San Francisco Business Times articles from March 1997

San Francisco Business Times archives from March 1997

Bloomies parent to sell Emporium building. (Bloomingdale's Inc. parent company Federated Stores Inc.)
March 28, 1997... Federated's deal with developer would bring retailer to San Francisco Federated Stores is selling off the Emporium building on Market Street as part of a plan to finally bring Bloomingdale's to San Francisco. The Cincinnati-based...

Toasting stogies: Bay Area wine makers roll out their own cigars.
March 28, 1997... Seeking to cash in on the cigar craze, major Bay Area wine makers have fired up plans to launch their own brands of premium smokes. Wine producers including Wente Vineyards, the Mondavi family, Boisset U.S.A. and Sutter Home Winery, and the...

Cal Pacific, docs fight for control. (California Pacific Medical Center)
March 28, 1997... In a battle of San Francisco healthcare titans, California Pacific Medical Center is brawling with the powerful Brown & Toland Medical Group over the future of their jointly owned HMO contracting arm. At stake is who will control California...

Local trade boon suddenly muffled: NAFTA, cheap chips mean the numbers don't add up. (North American Free Trade Agreement)
March 28, 1997... The Bay Area's trade bubble has finally burst. While exports are still strong, NAFTA and the sinking price of computer chips have throttled the 20 percent trade bursts of recent years. The value of Bay Area imports and exports peaked at...

DVD is ready to roll, but are consumers ready to play? (digital videodiscs)(Technology Quarterly)
March 28, 1997... It's D-Day for DVD. With the first significant introduction this month of hardware and software for the much-hyped but delayed digital video disc, the newest battle for consumers' entertainment dollars has begun in earnest. The question...

Bracing for change: new reinforcement system could shake up seismic work.
March 28, 1997... A San Francisco inventor has devised a new bracing system to help old brick buildings resist the Bay Area's next big earthquake. Reginald Locke patented his Moduloc steel connection system 20 years ago as a way to build fast, cheap housing....

Southern California restaurant chain makes leap into Bay Area. (Claim Jumper Restaurants)
March 28, 1997... Claim Jumper Restaurants is prospecting for territory in Northern California after its new Concord location became the chain's top volume producer. The Irvine-based family restaurant chain is scouting locations in the San Ramon/Dublin area,...

Telecom competitor puts its Bay Area future on the line. (ICG Communications)
March 28, 1997... Add ICG Communications to the long list of telecommunications companies going after Pacific Bell's local telephone business. Put it on a short list of competitors who are building their own networks to do it. Colorado-based ICG has spent $55...

Tech-savvy residents move up to smarter neighborhood.(Technology Quarterly)
March 28, 1997... Chad Nuss spends a lot of his time thinking about not going grocery shopping. Of course, he has to eat. So, like the rest of us, Nuss gets into his car, drives to the supermarket and waits in long lines. The weekly chore wastes time, he...

Utilities get a line on their customers' energy levels. (CellNet Data Systems's online data monitoring network connecting individual utility meters to a central data system)
March 28, 1997... Radios used to make for great entertainment, but nowadays that's the least of their tasks. By hooking up everything from burglar alarms to vending machines, a San Carlos company is cashing in on radio waves to find out when you're at home, what...

Ship captains increase the depth of their knowledge.(Technology Quarterly)
March 28, 1997... The steel freighter slowed to a powerless glide as Captain Frank Hoburg guided it through a shallow, moonlit spot in the Carquinez Strait last fall. The engines were stopped to keep the ship as high in the water as possible. It was the only way...

Xerox makes new attempt to duplicate research triumphs. (Xerox Corp.)(Technology Quarterly)
March 28, 1997... Xerox Corp. is trying to be a lot more than just a $17.3 billion Goliath known as "the Document Company." After a decade of trying to figure out what to do with all the innovative computer technology spilling out of its Palo Alto Research...

Big businesses not making call to Pacbell competitors. (Pacific Bell)(Technology Quarterly)
March 28, 1997... Despite landmark legislation deregulating local phone service last year, most major Bay Area companies haven't switched from Pacific Bell - yet. "It doesn't look like anyone has challenged PacBell's entrenched position," said Amar Senan, a...

Small software companies playing let's make a deal.(Technology Quarterly)
March 28, 1997... With stakes increasing in the software business, it's becoming harder for smaller companies to go it alone. Big fish are gobbling up more small fry, and the trend is only expected to continue throughout 1997. Acquisitions nationwide in the...

Packed and ready to go: partners ride store props to the top. (London Antique)(Small Business Growth Strategies)(Company Profile)
March 28, 1997... From the moment the idea for their business was born in a late-night brainstorming session, David Tyreman and his partner, Keith Walton, have been pushing London Antique into new markets. "We never stopped looking for ways to make a little...

Greenhouse-gas treaty has small businesses stewing.(Small Business Growth Strategies)(Column)
March 28, 1997... World leaders, led by U.S. policymakers, are negotiating an international treaty that would require nations to make reductions in greenhouse gas emissions, particularly carbon dioxide. Even though the environmental and economic implications...

Imported wine is giving local growers headache.
March 21, 1997... Fearing that a flood of cheap imported bulk wine will crush their industry, local grape growers are clamoring for labeling rules to make wineries say what's in the bottle and where it came from. Bulk wine imports have shot up from less than 1...

Companies see a benefit in seeking employee feedback.(Insurance & Employee Benefits)
March 21, 1997... In 1991, oil giant Chevron Corp. implemented a compressed work week program in which employees can put in longer workdays in exchange for an extra day off every week or two. The decision to offer the program was made, in part, based on employee...

Insurers start to feel at home with domestic partners.(Insurance & Employee Benefits)
March 21, 1997... A powerful one-two punch of political muscle and marketplace opportunity could bring so-called "domestic partners" coverage to Main Street in the near future, at least in the Bay Area. Pressure from politicians in San Francisco and Sacramento...

When it comes to benefits, Bay Area does it differently.(Insurance & Employee Benefits)
March 21, 1997... San Francisco's progressive social environment and tight labor market keeps employers busy focusing on the latest trends affecting employee benefits. California employers are well known for embracing managed care and defined-contribution...

Policy of consolidation covers most insurance brokers.(Insurance & Employee Benefits)
March 21, 1997... Compiling The List of the largest insurance brokerages in the Bay Area this year was like trying to hit a moving target as consolidation swept through the industry. (See page 11A) Top-ranked Marsh & McLennan Cos. announced this month that it...

Younger owner spends on technology. (Jeff Clark of Steven's Printing)(Small Business Growth Strategies)(Company Profile)
March 21, 1997... As the second-generation owner of Steven's Printing in Pleasant Hill, Jeff Clark is working to take the $1.2 million business to the next level with new technology and more aggressive marketing and sales. Founded in 1975, Steven's is a...

S.F. landlord slashes brokers' paychecks; Embarcadero Center leads the way in halving payouts. (San Francisco real estate industry)
March 14, 1997... Rocking the San Francisco real estate industry, the Embarcadero Center has become the first San Francisco landlord to cut in half the commissions it pays to tenants' real estate brokers. With the heated financial district real estate market...

Prime-time Larry: CEO of Oracle cuts to commercials to launch his Network Computer. (Oracle Corp. CEO Larry Ellison launches four television commercials for computer software and hardware)
March 14, 1997... Oracle Corp. has put into production four television commercials that will introduce its Network Computer to consumers this summer. The initial broadcast campaign will cost around $20 million. The campaign's tagline, "Now Everyone Can Use a...

Sam Zell tries to grab parking places; real estate magnate offers $225M for San Francisco garages. (Sam Zell plans to buy San Francisco's, CA 13,276 parking spots)
March 14, 1997... Sam Zell wants your parking spot. Specifically, the Chicago financier and real estate mogul wants the 13,276 parking spots owned by the city of San Francisco. Representatives of Zell's Equity Capital Holdings LLC met last month with...

Oakland tech firm cashes in on new markets. (ICVERIFY Inc. plans to expand business internationally)
March 14, 1997... Cashing in on an increasingly cashless society, ICverify Inc. will beef up its work force this year as it attempts to become the Microsoft of electronic commerce. The Oakland-based company, which makes software that allows retailers and...

The inn crowd decides the East Bay is the place to be. (East Bay, CA's hotels and motels industry)(Business Meetings and Hospitality)
March 14, 1997... A resurgent economy coupled with a relatively underserved market has spawned a hotel building boom in the East Bay. Geared toward the business customer, developers and hotel operators are aggressively ushering in new hotel brands and tying up...

Bomb detection firm goes off in Foster City, lands in Newark. (InVision Technologies transfers headquarters to Newark, CA)
March 14, 1997... Pressed by a $58 million backlog in orders, InVision Technologies is relocating its headquarters and manufacturing facilities across the Bay to Newark. The Foster City company, which makes devices for detecting explosives, needs to expand...

Low cost win big HQ project for Fremont. (Avanti Corp. transfers headquarters to Fremont, CA)
March 14, 1997... Avanti Corp. is fleeing Silicon Valley to lower-rent Fremont, planning to consolidate operations in a 300,000-square-foot campus-style corporate headquarters. The Sunnyvale-based software maker has chosen a site in Bayside Technology Park...

$4M infusion just the ticket for Internet reservations firm. (WorldRes Inc. acquires $4 million in venture capital funding)
March 14, 1997... WorldRes Inc. of San Mateo has snagged $4 million in venture capital funding to solidify its position as the Internet leader in hotel reservations systems. The company will use the money to recruit more hotels to participate in its World...

Civic groups, feds argue if Cliff House is over the hill. (San Francisco Planning and Urban Research Association and San Francisco Beautiful plans to replace Cliff House)(Business Meetings and Hospitality)
March 14, 1997... In a convoluted battle that pits civic groups on the side of progress against a developer standing up for historical preservation, the future of San Francisco's Cliff House is up for grabs. The historic structure includes two restaurants, a...

New attitude toward annual meetings: lean and mean. (Rain Forest Action Network CEO, Randy Hayes; corporations reduce cost for annual meetings)(Business Meetings and Hospitality)
March 14, 1997... Corporations' annual meetings can be hazardous to your health. Just ask Randy Hayes. Hayes, the head of San Francisco's rabble-rousing Rain Forest Action Network, has occasionally been physically ejected from the meetings, which he uses as a...

Kit Cole. (Chairman and CEO of San Rafael Thrift and Loan; founder of Cole Financial Group Inc.)(Executive Profile)
March 14, 1997... Name: Kit Cole. Title: Chairman and CEO. Company: San Rafael Thrift & Loan. Also, founder and president of Cole Financial Group Inc. Education: B.A. in English from California State University, Long Beach; MBA in finance from the...

Travel's middlemen feel the squeeze from both sides. (corporations reduce payments to travel agents)(Business Meetings and Hospitality)
March 14, 1997... Just a few years back, the average solo business traveler might have picked up a phone and called a travel agent at random to book a trip and have tickets delivered to his office. With most agencies, it wouldn't have mattered whether it was...

Room service now includes doctor for what ails you. (medical services by HotelDocs Inc.)(Business Meetings and Hospitality)
March 14, 1997... You're traveling in an unfamiliar city. It's 2 a.m., and the sniffles you had earlier are now making your lungs feel like lead and breathing seem impossible. What do you do? That depends. If you're at the Hyatt, the Hilton Towers or...

New owners check in as market improves. (Bay Area, CA hotels and motels industry)(Business Meetings and Hospitality)
March 14, 1997... Although new hotel projects are popping up in the East Bay and in San Mateo County, The List of the largest Bay Area hotels remains unchanged, with the same huge properties maintaining their positions. However, this year's List shows some...

A recipe for success that boiled over. (Scott and Keri Nairne's Penguin Foods Inc.)(Small Business Growth Strategies)
March 14, 1997... If you love food, love to dine out and want to start a business, opening a restaurant seems like a natural choice. The thought certainly occurred to Scott Nairne when he was looking for an entrepreneurial venture six years ago. "I considered...

Maternity suit makes Berkeley look like big baby. (Berkeley, CA officials file lawsuit against Alta Bates Hospital for violations of city zoning ordinance)(Editorial)
March 14, 1997... If government red tape and intransigence of the elite were threatening the medical care of pregnant women in some far-off third-world land, it's a fair bet that Berkeley's notoriously agitated populace would swing into action. Letters would...

Read this and stop your complaining. (employee-employer problems)(Editorial)
March 14, 1997... Nobody likes a whiner. Yet companies are full of them. Carpers, grumblers and complainers inhabit every level of business. Even CEOs, normally immune to the indulgence, are apt to complain - often about whiners. None of this is exactly...