions/Banquets)
November 3, 1997... Two teams competing for the construction of a new convention headquarters hotel are refining their proposals for a Nov. 10 deadline. That is the latest development in the city's most recent efforts to build a hotel next to America's Center, the...

Kmart, Kimco, ShopKo, Kohl among likely Venture suitors. (Kimco Realty Corp.; ShopKo Stores Inc.)
November 3, 1997... The latest speculation about O'Fallon-based Venture Stores Inc. is that it is shopping for a buyer or combination of buyers. Potential buyers, according to a source close to the company, include ShopKo Stores Inc., Kimco Realty Corp., Kmart and...

Miller spending $420,000 for 60% of new bank stock. (Truman Bank CEO Richard Miller)
November 3, 1997... Truman Bank plans to raise $710,000 by allowing its current investors to buy new shares of stock. Some of the money raised will be used to open the bank's first branch office in St. Peters, according to an Oct. 24 prospectus. The rest will be...

Kennedy Capital sued for $10 million. (Kennedy Capital Management Inc.)
November 3, 1997... West St. Louis County money management firm Kennedy Capital Management Inc. faces a $10 million lawsuit filed by a bankruptcy trustee in Texas. The trustee is claiming the St. Louis County investment firm tried to force Dallas-based Performance...

Rend Lake Resort sailing after $3 million expansion.(Business Meetings/Conventions/Banquets)
November 3, 1997... Rend Lake Resort considered one of the best kept secrets in southern Illinois, but St. Louis companies are starting to let the word out. The resort, located within Wayne Fitzgerrell State Park in Whittington, Ill., about an hour and a half from...

Doe Run doubles revenue, goes global with purchase. (Doe Run Co.)
November 3, 1997... The Doe Run Co. is doubling the size of its operations and plunging into the global marketplace, with the $246 million purchase of the Metaloroya metallurgical smelting complex in Peru. The purchase also expands Doe Run's product line beyond...

Clayton awards Brilliant's condo project an extension. (Clayton, MO; real estate developer Sidney Brilliant)
November 3, 1997... The city of Clayton is giving developer Sidney Brilliant more time to find financing for Maryland Towers, his proposed luxury condominium development at the northeast corner of Maryland Avenue and Brentwood Boulevard. Brilliant demolished the...

HMOs say quality ratings are based on flawed data. (health maintenance organizations)
November 3, 1997... The nation's leading auditor of managed care quality has given low marks to some of the St. Louis area's largest health maintenance organizations. The HMOs, however, say the data is flawed. The National Committee for Quality Assurance said...

Ampitheater, media center added to conference resort.(Business Meetings/Conventions/Banquets)
November 3, 1997... International Conference Resorts has expanded its plans for a luxury conference center at the Missouri Research Park. The Scottsdale, Ariz.-based company plans to spend $56 million - $16 million more than originally planned - to build the...

Starbucks, microbrewery planned for East Terminal. (Lambert Airport)(Business Meetings/Conventions/Banquets)
November 3, 1997... Hospitality officials hope changes at Lambert Airport's East Terminal will leave conventioneers and other visitors with a better impression of St. Louis. For many convention travelers, the airport is the first stop on their journey here, said...

Partners to go it alone with Matheis as new president. (Partners HMO; Dennis Matheis)
November 3, 1997... Partners HMO has installed a new team of executives and is gearing up to take the reins back from health insurance giant Aetna, which has been managing the health care plan under contract. Incoming president Dennis Mathels says he wants to...

SLU Hospital plans $4.5 million Gamma Knife facility. (Saint Louis University Hospital)
November 3, 1997... American Shared Hospital Services, a San Francisco-based medical services company, wants to put a $4.5 million Gamma Knife facility at Saint Louis University Hospital. It's the second Gamma Knife proposed for the St. Louis area in recent...

Aldine travel adds business meeting service to itinerary. (Aldine Travel Meeting Services)(Business Meetings/Conventions/Banquets)
November 3, 1997... Whether taking a train across Italy or playing a few rounds of golf, Aldine Travel Meeting Services will create a unique experience for out of town meetings. Aldine Travel Meeting Services arranges company business meetings, as well as...

Trade shows, conventions ready for high-tech kiosks?(Business Meetings/Conventions/Banquets)
November 3, 1997... Exhibitors at trade shows and conventions may not be ready for high-tech kiosks. Steve Kettelkamp, executive vice president of St. Louis-based Exposition Management Inc., said the interactive kiosks are still cost prohibitive for most trade...

Wrap it up: Crazy Bowls to serve up fifth location by January. (Crazy Bowls & Wraps)(Small Business)(Company Profile)
November 3, 1997... Business activity: Crazy Bowls & Wraps is dishing up healthy food with an international flair in its group of quick-service restaurants. The company, started by St. Louis natives Keith and Gail Kitsis, has grown to four restaurants in three...

Siboney Corp. (Proxy Report Excerpts)(Company Profile)
November 3, 1997... Timothy J. Tegeler Chairman, president and chief executive officer Siboney Corp., through its subsidiaries, produces and sells educational software and related materials and owns interests in several natural resource properties. The company's...

Shareholders sue, say Boeing hid problems. (Francine Werbowsky; Mary Jane Howard; Boeing Co.)
November 10, 1997... A pair of shareholders has sued Boeing Co., claiming the company hid production problems in order to keep the stock price high and ensure the August merger with McDonnell Douglas would go through. The Seattle lawyer who filed the suit, Steve...

Rawlings eject Shields after bonus argument. (Rawlings Sporting Goods Company Inc.; Carl Shields)
November 10, 1997... Carl Shields was fired as president. chairman and chief executive of Rawlings Sporting Goods Co. after objecting to the board of directors raising the bar for the employee bonus program. according to individuals close to the company. The board...

If the shoe fits... Peter Edison buys Weiss & Neuman. (Weiss & Neuman Shoe Co.)
November 10, 1997... Former Edison Brothers Stores executive Peter Edison, who left his family's company last March after creditors took control of the board, has landed on his feet. The 42-year-old merchant has acquired the Weiss & Neuman Shoe Co. The...

Omni Bank stockholders' investments triple in buyout. (Banc Ed Corp. to acquire Omni Financial Corp.)
November 10, 1997... Chairman Hassler to receive $370,275 More than 150 Metro East residents who invested in the startup of Omni Bank in 1991 will see their investment triple, under a plan by The Banc Ed Corp. to acquire Omni Financial Corp. Bane Ed will pay...

Citation delays boot up of new computer products. (Citation Computer Systems Inc.)
November 10, 1997... Citation Computer Systems Inc. has delayed the rollout of its newest product line. The announcement comes amid disappointing second quarter results and a local analyst downgrading his recommendation on Citation's stock to "hold". The...

Behlmann says smaller is better with Carnections. (Behlmann Automotive)
November 10, 1997... Pre-owned cars to be sold at 8 smaller lots Behlmann Automotive is scouting eight sites in the metropolitan area for its scaled-back Carnection concept. The initial investment in each location will be about $1.4 million, according to Herb...

Midland talking merger with Florida's Regency Realty. (Midland Development Group Inc.; Regency Realty Corp.)
November 10, 1997... The Midland Development Group is negotiating a merger with Florida-based Regency Realty Corp., according to sources in the real estate community. Midland President Lee Wielansky would neither confirm nor deny that Regency is the company he's...

Former Petrolite executive goes on acquisition binge. (Jim Zemenick)
November 10, 1997... Less than two years after he was let go by Petrolite Corp., Jim Zemenick is three companies into an acquisition binge that has created a printer cartridge recycling company with nearly $2 million in yearly revenue. In December of 1996, he...

Allegiant pays $8 million for two Roosevelt branches. (Allegiant Bank; Roosevelt Banks in Warrenton and Union, MO)
November 10, 1997... Allegiant Bank paid $8.7 million for two former Roosevelt Bank branch offices in Warrenton and Union, Mo. The previously undisclosed purchase price for the Sept. 4 acquisition is contained in an Oct. 29 filing with the U.S. Securities and...

Ticket hike means $8.5 million to Cards. (St. Louis Cardinals baseball club)
November 10, 1997... Changes to Busch Stadium and an increase in ticket prices will generate about $8.5 million in new ticket revenue for the St. Louis Cardinals next season. Despite the jump in revenue, the team expects to lose money next season. Ticket sales...

Gatesworth planning $10 million, 50-unit expansion.
November 10, 1997... The Gatesworth at One McKnight Place, a retirement community for active seniors, is planning a $10 million expansion. Current residents of the Gatesworth, off Delmar Boulevard at Interstate 170, will have first choice on the 50 new units, which...

Sheffield looks to raise up to $20 million. (Sheffield Pharmaceuticals Inc.)
November 10, 1997... Counting on inhaler to breathe life into company's finances Officials at Sheffield Pharmaceuticals Inc. hope a product they're developing to help asthma sufferers breathe easier will give the company some breathing room financially, as well....

Copy that: Datamax's office work totals $50 million. (Datamax Office Systems)
November 10, 1997... Business activity: Datamax Office Systems bills itself as the "document technology people." Datamax supplies companies with business machines that manage the documents they create, as well as the service to support them. "We want to be a...

Express Scripts Inc. (Proxy Report Excerpts)(Company Profile)
November 10, 1997... Barrett A. Toan President and chief executive officer Express Scripts Inc. is a specialty healthcare management company and one of the largest independent, full-service pharmacy benefit management companies in the United States. The company...

Wealthiest St. Louisans: Joneses, Rumy, Brooks join old money crowd. (Dennis and Judith Jones; Zsolt Rumy; Robert Brooks)
November 17, 1997... St. Louis' oldest and wealthiest families have some new company. Rising stock markets and mega-deals have boosted the fortunes of several entrepreneurs, and they join the ranks of The St. Louis Business Journal's Wealthiest People in St. Louis....

Maverick CEO takes profits. (Maverick Tube Corp.; Gregg Eisenberg)
November 17, 1997... Eisenberg pockets $2.66 million in stock sale Thanks in part to a shortage of oil-field equipment, Gregg Eisenberg is $2.66 million richer than he was a few months ago. The chief executive of Chesterfield-based Maverick Tube Corp. sold...

CVC insulted by NFL's offer. (St. Louis Convention and Visitors Commission; National Football League's settlement offer)
November 17, 1997... The National Football League made the St. Louis Convention and Visitors Commission one last settlement offer before the commission's $130 million antitrust lawsuit was thrown out of court. CVC officials said the offer, which the NFL valued at...

Regulators discipline thrift. (Office of Thrift Supervision; Jefferson Savings Bancorp Inc.)
November 17, 1997... Fault Jefferson Savings' lending practices Federal regulators have cracked down On Jefferson Savings Bancorp Inc.'s lending abilities in Texas, the fastest-growing part of the Ballwin-based thrift's operations. The move comes amid falling...

The wealthiest. (a list of millionaires in St. Louis, Missouri)(Wealthiest People in St. Louis)
November 17, 1997... Putting together a list of the wealthiest individuals and families in St. Louis started as an outgrowth of a similar project in 1995. Two years ago, we profiled 70 of the largest local fortunes. Almost immediately, people asked about other...

$6 million expected in Allegiant stock sale. (Allegiant Bancorp Inc.)
November 17, 1997... Wool to boost stake by $1 million Allegiant Bancorp Inc. expects to raise more than $6 million by selling additional stock to its shareholders. More than 40 percent of the total raised through the ongoing rights offering is expected to come...

Stallings putting nightclub, lofts on Washington Avenue. (developer Bill Stallings)
November 17, 1997... The 34-year-old developer who has bitten off the mammoth $60 million Chase Park-Plaza redevelopment project in the city's Central West End is also nibbling on a $1.5 million project on Washington Avenue. Bill Stallings has acquired an...

Sterling Direct grows, buys Mid-America TeleServices.
November 17, 1997... Sterling Direct, one of the region's larger direct mail businesses, acquired Mid-America TeleServices, a telemarketing firm launched here two years ago. "We've had a strategic relationship for years," said Bill Ziercher, president of Sterling....

LaserSight shareholders asked to help cover firm's bet on patents.
November 17, 1997... Shareholders in LaserSight Inc. will be asked to permit the company to double the number of shares of common stock it is authorized to issue, from 20,000 to 40,000 shares, at a special stockholders meeting Dec. 10. According to a preliminary...

Zipatoni deal would zip open vacant 555 Washington.
November 17, 1997... Downtown's historic and notorious 555 Washington Building - vacant for a year - should soon have a new lease on life. Zipatoni Co., a downtown advertising company partial to unconventional quarters, is close to a deal to take about 30,000...

American Loose Leaf needs new home to handle growth. (American Loose Leaf Business Products Inc.)
November 17, 1997... American Loose Leaf Business Products Inc. is looking for a new location for its 400 employees. The initial plan was for American Loose Leaf, an office supply company, to build a warehouse and distribution center on about 10.5 acres at Compton...

Medart Inc. to build warehouse, new headquarters.
November 17, 1997... Medart Inc. is on the move. The 85-year-old wholesaler of lawn, garden and marine products, has relocated from Washington Avenue to leased warehouse space in Earth City while it builds new facilities in Arnold. The cost of the buildings is...

State will scrutinize GHP-principal planned merger. (Missouri; Group Health Plan Inc.; Principal Health Care of St. Louis)
November 17, 1997... Group Health Plan Inc. and Principal Health Care of St. Louis are hoping to become one as early as next February through the merger of their parent corporations. The proposed combination, however, may face close scrutiny from the Missouri...

Sherman starts club providing discounts on medical care. (Ronald Sherman launches HealthCare Club of America Inc.)
November 17, 1997... Dr. Ronald Sherman, a retired St. Louis podiatrist, has launched HealthCare Club of America Inc., a consumer club to help people who lack health insurance get medical services at discounted prices. Sherman said the 100 or so local physicians...

Lida's fingers do the walking: Yellow Pages marketing rep pulls in $16 million. (Lida Cos.)(Company Profile)
November 17, 1997... Business activity: The Lida Cos. helps businesses market themselves in Yellow Pages directories nationwide. As a certified marketing representative for the Yellow Pages industry, Lira designs and places advertising in any of the 6,000 phone...

Stock sales net 3 Brooks execs $1 million-plus. (Brooks Fiber Properties Inc.)
November 24, 1997... Three Brooks Fiber Properties Inc. executives netted more than $1 million apiece by cashing in stock or options in the month after WorldCom Inc. announced it was buying the company. Craig Young, 43, president and chief operating officer,...

Marriott backs loan. (Historic Restoration Inc.'s plan to build a Marriott convention hotel)
November 24, 1997... Historic Restoration Inc., the New Orleans-based group bidding to build a Marriott convention hotel here, has put together a financial package for a $172.5 million hotel complex that will not require the city to put any money upfront, according...

Renaissance on Washington Ave. (real estate development in St. Louis, MO)
November 24, 1997... Two decades after the city's pioneering efforts to create a loft district along Washington Avenue, real estate deals are popping up from Broadway to 22nd Street. In recent weeks: * Jeff Edwards, a former publishing executive, has acquired the...

G.E. powers up to buy Magnum Technologies. (General Electric Co.)
November 24, 1997... Magnum Technologies Inc. has been acquired by General Electric Co.'s industrial control system business. Magnum, based in Fairview Heights, is an engineering consulting firm, which specializes in industrial automation and computer-aided design...

Brouster takes 71% stake in Midland worth $10 million. (Pioneer Bank and Trust Co. Chmn. and CEO Thomas Brouster)
November 24, 1997... Partners with 7 others to buy Kansas City bank for $17.5 million Thomas Brouster, the chairman and chief executive officer of Pioneer Bank and Trust Co., is about to see four years of hard work in fixing a troubled Kansas City area bank pay...

South Side National, Royal Banks are owed $4 million. (Jefferson/Keeler Printing Co.)
November 24, 1997... Two St. Louis banks owed $4 million by Jefferson/Keeler, Printing Co. and other creditors of the financially troubled firm should learn early next month how the printing company expects to repay its debts. Jefferson/Keeler plans to distribute a...

Barnes-Jewish shake-up follows physician survey.
November 24, 1997... McGuire, Ernst resign; Bernstein, Blue promoted A management shake-up is under way at BJC Health System and Barnes-Jewish Hospital, the system's largest hospital. Dr. Samuel Nussbaum, BJC executive vice president for medical affairs and...

St. John's dismissed as defendant in lawsuit by surgeon. (St. John's Mercy Medical Center; Dr. Arthur Misischia)
November 24, 1997... St. John's Mercy Medical Center has won a key round in a court battle with Dr. Arthur Misischia, an oral and facial surgeon who used to work at the hospital. St. Louis Circuit Judge Robert Dierker Jr. dismissed St. John's as a defendant in a...

Koetting envisions $2.5 million in revenue. (Koetting Associates)(Small Business)(Company Profile)
November 24, 1997... Eye care firm sees some 75 patients daily Business Activity: The Koetting Associates, a St. Louis eye care company that has been in existence for more than 100 years, is facing a series of challenges. As it looks to 1998, Koetting is...

Mallinckrodt Inc. (Proxy Report Excerpts)(Company Profile)
November 24, 1997... C. Ray Holman Chairman and chief executive officer Mallinckrodt Inc. serves health care and specialty chemicals markets worldwide. The company is a major producer of diagnostic imaging agents, medical devices, specialty pharmaceuticals,...