Houston Business Journal articles from August 1999

Houston Business Journal archives from August 1999

Chicago REIT Plans retail center on prime site.(real estate investment trust, City Center Retail Trust)
August 6, 1999... A Chicago real estate investment trust has signed a long-term ground lease on a hotly pursued and pricey tract of land on Westheimer near Weslayan. City Center Retail will demolish a small apartment complex along with an existing building...

Veteran takes command in Bellwether management shakeup.(appointment of J.P. Bryan as acting chairman and CEO of Bellwether Exploration Co.)
August 6, 1999... Veteran oil company executive J.P. Bryan was named acting chairman and CEO of Bellwether Exploration Co. in a management shakeup last week. Bryan, a major shareholder and director of Bellwether, helped orchestrate the resignations of...

Prime sale to Wells Frago ends 80-year family banking era.(Wells Fargo and Co.'s acquisition of Prime Bancshares)
August 6, 1999... An 80-year family banking tradition will come to a close when Prime Bank of Houston becomes part of Wells Fargo & Co. The $200 billion San Francisco-based financial services company announced last week that it will acquire Prime Bancshares,...

Pet project.(B.C.P. Veterinary Pharmacy)(Company Profile)
August 6, 1999... B.C.P.'s unique approach to puppy prescriptions and kitty compounds has attracted some top-dog customers The camera pans to a large primate throwing a tantrum. He spits at the zoo keeper, throws things around his cage and refuses to eat -...

Printers expanding services as world is going paperless.(Charles P. Young Co.; Print Management Systems Inc.; PrintMailers Inc.)
August 6, 1999... The call center employee reads his computer screen to see which company's 800 number was dialed by the caller. The customer may never know he has spoken to an employee of Houston printer Print Management Systems, commonly known as Primasys,...

Speedy printer makes oversized signs in a flash.(Display Graphics' 3M Scotchprint Printer 2000)
August 6, 1999... A new version of a printer for large-size digital four-color graphics newly available in Houston allows a significantly faster printing time, according to Terrie Robertson-Flanders, director of sales and marketing for Display Graphics Inc. ...

Emmott-Walker Printing Inc. in roll-up.(forming of Integrated Graphics Inc.)
August 6, 1999... Houston's Emmott-Walker Printing Inc. has merged with six leading graphic service providers to form Integrated Graphics Inc. Each division is keeping its name and executives. All the companies, except Emmott-Walker and Arizona's...

Met Printing meeting industry challenge.(Company Profile)
August 6, 1999... Both technological advances and consolidations in the printing industry have proved a challenge to smaller printing operations. But a company such as Houston's Met Printing illustrates the time-tested axiom that a company can prosper by finding...

Higher oil prices boosting capital budgets for independent producers.
August 6, 1999... CAPITAL BUDGET REVISIONS BY INDEPENDENTS COMPANY PREVIOUS NEW PERCENTAGE BUDGET BUDGET CHANGE Anadarko Petroleum Corp. $410 million $650 million 58 percent Apache Corp....

Light company calls on telecom.(Reliant Energy Communications)
August 13, 1999... Electric utility Reliant files plan with PUC to offer local phone service The light company is getting into the phone business. Reliant Energy has formed a new telecommunications unit and has filed a plan with the state Public Utility...

Truck-side advertising hits the road.(Fleet Advertising)
August 13, 1999... Six months ago, George Gearner saw an Olympic-sized opportunity for his mobile advertising business. The founder of Fleet Advertising, a company that sells space on the sides of trucks, Gearner contacted the Olympic Committee for the 2002...

Bell backs minority business in $20 million deal.(Southwestern Bell Corp.; ChaseCom)
August 13, 1999... SBC Communications Inc. has invested more than $20 million in a local firm that will play a big role in the phone company's national sales effort to sign up small businesses and ethnic minority consumers. In a unique business arrangement,...

New hotel going up near CBD.(Bayou City Lodging Group to build Best Western hotel)
August 13, 1999... Downtown land prices have spiked so high that some development is spilling over the Pierce Elevated and into the Fourth Ward. Three blocks west of the Gulf Freeway, Bayou City Lodging Group has closed on a block of land and plans...

With departure of D'Agostino, AmGen shifts executive duties.(James D'Agostino; American General Corp.)
August 13, 1999... American General Corp., the Houston-based insurance and financial services giant, has shuffled its top management. With the resignation last week of James D'Agostino, vice chairman and group executive for Consumer finance - a post he had...

AMB Property divests three local retail centers in national portfolio.
August 13, 1999... Burnham Properties, CalPERS will acquire two more by year end High-profile real estate investment trust AMB Property Corp. of San Francisco has sold three local retail centers and plans to sell two more Houston properties by year's end. ...

Chase wins, Wells Fargo loses $2 billion city banking contract.(Wells Fargo Bank-Texas; Chase Bank of Texas)
August 13, 1999... Houston City Council voted this week to move its banking business from Wells Fargo Bank-Texas to Chase Bank of Texas. The contract, valued at about $350,000 per year, is for deposit and cash management services involving roughly $2 billion of...

Holistic healer.(Jerry O'Neal, president of Jeneal Correction and Health Centers)(Company Profile)
August 13, 1999... Over a half-century, Jerry O'Neal's skin care chain has weathered skeptical doctors, FDA inquiries and the advent of quick-fix plastic surgery When 79-year-old Dr. Jerry O'Neal greets new people, one of the first things she does is hitch...

Finding success in hock.(Wright Pawn and Jewelry Co.)(Company Profile)
August 13, 1999... Jack and Pamela Wright have discovered some upscale offerings in the business of pawn What began as a power shopping spree for antiques and collectibles turned into big business for Jack and Pamela Wright, co-owners of The Wright Pawn &...

Camden Property Trust.(proxy report excerpts)(Company Profile)
August 13, 1999... NYSE CPT Three Greenway Plaza, Suite 1300, Houston 77046 (713) 354-2500 www.camdenprop.com Camden Property Trust is one of the largest multifamily real estate investment trusts (REITs) in the nation. Total shares of common stock...

Financiers for lease: Atlanta company seeks long-term gains in supplying temporary CFOs.(Tatum CFO Partners)(Statistical Data Included)
August 20, 1999... When Tatum CFO Partners reaches an objective, the company's hired guns are often out of a job. The firm new to Houston hires out chief financial officers on a full-time, part-time or interim basis to clients in need of the senior managers....

Small business stepping up work place security.(security consulting company Swailes Sheridan Slade & Associates)
August 20, 1999... Security consultant Kevin Swailes has seen a surge in work place violence. Small businesses are now beginning to follow the lead of large corporations in taking steps to prevent safety problems, says the owner of Houston-based Swailes...

Texas tax-free days offer boost to sagging sales at Stage Stores.(Statistical Data Included)
August 20, 1999... Stage Stores Inc., the Houston-based parent company of Palais Royal, Beall's and Stage retail apparel stores, expects its third quarter to be the charm and is thanking Texas' "tax holiday" for providing the boost. According to company...

Enron Oil & Gas finalizes separation with Enron through stock deal.(Statistical Data Included)
August 20, 1999... Enron Oil & Gas Co. and Enron Corp. split up for good this week. The exploration and production arm of the giant energy and energy services company is now an independent company after the two completed a share exchange. Enron...

On equal footing: in the hotly contested podiatric arena, the brothers Lepow have employed an aggressive approach to stand out.(Profile)(Gary, Ronnie and Randy Lepow)
August 20, 1999... In Houston's competitive podiatry market, the Lepow brothers have established a powerful foothold. Ronnie, Gary and Randy Lepow have made a name for themselves by creating Lepow Foot Specialists - one of the largest podiatric practices in...

Logistical dream: in three years, Pilot Air Freight has taken a strong share of the city's freight forwarding business.(Growth Strategies)(Houston, TX)(Statistical Data Included)
August 20, 1999... Pilot Air Freight is becoming a key player in the business of picking up freight and shipping it out - whether by air, land or sea. But there's a catch: the company doesn't own ships or airplanes. Its trucks pick up goods and take them to...

Waste Management Inc.(Proxy Report Excerpts)(Company Profile)(Statistical Data Included)
August 20, 1999... NYSE WMI 11001 Fannin, Suite 4000, Houston 77002 (713) 512-6200 Waste Management Inc. is a global leader in providing integrated waste management services. Total shares of common stock outstanding as of March 22, 1999 ...

On the menu: a bigger check: local restaurant prices on the rise, says Zagat.(Houston, TX; Zagat Survey)
August 27, 1999... Chew on this: The cost of dining out in Houston is rising fast. The average price of a meal is still higher in cities like Dallas and New York, but Houston is closing the gap and is no longer seen as a haven for cheap eats. "Prices...

Builder plans condos of Champions; project likely linked to fortunes of Compaq.(Greenwood Properties; Champion Forest Drive, Houston, TX)
August 27, 1999... Greenwood Properties has established a track record developing palatial homes in suburban silk-stocking subdivisions like Greenwood and Champions Forest. Now the company is preparing to extend its residential reach with construction of a...

A taxing question: freeport exemption attracts manufacturers on the move.(Focus: Relocation Guide: Commercial & Residential)(Houston City Council's ratification of Texas' Freeport Amendment)
August 27, 1999... The Houston City Council recently ratified the Freeport Amendment in a move to attract and keep distribution warehouses in Houston. The question is, will the county follow suit? The Freeport Amendment is a constitutional amendment passed by...

Means.Knaus acquires 70 acres joining Westchase District.
August 27, 1999... Means * Knaus and its Florida-based partner The Joe Co. has dropped $60 million on land acquisitions in three deals in as many months. And the ink is just drying on a contract for 70 acres near the intersection of Beltway 8 and Harwin. The...

Seekers health food grocery chain seeks bankruptcy court protection.
August 27, 1999... The grocery chain that pioneered health foods in Houston has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. The 31-year-old Seekers, which operates grocery stores at Bellaire and Weslayan, Westview and Blalock and in Katy, filed to reorganize Aug. 16....

Haynes and Boone lures nine lawyers from rival Butler & Binion.
August 27, 1999... Nine attorneys from Houston's Butler & Binion law firm - all in the corporate securities and finance practice - jumped ship this week to join the Houston office of Dallas-based Haynes and Boone. Their migration to Haynes and Boone brings...

IRM returns to mainframe concept at AIM's clandestine control center.(IRM International; AIM Management Group)
August 27, 1999... When an electrical transformer blew earlier this year and shut down power at mutual fund company AIM Management Group's Greenway Plaza headquarters, key employees quickly drove downtown to the firm's brand new, state-of-the-art data center and...

TETRA Technologies Inc.(Proxy Report Excerpts)(Company Profile)
August 27, 1999... NYSE TTI 25025 I-45 North, The Woodlands 77380 (281) 367-1983 www.tetratec.com TETRA Technologies Inc. is a specialty inorganic chemical company selling products, services and process technologies to a variety of markets. Total...