San Francisco Business Times articles from July 1995

San Francisco Business Times archives from July 1995

Blue Shield HMO mounting comeback bid. (Blue Shield of California)
July 7, 1995... Blue Shield of California is showing signs of life. The San Francisco-based health insurer that many expect to be a casualty in the HMO wars has moved aggressively to snag a major HMO contract with giant Bank of America and a seat at the...

Chevron making push into South America. (Chevron Corp.)
July 7, 1995... Chevron Corp. is awaiting approval from Peru President Alberto Fujimori on a deal that would allow it to drill for gas in that country, adding fuel to the oil giant's strategic push into South America. If approved as expected, the Peru deal...

Equitable inks $112M real estate deal. (Equitable Real Estate Investment Management Inc.'s purchase of real properties in San Francisco, California)
July 7, 1995... Equitable Real Estate has acquired Marathon U.S. Realties' San Francisco properties in a $112 million deal that include all-star properties Marathon Plaza and 595 Market St. The deal, which closed at the end of June, is the largest Class A...

Companies put law firms on trial. (efforts of businesses to reduce legal costs)(Business of Law)
July 7, 1995... 'This isn't the end of a shakeout. It's the beginning.' When companies have a legal problem, they call their law firm. When they get the bill, many call Michael Roster. Roster has become a nationally renowned expert on helping businesses...

Local brokers fit to be tied over national package deal. (Kemper Corp.'s decision not to sell its Bay Area real estate properties)
July 7, 1995... Kemper Corp. has canceled local brokers' assignments to sell an estimated $100 million in Bay Area real estate, choosing instead to sell most of it as part of a $1.5 billion national property portfolio through investment bank Goldman Sachs....

Country at war. (competition between two San Francisco country music radio stations)
July 7, 1995... Country stations take no prisoners in survival battle Realizing San Francisco isn't big enough for two country music radio stations, upstart KYCY-93.3 FM is trying to run venerable KSAN-94.9 FM out of town. The yearlong battle got turned up...

Mortal combat: Sega faces dangerous new foe. (competition posed by Sony Corp.)
July 7, 1995... Sega of America, the Redwood City-based subsidiary of Japanese video game giant Sega Enterprises, appears to be in turmoil as it prepares for its toughest challenge. Its challenger: Japanese rival Sony Corp., which is on the verge of leaping...

CMA prepares to operate in competitive HMO arena. (California Medical Association's planned health maintenance organization)
July 7, 1995... The California Medical Association is closing in on the $3 million in financial commitments the organization says it needs to launch its statewide health plan, California Advantage Inc. But the politically powerful medical association's bigger...

Schools teach execs to barely manage. (lawyer Robert Rosenfield's managementof his law firm)(Business of Law)
July 7, 1995... San Francisco lawyer Robert Rosenfeld is among the city's more respected litigators. Yet these days he spends only 30 percent of his time practicing law. As chairman at Heller, Ehrman, White & McAuliffe, Rosenfeld devotes most of his...

'Boutiques' latest fashion for law firms. (Silicon Valley law firms offeringspecialized services)(Business of Law)
July 7, 1995... Silicon Valley has more startups than Bill Gates has enemies, but Craig Johnson still became the talk of the town in February 1993 with his new venture: a law firm. It wasn't just Johnson's new business that raised eyebrows, but what he had...

ADR: legal gold mine - or mine field? (law firms' offering of alternative dispute resolution services)(Business of Law)
July 7, 1995... Crosby, Heafey, Roach & May's attitude toward alternative dispute resolution is simple: If you can't beat 'em, join 'em. While many law firms worry whether non-legal mechanisms like mediation and arbitration will cut into their business,...

IBM Corp. repels H-P onslaught. (IBM Corp.'s response to competition from Hewlett-Packard Co.)
July 7, 1995... IBM Corp. has staved off major inroads by Hewlett-Packard Co. into the $43 billion midsize computer market. But analysts said H-P succeeded in building more awareness for its computers. Looking to muscle into IBM's stronghold in the...

Raiders' return arouses business interests. (Los Angeles Raiders returns to Oakland, CA)
July 21, 1995... Hotel chains, retailers, developers want a piece of the franchise's action Still dazed from the news that Raiders are coming back back to town, Oakland realtors, port officials and city redevelopment executives say the team's return is already...

Ships ahoy. (Foss Maritime Co. expands operations in San Francisco Bay Area)
July 21, 1995... Foss retools in battle of the bay against Crowley Foss Maritime, a Seattle-based tug and barge company, will set up its own base and expand operations in the San Francisco Bay, raising the stakes in the already competitive local tugboat market....

Mayor wants city services put out to bid. (San Francisco City Mayor Frank Jordan)
July 21, 1995... In an effort to drive down the costs of city services, Mayor Frank Jordan will ask San Franciscans to approve a measure that would allow private business to bid against city agencies to provide municipal services. Jordan plans to place the...

Software rivals unite over common cause. (Oracle Corp.; Sybase Inc.)
July 21, 1995... Oracle and Sybase face off with Congress over telecom bill Concern over a landmark federal telecommunications bill has turned two of the software industry's most bitter enemies into allies. Oracle Corp. and Sybase Inc., two vicious...

S.F. ad industry wonders if broken Foote will heal. (advertising agency Foote, Cone & Belding San Francisco)(Advertising & Public Relations)
July 21, 1995... What a rotten year it's been for the San Francisco office of Foote, Cone & Belding. The high-powered agency put San Francisco on the ad world map with now legendary campaigns such as the dancing California raisins and "Levi's 501 Blues." Now,...

Paine Webber unit leaves Big Apple, bites into Bay Area tech. (investment banking technology group relocates to San Francisco, CA)
July 21, 1995... PaineWebber has relocated its investment banking technology group to San Francisco from New York, in part to increase its visibility to companies it hopes to count as clients. David Dicioccio, managing director and group head of the unit, said...

Thrift tries new CEO, shake-up to fend off sale. (Bay View Capital Corp; Edward Sonker)
July 21, 1995... Bay View Capital Corp., the embattled San Mateo thrift that's under pressure from an activist shareholder, has appointed a new chief executive and said accelerated restructuring efforts will lead to a loss for the second quarter. Edward...

Boosting its book value. (Esprit de Corp.'s plans for its Dr. Seuss line of clothing)
July 21, 1995... Esprit seeks to spruce up its Dr. Seuss lines Despite a rocky start warn its exclusive retail licensee J.C. Penney Co., Esprit de Corp's new Dr. Seuss division plans to establish a line of adult clothing and broaden distribution of its...

Bay Area trio teams up for big Shanghai project. (Koll Construction; T.Y. Lin International; Flack and Kurtz Consulting Engineers Inc.)
July 21, 1995... A trio of Bay Area companies have been awarded construction-related contracts on the largest retail project in Shanghai, China, the $350 million Kinghill Plaza. The recipient companies are Koll Construction, T.Y. Lin International and Flack +...

Market hot on Peninsula, but stays cool elsewhere. (San Francisco Bay Area's commercial real estate market)(1995 Commercial Leasing Guide)(Industry Overview)
July 21, 1995... The Bay Area's commercial real estate recovery has been sporadic. It has yet to blossom in San Francisco, but is in full bloom on the Peninsula. After a dismal three years, brokers and landlords in San Francisco saw light at the end of...

Montgomery Ward building earmarked for demolition. (closed building in Oakland, CA)
July 21, 1995... The imposing Montgomery Ward catalog building in Oakland will be demolished as part of negotiations being completed between the company and the city. Located in the city's Fruitvale section, the 1 million square foot building has been empty...

Pitching change creates new ball game for ad agencies.(Advertising & Public Relations)
July 21, 1995... On the day of its creative shootout for the Sega account three years ago, 90 employees of Goodby Silverstein & Partners got off a bus at the Holiday Inn in Foster City. They led Sega executives into a large hotel room that had been completely...

Mainstream advertisers start to discover gay market.(Advertising & Public Relations)
July 21, 1995... The 19th San Francisco Gay & Lesbian Film Festival was a shocking experience for Charles Schwab & Co. It wasn't the movies that caught the discount stock brokerage by surprise. It was the response from the gay community to Schwab's $40,000...

Big Bay Area PR firm says it's changing its name, but not its identity. (Hi-Tech Communications Inc.)(Advertising & Public Relations)
July 21, 1995... Of all industries, the public relations business knows the importance of a good brand name. After all, creating, promoting and protecting a brand name is generally what the public relations business is all about. As William Shakespeare noted, a...

Bay Area climate right for home-grown ad agencies. (San Francisco Bay Area)(Advertising & Public Relations)(Industry Overview)
July 21, 1995... Paced by creative juggernauts Goodby, Silverstein & Partners and Hal Riney & Partners - as well as technology driven upstart Anderson & Lembke - San Francisco's top 25 advertising agencies were able to grow 6 percent and post billings of $2.84...

Digital map firm finds growth path. (Etak Inc.)
July 28, 1995... Rupert Murdoch company comes of age Etak Inc., a Rupert Murdoch-owned company, has plans afoot to double its work force and expand its office space to meet growing demand for its digital electronic mapping systems. The $14 million Menlo...

Sony Signatures in Disneyland: 'Toy Story' brings rival companies together. (Sony Signatures Inc.'s right to market apparel for Walt Disney film)
July 28, 1995... San Francisco-based Sony Signatures has won the right to market apparel for the upcoming Walt Disney film "Toy Story," and is moving forward with a quick turnaround program to have products in stores by mid-October. While "Toy Story" is not...

Unions plot anti-hospital onslaught.
July 28, 1995... Health-care unions in Northern California are gaining ground in their battle with hospitals and HMOs for the hearts and minds of the region's consumers. They aim to consolidate those gains Aug. 20, when the Rev. Jesse Jackson will lead a march...

Software group's program: tackle U.S. piracy. (Software Publishers Association)
July 28, 1995... In one of the first concerted efforts to fight software piracy inside the United States, a group of CD-ROM manufacturers and a software trade group have filed suit in a California court against five distributors who allegedly sold counterfeit...

Boycott threat rocks APL boat. (International Transport Workers Federation's plan against American President Lines Inc.)
July 28, 1995... Foreign-flagged ships may stir up trouble on the docks Threats of a worldwide boycott mean American President Lines could face trouble docking and unloading its ships this year as it enters the uncharted waters of operating foreign-flagged...

Chamber tries to break bank; black biz group: minority lending lags at Wells Fargo. (San Francisco Black Chamber of Commerce's challenge to joint venture between Wells Fargo Bank N.A. and Hong Kong Shanghai Bank Corp.)
July 28, 1995... The San Francisco Black Chamber of Commerce is challenging a bid by Wells Fargo Bank and the Hong Kong Shanghai Bank Corp. to form a jointly owned trade bank. The challenge represents the latest snag for the Wells Fargo HSCB Trade Bank, which...

Boston Chicken feathers its nest with $43M financing. (Boston Chicken Inc.'s subsidiary BC GoldenGate)
July 28, 1995... In one of the largest financings of its kind, the local developer of Boston Market fast-food restaurant outlets has put together a $42.9 million package to open and operate 110 restaurants in Northern California. After two years developing...

Helping retailers make a stitch in time: QuickResponse takes apparel industry into age of on-line services. (QuickResponse Services Inc.)(Special Report: Fast Track Quarterly)
July 28, 1995... Despite the advent of just-in-time supply systems and rapid-response inventory programs, a lot of buying decisions in the apparel retail business still rely on the merchandiser's old-fashioned gut instincts rather than the latest technology....

Critics say Jordan jobs effort is attempt to keep his own. (Mayor Frank Jordan's campaign to bring new jobs to San Francisco, California)
July 28, 1995... The San Francisco Board of Supervisors is challenging Mayor Frank Jordan's attempt to allocate city resources to a new public-private initiative set up to lure companies to San Francisco. At a press conference on July 25, Jordan and Donald...

Radio numbers a turn-off for top-rated KGO. (San Francisco, California radio station's ratings drop)
July 28, 1995... KGO-810 AM, the king of Bay Area radio stations, may soon be giving up its crown after a record 17 year run at the top. The latest Arbitron ratings show KGO barely clinging to first place in the crucial 25-54 age category. The...

The bottom line on accounting firms: a growth year. (San Francisco Bay Area)
July 28, 1995... More beans for everybody to count meant few changes in this year's List of the largest accounting firms in the Bay Area. Except for a pair of firms switching places on The List, there was no change in ranking among the 12 largest firms (see...