San Francisco Business Times articles from July 1999

San Francisco Business Times archives from July 1999

AT&T's back from the lab; research arm has new technology set to gush through the pipeline.
July 30, 1999... AT&T Corp. will begin testing this fall a new "light wire" cable network, the first product to come out of its two-year-old, 300-strong research and development facility in Menlo Park. Light wire, which AT&T says will bring fiber-optic...

Essex Property plugs 'das hole' on Lake Merritt.(Essex Property Trust Inc.)
July 30, 1999... A longstanding Oakland eyesore is about to become a shining example of "elegant density." Palo Alto-based Essex Property Trust Inc. has acquired a weedy crater at the edge of Lake Merritt that it plans to develop into a $40 million...

Schwab grabs more space as growth surges.(Charles Schwab Corp.)
July 30, 1999... Charles Schwab Corp., the Pac-Man of downtown San Francisco real estate, has gobbled up another 182,000 square feet of office space. In two separate deals this month, the San Francisco-based discount broker inked long-term leases for...

Out of bankruptcy, retailer gets ready to party again.(Party America)
July 30, 1999... Party America is ready to let the good times roll. The Alameda-based party supply retailer, which dug itself out of bankruptcy in January, has launched several wide-ranging initiatives, including opening a new prototype store. The...

New boss' role at NUMMI is trip down memory land.(Kanji Ishii, new president of New United Motor Manufacturing Inc.)
July 30, 1999... Kanji Ishii, the new president of New United Motor Manufacturing Inc. in Fremont, has set his primary goal: "kaizen," or the search for continuous improvement. Having been a part of the team that originally negotiated the NUMMI joint...

Executive profile: Jim DeRose.(president and CEO of Pacific Data Images)
July 30, 1999... Name: Jim DeRose. Title: President and CEO. Company: Pacific Data Images, the Palo Alto-based animation and visual effects studio. Its work includes the computer-animated feature film "Antz." Education: Bachelor of arts degree...

Bullish on biotech: despite red ink, biotech succeeds by venturing where big pharma fears to tread.(Focus on the Bay Area Biotechnology Industry)(biotechnology and pharmaceutical firms)
July 30, 1999... At first blush, the concept of a fast - track biotech company is a complete oxymoron. The vast majority of biotechs continue to lose money; most are judged not by their revenues but by their hefty burn rates; and in a world of soaring...

Xoma gets a second shot at bringing drug to life.(Focus on the Bay Area Biotechnology Industry)
July 30, 1999... At 18 years of age, Xoma Corp. may be entering its second childhood. After a promising youth in the 1980s heyday of biotechnology, the Berkeley-based company could have served as a poster child for the industry. With a peak market...

Needle phobia breathes life into Inhale.(Focus on the Bay Area Biotechnology Industry)(Inhale Therapeutic Systems)
July 30, 1999... Inhale Therapeutic Systems lost $18.4 million in 1998 and since its inception in 1990, has yet to sell a single product. Anxiety is a given for budding biotechs: The wait for success is long, and a company's fate is uncertain. But Robert...

Pangea crunches data so researchers don't have to.(Focus on the Bay Area Biotechnology Industry)(Pangea Systems)(Company Profile)
July 30, 1999... The mapping of the human genome holds the promise of unlocking the cause of many diseases and pointing researchers toward new cures and treatments. It also presents researchers with the reality of drowning in a deluge of data. Pangea...

CV Therapeutics takes aim at heart ailments.(Focus on the Bay Area Biotechnology Industry)(Company Profile)
July 30, 1999... As a cardiologist in Missouri, Dr. Louis Lange became frustrated with what seemed like a revolving door of treatment and relapses among his heart patients. He and his colleagues would treat and send home patients with angina, knowing they...

Williams-Sonoma stakes out new HQ.(kitchen and housewares retailer to sign lease on office building in San Francisco, CA)
July 23, 1999... Retailer to move South of Market as it expands e-commerce push Williams-sonoma Inc., signaling its shift from retailer to e-tailer, is getting ready to join the legions of e-commerce companies in the booming South of Market area. The...

Top Bay area telecom exec ships out for San Diego.(Sue Swenson resigns as CEO of Cellular One)
July 23, 1999... Swenson quits Cellular One to join wireless startup Sue Swenson has resigned as president and CEO of Cellular One to join a San Diego-based telecommunications startup. Swenson, one of the highest-ranking women in telecommunications,...

Eric Young.(co-founder of Canaan Partners)(Interview)
July 23, 1999... Name: Eric Young. Title: Co-founder and general partner. Company: Canaan Partners, the Menlo Park-based venture capital firm with $600 million under management. Education: Bachelor of science degree in mechanical engineering...

Cruise terminal steams ahead.(cutting-edge cruise ship terminal to be developed in San Francisco, California)
July 16, 1999... Developers drop anchor in bid to nab $300M waterfront project A flotilla of powerful developers and terminal operators is forming to develop a state-of-the-art cruise ship terminal along the San Francisco waterfront. The estimated...

Fur flies on the Internet.(Petopia.com as one of San Francisco, California's fastest growing electronic commerce pet company)
July 16, 1999... Deal turns Petopia.com's bark into bite San Francisco's Petopia.com has brought its own big dog into the fight for dominance in the e-commerce pet segment, lining up the giant retailer Petco to counter cross-town rival Pets.com's...

Trash talk in San Francisco.(janitorial and cleaning service firms in San Francisco, California)
July 16, 1999... Janitors, building owners spar over contract If a swarm of fruit flies hovering over yesterday's banana peel soon greets you at work, here's why: Custodial companies and building owners are at loggerheads with San Francisco's janitors...

N.Y. developer to build luxury tower in SoMa.(Related Cos plans to build an apartment tower in Manhattan, California)
July 16, 1999... The largest developer of high-rise apartments in Manhattan is about to bring its touch to the San Francisco skyline. New York-based Related Cos., a private company that has built more than 30,000 apartments nationwide, including about...

Hill physicians prognosis: fiscal health.(Hill Physicians Medical Group registers record-breaking revenue growth for 1999)
July 16, 1999... Hill Physicians Medical Group is showing double-digit growth in both revenue and membership - plus a $2.3 million profit - at a time when most of its competitors are barely surviving. The San Ramon doctors' group just announced its fiscal...

Chemical reaction.(electronic commerce invades San Francisco, California's chemical industry)
July 16, 1999... The chemical industry is becoming the latest Bay Area e-commerce battleground, with a new arrival and a startup squaring off to control the buying and selling of chemicals on the web. The arrival is ChemConnect, an Atlanta company that...

Montgomery trio raises $71 million at Dorset Capital.(Dorset Capital Management)
July 16, 1999... A trio of refugees from Montgomery Securities' once-booming retail and consumer products practice have raised a $71 million buyout and growth capital fund. Dorset Capital Management was formed in February by John Berg, Montgomery's...

Feeling the squeeze.(San Francisco, California's healthcare sector experiences intense competition)
July 16, 1999... Regions hospitals, health plans, doctors and employers feel tightened belt of competition When UCSF Stanford Health Care announced this week that it lost twice what it expected in May - a deficit of $10.3 million for that month alone -...

Managed-care vehicle drops docs at side of road.(providing doctors with luxury cars at Weatherford BMW)
July 16, 1999... When my wife was in medical school, she talked about buying a BMW someday. After eight years as a pediatrician and three children, her dream car has become a Toyota Sienna minivan, and it's still a dream. Meanwhile, she drives a Honda Accord...

Carving out a niche.(jewelry manufacturer and distributor Lori Bonn Designs)
July 16, 1999... Jewelry designer crafts $2M market for her handmade wares In 1993, Lori Bonn was sitting in her San Francisco apartment day-dreaming, surrounded by jewelry. "Someday," she mused, "I'm going to sell $1 million worth of jewelry and I'm...

Saudi investors cashing out.(TIAA-CREF)
July 9, 1999... S.F. highrise to fetch $65M; other Jaymont holdings on the block The world's largest pension fund is boosting its San Francisco portfolio with the acquisition of 88 Kearny St. Price tag: $65 million to $67 million, or between $310 and...

CEO thirsts for glory; Marin beer fortune bound for charity.(S&P Co. CEO Bill Bitting)
July 9, 1999... Mill Valley-based S&P Co., which acquired a cooler full of bottom-shelf beer brands in February, is on track to double sales to $1.2 billion. The eventual beneficiaries? An unlikely group of regional charities. The local holding company...

Investors begin run to amass $400M printing empire.(Kelmscott Communications)
July 9, 1999... Kelmscott Communications strikes three times on West Coast San Francisco-based Kelmscott Communications has bagged the city's Watermark Printing Co. and two other West Coast printers in a bid to create a new printing colossus. ...

Aetna grows California presence with merger.(Aetna U.S. Health Care)
July 9, 1999... Aetna U.S. Health Care is pushing to become the No. 1 health plan for California's multistate companies, offering managed care nationwide. After a seven-month approval process over its proposed buyout of Prudential Health Care, the...

Bay Area banks grow fat on diet of IPOs.(San Francisco Bay Area; initial public offerings)
July 9, 1999... The Internet is driving a record pace at local investment banks The Internet-fueled IPO frenzy on Wall Street continues to pay off for local investment banks, generating record underwriting business in the second quarter, as well as heavy...

Binging Kennedy-Wilson buys up JLW California.(Jones Lang Wootton California Inc.)
July 9, 1999... Kennedy-Wilson Inc., continuing its aggressive foray into property management, has acquired San Francisco-based Jones Lang Wootton California Inc., a unit of real estate giant Jones Lang LaSalle Inc. Terms of the transaction were not...

Sega video game console to push market over $7B.(Sega of America Inc.)
July 9, 1999... San Francisco-based Sega of America Inc. win launch its volley in the video game console war on Sept. 9 as the much-anticipated Dreamcast console begins selling at 15,000 U.S. and Canadian retail stores. Sega already has amassed more than...

Warring tech mags save strongest words for each other.(Upside Magazine and Red Herring)
July 9, 1999... Tony Perkins doesn't mince words about his competition. Upside magazine, the founder and editor-in-chief of Red Herring hisses, is "a lowbrow product." Of the 14-month-old Industry Standard, he says, "By the time I look at the it, I've...

It pays to listen: wood worker builds airtight case for employee input: $7M a year.(Small Business Growth Strategies)(Commercial Casework Inc.)
July 9, 1999... Even though Bill Palmer is the president of his $11 million company, Fremont-based Commercial Casework, he often takes more orders from his employees than they take from him. But Palmer likes being bossed around - it's why he's so successful....

Margot Fraser.(Entrepreneur Profile)(Birkenstock Footprint Sandals Inc. president)(Interview)
July 9, 1999... Title: President. Company: Birkenstock Footprint Sandals Inc. in Novato ("rent is cheaper the farther north you go," Fraser said), the exclusive U.S. distributor of German-made Birkenstock footwear. Fraser found the sandals while on...

W.R. Hambrecht builds bankroll.(investment bank W.R. Hambrecht + Co.)
July 2, 1999... Financiers hop aboard to fuel new round of IPOs over the Internet Fresh from two successful but controversial IPOs on the Internet, San Francisco investment bank W.R. Hambrecht + Co. has lined up $50 million in new equity financing to...

Wells Fargo hangs on to reins.(bank's post-merger strategy)
July 2, 1999... CEO acts cautiously as post-merger strategy begins to take shape After months of corporate introspection, Wells Fargo & Co. is unfolding its strategy for boosting revenue and cutting costs while it combines the bank with Norwest Corp....

S.F. designer Primo Angeli sells firm.(acquisition by Lighthouse Holdings Inc.)
July 2, 1999... Chicago buyer Lighthouse vows not to mess with success Primo Angeli Inc., one of San Francisco's oldest and largest design studios, has been sold to Chicago-based Lighthouse Holdings Inc., which aims to build an international portfolio of...

Doctors toss license, gain fiscal health.(Brown and Toland Medical Group)
July 2, 1999... Brown & Toland Medical Group has scrapped its vision of letting doctors' groups, rather than HMOs, control health-care payments to hospitals. The group agreed to give up its Knox Keene license - which could have let it oversee hospital...

PeopleSoft channels promotional push onto TV.(software company)
July 2, 1999... PeopleSoft Inc. is launching its first television advertising campaign this month to promote its new e-business strategy. Commercials touting the company's new focus on the Internet will begin appearing in business and news shows on...

Hungry buyer snaps up S.F. tower for $67M.(Carlyle Group acquires Bank of West building in San Francisco, CA)
July 2, 1999... The Carlyle Group, a global investment firm on a national real estate buying spree, is taking its first bite out of downtown San Francisco with the purchase of the Bank of the West building. The Washington, D.C.-based merchant bank is...

Dutch treat for fast-growing Oracle division.(software company acquires Redwood Shores)
July 2, 1999... Seeking to bolster its fastest-growing operation worldwide, Oracle has made its fourth acquisition in a year. The Redwood Shores software company purchased Geodan, a privately held company based in the Netherlands, for an undisclosed...

Geoworks turns wireless customers on to Internet.(software company)
July 2, 1999... Geoworks Corp. is going "dot-com," but the verdict is still out on whether the move will save the ailing business. Formerly a developer of operating systems for high-end wireless telephones, which were a hybrid between traditional...

Thomas LaTour.(Kimpton Hotel and Restaurant Group Pres. and CEO)
July 2, 1999... Name: Thomas LaTour. Title: President and CEO. Company: Kimpton Hotel & Restaurant Group Inc., based in San Francisco, with revenue of $325 million and 5,325 employees. The company owns 24 boutique hotels and 26 destination...

Bechtel retains top spot on private company list.(Bechtel Group Inc.)
July 2, 1999... In a year when buying dot-com market share was more important to public markets than revenue or earnings, the San Francisco Business Times List of the 100 Largest Private Companies in the Bay Area lost only one member to an initial public...

Banking on the customer.(Stratford financial Services)
July 2, 1999... Construction loan product puts roof over entrepreneur's head Kevin Daum doesn't buy into the golden rule of the mortgage lending business: "He who has the gold makes all the rules." Instead, Daum's company, Strafford Financial Services,...