Dallas Business Journal articles from April 1996

Dallas Business Journal archives from April 1996

City mulls bid on WRR; Ohio company offers about $25 million for historic classical-music station. (Dallas, Texas; WRR-FM radio station; Nationwide Communications Inc.)
April 5, 1996... A Columbus, Ohio-based communications company has offered to buy classical radio station WRR-FM (101.1) from the city of Dallas. Sources said the offer is in the $25 million range. The company, Nationwide Communications Inc., owns 10 FM...

Big D is big draw for women entrepreneurs; service sector is top niche for women-owned biz here. (Dallas-Fort Worth, Texas)
April 5, 1996... In the early 1980s, Carylon Alexander had her destiny narrowed down to three cities: Atlanta, Phoenix and Dallas. Alexander, a native Texan who was living in Southern California at the time, used a simple formula to pick Dallas - her sister...

GTE makes the call to 9999 Tech. (GTE Corp.; 9999 Technology Blvd. building in Dallas, Texas)
April 5, 1996... Call-center relocation will boost Dallas, bite Lewisville Telecommunications giant GTE Corp. is working on a 153,000-square-foot lease that sources said could bring up to 700 new jobs to Dallas - though most of them will come at the expense of...

Memphis firm sets sights on EyeCare deal. (Omega Health Systems Inc.; EyeCare and Surgery Center of North Texas)
April 5, 1996... $5 million buyout early sign of anticipated consolidation Omega Health Systems Inc., a Memphis physician practice-management firm, plans to buy one of Dallas' largest eye-care practices, EyeCare and Surgery Center of North Texas. EyeCare, a...

RAC Financial agrees to buy Denver-based Mortgage Plus. (RAC Financial Group Inc.; Denver, Colorado-based Mortgage Plus Inc.)
April 5, 1996... RAC Financial Group Inc. plans to buy a Denver-based home-improvement lender, and has enlisted Miami Dolphins quarterback Dan Marino as a spokesman. The consumer lender's moves are part of an aggressive campaign to increase its market share....

Ericsson's cellular division settles into new digs. (Ericsson Radio Systems Inc.)
April 5, 1996... Ericsson Inc.'s radio systems unit has invested $1 million in a new center that can maintain telecommunication networks. Technicians at the facility, on Glenville Drive in Richardson, will monitor traditional and wireless telephone traffic,...

Since '91, Dallas Co. banks lost $1.7 billion in deposits. (Dallas County, Texas)
April 5, 1996... Since 1991, Texas banks have lost $3.4 billion in deposits and half of the losses have been in Dallas County. Texas banks once had about $24 billion in deposits in Dallas County, but fierce competition from other financial sources boiled away...

Aetna CMO Tucci envisions on-line linkup for plan's docs. (Aetna Life and Casualty; chief medical officer James Tucci)
April 5, 1996... With high aspirations of taking Aetna Health Plans into the 21st Century, Dr. James Tucci plans to have all the state's largest health care provider's 10,200 doctors using on-line networks in the next five years. Tucci, a doctor for 20 years,...

Health care turmoil creates opportunities for law firms.
April 5, 1996... Attorneys are flush with new business indirectly generated by huge organizational changes in the Metroplex's health care industry. Lawyers are helping physicians join and merge practices, and guiding the breakups of others. J.R. Thomas, a...

Food firm hopes to take flight. (Phoenix Provisions Inc.)
April 5, 1996... Phoenix is second distribution company for former lawyer For the first time in his working life, John Venza is backtracking. "After nearly two years out of the business, Venza is getting back into food distribution for Italian restaurants,...

Caruth family takes control of NorthPark office buildings.
April 5, 1996... Redevelopment potential seen for site across from mall Real estate sources said two buildings in the high-profile NorthPark East retail and office development have been foreclosed upon. The buildings in question, NorthPark East's One and Two,...

Mirror, mirror ... times 153,600. (Texas Instruments Inc.'s digital light processor)
April 5, 1996... It runs on a thumbnail-sized chip containing 307,200 mirrors and is on its way to a conference table near you. It s a Texas Instruments Inc. component designed to make projector images more realistic. Despite its less-than-sexy name - the...

Cable company says fight show illegally tapped. (KingVision Pay Per View Ltd.; Prime Entertainment Inc.)
April 5, 1996... Two groups of Dallas eateries and night spots have been slapped with separate civil suits by a couple of out-of-state pay-per-view cable companies. The businesses are accused of pirating telecasts of a pay-per-view boxing match, according to...

Crow might roll out Market Center concept. (Crow Family Holdings; Dallas Market Center)
April 5, 1996... Crow Family Holdings announced this week that it has formed a partnership with NationsBank of Texas to recapitalize its interest in Dallas Market Center, a complex of wholesale markets in Dallas' Stemmons Corridor. Market center merchants sell...

Bollinger charged with inflating financials. (Bollinger Industries Inc.)
April 5, 1996... Money fund says firm illegally raised its stock Bollinger Industries Inc. is being sued by STI Classic Fund for allegedly using false earnings reports to inflate its own stock prices. STI Classic, a mutual fund managed by a subsidiary of...

Advertising falling through for new edition of directory. (Healthcare directory; Marcoa Publishing Dallas Inc.)
April 5, 1996... Plans for the second edition of a popular health care publication have been put on hold. Healthcare, a Metroplex directory of health care companies published by a San Diego, Calif., company, is running short of advertising revenue. Two...

Investment bank reorganizes in effort to stall competitors. (Principal Financial Securities Inc.)
April 5, 1996... The Principal Financial Securities Inc. has split its corporate finance group into seven departments serving different industries. The reorganization follows a national trend in investment banking. The Principal is fighting to be more...

Burn cranks up blitz for new soccer league. (Dallas Burn soccer team)
April 5, 1996... The Dallas Burn is no household name. Executives of Dallas' new Major League Soccer team admit they've got one heck of a challenge to create excitement about soccer in the Metroplex. Especially when there's a host of naysayers betting against...

Bank stocks weathered upbeat U.S. employment reports.
April 5, 1996... When news came out that job growth was pretty strong in February, investors in bank stocks thought the good news would be bad for banks. They were sure that the Federal Reserve would reverse the downward trend in interest rates, and bank...

Tax ceiling would offer relief.
April 5, 1996... WASHINGTON - Most analysts agree that reviving tax cuts is a political non-starter this year. Congress approved a balanced budget package coupled with tax cuts for small business, but it stopped short at President Clinton's desk. With April 15...

Bad news sells, in more ways than one.
April 5, 1996... If it seems to you that life used to be easier, that once upon a time you did not go to bed every night choking down stomach acid and grinding your teeth over the latest lawsuit embezzlement or break-room knife fight among the secretarial pool,...

'Fishy' business: film company fans its logo.(Growth Strategies)
April 5, 1996... Dallas-based Big Fish Films knows how to use marketing to reel 'em in. The small film company now is a big fish, so to speak, thanks largely to its "Big Fish Club." Big Fish Films asked people in the advertising community to send in photos...

Provide better service: put your support on-line.(Growth Strategies)
April 5, 1996... With the proliferation of on-line services and the Internet and with the growing computer literacy of the business community, it may be time for you to consider automating certain aspects of your corporate support function. What does that...

1,400-acre golf project project teetering? (proposed golf course in rurAL Collin County)
April 12, 1996... Golden Bear negotiating to put huge residential, club development near Prosper Golf legend and land developer Jack Nicklaus is negotiating to buy as much as 1,400 acres in rural Collin County. But the talks between Nicklaus' Golden Bear...

Wells Faro considers wider layoffs in Texas. (Well Fargo Bank N.A.)
April 12, 1996... Some First Interstate workers told their jobs could be cut One of the first moves made by Wells Fargo Bank after finalizing its acquisition of First Interstate Bank was to lay off 118 workers in Texas, and more cuts are possible. The banks...

Out of merger could come local rail service. (Union Pacific-Southern Pacific rail merger)
April 12, 1996... The proposed Union Pacific-Southern Pacific rail merger has spawned plans for a publicly owned Metroplex rail entity. In a March 22 presentation to Metroplex government and business leaders, Texas Railroad Commissioner Charles Matthews outlined...

Medicaid short list includes Tarrant. (Tarrant County, TX)
April 12, 1996... Companies bid for share of $17 billion program The state has whittled down the list of managed care companies vying for the coveted Medicaid contracts in Lubbock and Tarrant counties. In Tarrant County, PCA Health Plans of Texas, Rio Grande...

Greenline: hoping to score with SCOR. (Greenline Capital Corp.; small-scale public stock offerings done on a state-by-state basis)
April 12, 1996... To get to the offices of Greenline Capital Corp., company president Mel Williams will tell you it's the turquoise building - the ugliest one around. It is from a small office in that same building, located in North Dallas off Alpha Road, that...

$25 million offer for WRR turning heads on council. (Dallas, TX, classical radio station WRR-FM)
April 12, 1996... Dallas City Council members are considering putting out to bid the city's classical radio station, WRR-FM. "That's where we're headed," said Councilman Craig McDaniel (District 14). The Dallas Business Journal reported last week the city had...

Liquidation mark Gazebo's final chapter. (Gazebo fashion store in Dallas, TX)
April 12, 1996... For most of its 25-year existence, The Gazebo has been the place for Dallas' well-heeled and fashion-conscious to get their finest threads, softest furs and most glittering diamonds. During many of those years, selling fashion to the tres riche...

Banks become students of Asian culture: small institutions have culture edge, but megabanks are moving in quickly.
April 19, 1996... When Esau Liu moved to Dallas from China 23 years ago, there were few minority-owned banks and none that catered to the needs of Asian immigrants. This month, Liu opened the first Dallas branch of Metro Bank of Houston, an institution owned...

Dr Pepper, I presume? Texas softdrink explores Africa, other world hot spots.
April 19, 1996... Going international is just what the doctor has ordered. Dallas-based Dr Pepper/Cadbury North America Inc., a subsidiary of Cadbury Schweppes pie of London, is taking its Dr Pepper soft drink worldwide in a massive effort to grab a piece of...

Credit card service company bargain shops at old Kmart: Business Services Inc. eyes 100,000 square feet. (includes related article)
April 19, 1996... Business Services Inc. is rumored to be close to signing a deal for a roughly 100,000-square-foot customer-support center in Richardson or Plano. The deal would bring 700 to 800 jobs to the Metroplex. BSI is a J.C. Penney spin-off that...

Sour notes on retail go unheard in Metroplex: trends may show drop but not around here. (reak estate industry)
April 19, 1996... Local insiders said a dour retail picture painted by a national securities firm does not apply to the Metroplex economy. Everen Securities, a Chicago-based securities firm, told its investors that its going to stay away from retail real estate,...

Houston thrift bidding for Bluebonnet. (Coastal Banc, Bluebonnet Savings Bank F.S.B.)
April 19, 1996... Is one of five suitors vying for BSB's 21 branches Growth hungry Coastal Banc has joined four other financial institutions in bidding for the retail operations of Dallas-based Bluebonnet Savings Bank, say sources close to the deal. Coastal,...

Hug a tree? local economy doesn't care. (effects of environmental regulation on Texas economy)(Environmental Quarterly)
April 19, 1996... Study on compliance shows modest job loss across state Environmentalists say regulations help the economy. Businesses claim they do just the opposite. Who is right? The Perryman Group, an economic consulting and publishing firm in Dallas,...

Will dirty air choke our growth? (Dallas, Texas)(Environmental Quarterly)
April 19, 1996... Environmental experts say a serious problem for Metroplex residents and businesses is materializing out of thin air. The area's failure to meet national standards under the Clean Air Act is well documented. And if the area fails to hit certain...

Taming the insurance beast: small businesses are more savvy, less daunted by health care these days.(1996 Health Care Directory)
April 19, 1996... Once upon a time, a large company's health care plan was straightforward. An employee would visit a doctor. As long as that person's deductible was satisfied, the insurance company would pick up most of the tab. Small-business owners operated...

Jacobson shops D-FW. (Jacobson Stores Inc.; Dallas-Fort Worth)
April 26, 1996... Upscale Michigan-based retailer would slug it out against Nordstrom, Neiman Marcus PLANO - In what would be the splashiest retail debut since Nordstrom came to town, upscale department-store chain Jacobson Stores Inc. is looking to expand to...

Nations gets Bluebonnet branches. (NationsBank Texas, Bluebonnet Savings Bank)
April 26, 1996... Purchase would include $988 million in deposits DOWNTOWN - NationsBank Texas has won the bidding contest on the retail operations of Bluebonnet Savings Bank. According to sources close to the negotiations, NationsBank has offered a bid that...

Frito-Lay to move jobs here from New York. (Frito-Lay Corp.)
April 26, 1996... Pepsico sub to sign office lease for two divisions at Spectrum NORTH DALLAS - Frito-Lay Corp. is expected to lease 140,000 square feet of office space worth about $14 million in Dallas' Spectrum Center, sources close to the deal said. About...

KPMG leases space in Brookriver for new unit, 200 jobs. (KPMG Peat Marwick L.L.P.)
April 26, 1996... DALLAS - KPMG Peat Marwick L.L.P. is starting a new division in 50,000 square feet it leased this month in Brookriver Center. KPMG's new unit, expected to employ 200 within a year, will begin occupying the space this summer. Through the unit,...

Staged auto accidents plaguing Metroplex. (auto accident insurance scams)
April 26, 1996... DALLAS - People running auto accident insurance seams here are becoming more sophisticated, according to the state Department of Insurance. Department spokesman Lee Jones said state investigators are "working several cases of alleged staged...

Vartec to hire 300 to staff Lancaster call center. (VarTec Telecom Inc.)
April 26, 1996... LANCASTER - VarTec Telecom Inc. will hire more than 300 people over the next year to staff a customer-support call center. VarTec, based in Lancaster, resells long-distance telephone service using its own switches and circuits, which keeps its...

Texas, Metroplex seeing robust job growths for fifth year.
April 26, 1996... DALLAS - If you don't like your job in Texas, stick around. A new one probably will come along soon. At least that's what a Dallas Business Journal study indicates. The state added 297,900 jobs between December 1994 and December 1995,...