Dallas Business Journal articles from December 1997

Dallas Business Journal archives from December 1997

Dallas insurer grounded: American Eagle Insurance Co. placed in receivership.
December 19, 1997... American Eagle Insurance Co. placed in receivership NORTH DALLAS - American Eagle Insurance Co., with a long history in the niche market of aviation insurance, has been placed in temporary receivership and its affairs taken over by the Texas...

Holigan's more than homes. (Holigan Homes Inc.'s cable television program and plans for a Michael Holigan MasterCard and additional retail stores)
December 19, 1997... Home improvement star adding magazine, chain of retail stores FAR NORTH DALLAS - Pamela Lee isn't volunteering to co-star - yet. Bill so far, Michael Holigan hasn't needed a voluptuously beautiful "Tool Time" girl to make his 3-year-old...

Oryx moving north? (Oryx Energy Co.'s relocation)
December 12, 1997... Energy firm wants to relocate from Galleria Towers to Legacy Park PLANO - Oryx Energy Co. has plans in play to move out of its coveted office location in the Galleria Towers and into a 150,000-square-foot office campus in Plano's Legacy Park....

Tables turned on international law. (law firms service on international law)
December 12, 1997... Dallas lawyer helping foreign companies navigate U.S. rules UPTOWN - The Swiss are as precise as the watches they make. The Germans take relish in details. The French insist you respect their culture and are doubly impressed if you can speak...

Competition slowed by battles over franchise fees. (MCI Communication Corp)
December 12, 1997... FORT WORTH - MCI soon will be providing local phone service in a number of Texas cities. But it may never get into Cowtown. Officials of the Washington, D.C.-based telecommunications giant say they have been unable to agree with Fort Worth on...

Mexico shuttles troubling Oak Cliff. (Oak Cliff residents complaints against Transportes J.L. Rangel Inc)
December 12, 1997... OAK CLIFF - As Norma Rangel sees it, Dallas officials and a group of vocal Oak Cliff residents are trying to force her out of business. Co-owner of a thriving shuttle and bus service, Rangel and her husband, J.L., cater to a niche market:...

Medallion name may change after acquisition by CapStar. (Dallas Medallion Hotel; CapStar Hotel Co)
December 12, 1997... FARMERS BRANCH - The Dallas Medallion Hotel is under contract to the CapStar Hotel Co. as part of a $150 million acquisition of six properties owned by New York-based Medallion Hotels. CapStar expects to close the deal by January of 1998,...

Some say airport business coalition not impartial. (dispute regarding Fort Worth International Airport and Legend Airlines Inc)
December 12, 1997... Critics say group favors the Fort Worth position in dispute over restrictions at Dallas Love Field D/FW INTERNATIONAL - A coalition of business leaders, formed to settle a long-running fight over start-up Legend Airlines Inc. and its...

Shell's owners plan to launch new seafood concept in Plano. (RMD Enterprise Inc)
December 12, 1997... OAK LAWN - RMD Enterprises Inc. is fishing for a wider market with a new casual seafood concept. The first Rockfish Seafood Grill, featuring low-priced fresh seafood in a family setting, is slated to open by February in a former ZuZu...

Provident refocusing on small business. (Provident Bank)
December 12, 1997... FAR NORTH DALLAS - Having almost foundered on foreclosures, $175 million Provident Bank is changing course with new ownership, a new location and a new CEO - and a new focus on small-business customers. "We want to serve our customers better,...

Presbyterian plans center for Coppell. (Presbyterian Health Care Systems; Coppell Texas)
December 12, 1997... COPPELL - Presbyterian Healthcare System is aiming to fill the gaps in its network with plans for a new ambulatory care center here. The campus would provide outpatient services and include physicians' office buildings and would open by late...

Sterling Commerce on track for new Las Colinas facility. (Sterling Commerce Inc)
December 12, 1997... LAS COLINAS - A tax abatement package for Sterling Commerce Inc. cleared an early hurdle, paving the way for Sterling to build the first phase of a $30 million divisional headquarters that eventually will house about 1,300 employees....

Holiday season turns up the heat at FedEx hub. (Federal Express)
December 12, 1997... ALLIANCE - With the Christmas shopping and shipping season moving into overdrive, Federal Express' $250 million regional hub at Alliance Airport is handling as many as 120,000 packages and parcels a night, up from the 65,000 pieces it would...

Arena deal forestalls other developers' plan. (Dallas downtown sports arena)
December 12, 1997... UPTOWN - Ross Perot Jr. calls it the "last blighted area close to downtown." For developers and residents, however, the site where the new downtown sports arena will sit had a lot of potential, even before the project was proposed. Dave...

SEC charges Trinity Gas Co. with federal securities fraud.
December 12, 1997... FORT WORTH - A federal judge has frozen the assets of Brownwood-based Trinity Gas Corp. at the request of the Securities and Exchange Commission. At a Dec. 9 hearing, U.S. District Court Judge Terry R. Means also granted the SEC's requests...

St. Paul plans treatment protocols for all patients. (St. Paul Medical Center)
December 12, 1997... MEDICAL CENTER - Although a patient is unique, the medical care a certain illness requires isn't. Based on that premise, St. Paul Medical Center is instituting a broad outcomes management program, moving patients into treatment protocols...

Local high-tech survey reveals rosy times ahead. (third annual Arthur Andersen L.L.P. survey of North Texas high-tech companies)
December 12, 1997... Arthur Andersen poll: Profits outshine 1997 expectations; more than a third planning mergers, acquisitions DOWNTOWN - These may seem like the best of times for Metroplex technology. But they may get even better in 1998, if the third annual...

Investors plan to revitalize Oak Cliff newspaper. (Dallas/Oak Cliff Tribunes of Texas)
December 12, 1997... OAK CLIFF - A group of Oak Cliff residents are delving into the newspaper business with the purchase of the Dallas/Oak Cliff Tribune. They plan to relaunch the 94-year-old community newspaper by Jan. 1 with a new name, new look and new focus...

Buy gives Kilgore a lock on suburban bank market. (Kilgore First National Bank)
December 12, 1997... LANCASTER - Federal regulators have cleared the way for a small East Texas bank to buy a Lancaster branch from the state's second-largest system - making it the only bank company in this Dallas suburb of 23,300 residents. Behind the...

Client by client. (emergence of McCord Printing Co.)(Company Profile)
December 12, 1997... Salesmen grow printing business with customer care NORTHWEST DALLAS - Mickey Ashlock admits he doesn't know much about printing. He's not even sure how to turn on one of the printers in his shop. He and his partner. Jim Singer, are paper...

Local netizens gather monthly at internet society meetings. (Dallas Internet Society)
December 12, 1997... Group invites local speakers to Informart site STEMMONS CORRIDOR - The Dallas Internet Society is like a weekly high school science club meeting, but the attendees aren't the typical pimple-faced geeks of television cliches. Well, maybe not...

Online travel bookings aren't replacement for agent services.
December 12, 1997... Planning a trip these days? You don't have to pick up a phone or even talk to a human being. Simply fire up the computer, hop on the Internet and find one of many booking engines to schedule and pay for a trip. While the Internet offers a...

Video game station makers duke it out for holiday sales. (Best Buy Co)
December 12, 1997... LEWISVILLE - What do the big electronic retailers want for Christmas? They want Santa to surprise your kids with one or both of the two major video game stations. The Nintendo 64 and Sony PlayStation are two of the holiday sales darlings...

Printer giant HP thinks it oughta be in pictures. (Hewlett-Packard Co)
December 12, 1997... Hewlett-Packard Co. sees its new photographic technology changing the way the world takes pictures. But the move also pits the technology giant against Eastman Kodak Co., a name synonymous with photography. Earlier this year, Hewlett-Packard...

State fights NationsBank merger. (Texas)
December 5, 1997... Bank's 'Texas two-step' could dance around state ban on interstate banking DOWNTOWN - State regulators, lawmakers and bankers are scrambling to thwart a two-step maneuver that could shift the epicenter of Texas banking from Dallas to...

Wells Fargo makes first TexCAP loan. (Wells Fargo Texas; Texas Capital Access Fund)
December 5, 1997... IRVING - Wells Fargo Texas has made the first loan under a new state program designed to bridge the gap between an entrepreneur's need for more capital and a lender's aversion to higher risk. Launched in October, the Texas Capital Access Fund...

R&D firm prepares for consumers. (Enersyst Development Center)
December 5, 1997... New licensing deal will bring fast-cooking technology to customers' home ovens FARMERS BRANCH - If you like to cook but haven't the time, a Metroplex company may provide the answer. Enersyst Development Center has reached a deal to bring...

Papa John's gunning for Pizza Hut's local share. (Papa John's International Inc.)
December 5, 1997... FLOWER MOUND - Papa John's International Inc. is tossing up plans to nearly double its presence in the Metroplex. The Louisville, Ky.-based chain (Nasdaq: PZZA) is slated to increase the number of its Dallas-Fort Worth stores from 46 to 80 by...

Rising health benefit costs getting passed on to workers.
December 5, 1997... UPTOWN - Higher health benefit costs are hitting many area employers, but they're finding ways to combat the shift. The new strategies include looking at higher deductibles and raising the cost of prescriptions, local experts say. Health...

CARUS Medical teams with Florida-based doctor group. (CARUS Medical Practice Partners Inc.; OMNA Medical Partners Inc.)
December 5, 1997... PLANO - A Dallas physician group has signed on with a large national player in its medical specialty. With the move, eight-doctor CARUS Medical Practice Partners Inc. becomes the western-region anchor for its new parent company, OMNA Medical...

Perot moving to assemble an arena design team. (Ross Perot Jr.)
December 5, 1997... UPTOWN - Ross Perot Jr. and Hillwood Development Corp. are close to assembling a team of architects to design what Perot is calling the "front door to downtown." Three types of firms are being sought .for the team that will design a new...

Ohio pension fund to buy tollway project. (Teacher's Retirement System of Ohio)
December 5, 1997... FARMERS BRANCH - In a deal indicating the local real estate market may be entering a more mature phase, the Teacher's Retirement System of Ohio has committed to buy a $54 million office tower along the Dallas North Tollway that won't be...

Dallas' Kennedy Group joins new manufacturer's rep firm. (OneCoast Network)
December 5, 1997... STEMMONS CORRIDOR - Four regional manufacturer's representative agencies - including the Kennedy Group in Dallas are joining forces to form the first independent national sales team in the home and gift retail markets. The new company,...

Dallas investor is key in Northwest Bank decisions.
December 5, 1997... FORT WORTH - Norwest Bank Texas has acquired $125 million Continental State Bank and its three locations in Wise and Parker counties, northwest of Tarrant County. At the same time, the super-regional has canceled a deal to buy $73 million...

Motorcycle enthusiasts to take on Harley-Davidson. (American Ironhorse Motorcycle Co.)
December 5, 1997... FORT WORTH - The growing market for high-dollar, custom cruising motorcycles has prompted a Fort Worth businessman and his friend to start up manufacture of their own line of fancy bikes. American IronHorse Motorcycle Co. plans to start...

Magistrate's ruling has travel agents on defensive. (ruling of a Dallas, Texas court on the case involving American Airlines Inc. and Sabre Group Holdings Inc.)
December 5, 1997... Agency's case against American Airlines and Sabre Group Holdings bounced out of federal court DOWNTOWN - A Dallas federal judge's ruling Dec. 2 strikes yet another blow against travel agents in their ongoing struggle to stop losing ground to...

Jordan eyes Packer-esque model for Cotton Dome IPO. (lawyer Darrell Jordan)
December 5, 1997... FAIR PARK - Dallas lawyer Darrell Jordan is thinking about a new way to raise funds for his pet project, the Cotton Dome: an initial public offering. The Green Bay Packers have attracted intense interest in a similar stock offering, which...

Bracing for a smooth transition. (family-owned firms in Dallas, Texas)
December 5, 1997... Succession planning is key NORTHWEST DALLAS - One-fifth of Metroplex family-owned businesses expect to see a change of ownership within the family in the next five years, but only 25% actually have a succession plan in place, according to...

Four generations contribute to success of Joe T. Garcia's.
December 5, 1997... FORT WORTH - The meat packing industry and a strong Hispanic community brought the Garcias to the north side of Fort Worth in 1929. At a time when America was reeling from the stock market crash, Joe T. was building a home for his family and...

Trail Dust getting too big for its britches, plans IPO. (Dallas, Texas-based restaurant chain)
December 5, 1997... ARLINGTON - Trail Dust Steak Houses Inc. wants to join the handful of family businesses that go public. But a stock offering is 18 months down the road, and company officials are planning their moves in order to retain family control of the...

For over a century, Rudolph's 'meats' community standards. (Rudolph's Market and Sausage Factory in Dallas, Texas)
December 5, 1997... DEEP ELLUM - They're harder and harder to find - these dinosaurs of the food industry. We're talking about an old-fashioned meat market where you can get authentic Kielbasa, a Polish sausage, or a custom-cut T-bone steak. Oh, there's a...

Barney Holland Oil Co. adapts to changing market.
December 5, 1997... FORT WORTH - Barney R. Holland was one of the first wheelers and dealers in the oil business. But it wasn't Texas oil he courted, it was Mexican crude. Holland gambled on the oil boom going on in Mexico when he set up a steamship agency and...

Family business institute offers management insights. (Baylor University's The Institute for Family Business)
December 5, 1997... WACO - The Ewing family on the late television show, "Dallas," was the epitome of wealth and dysfunction. How did these scandalous people manage their oil empire from South Fork, and how did they manage to get anything done when Bobby and J.R....

Pampering duo keeps customers from wandering.(Skin Care International Spa & Boutique)
December 5, 1997... PLANO - Entrepreneur Tim Lion offers a lesson in last words. "If my finance professor at SMU 30 years ago had told me I would be selling cosmetics one day," he says, "I would have laughed him out of the classroom." Of course, who would...