Puget Sound Business Journal articles from July 1996

Puget Sound Business Journal archives from July 1996

Boeing buildup drains work force.
July 26, 1996... Manufacturers bemoan lack of skilled workers As work surges at The Boeing Co. and its Washington suppliers, skilled machine tool operators are becoming a scarce commodity. Around the Puget Sound area, small and medium-sized manufacturers...

No IPO, but Cell Therapeutics 'public.' (registers 17 million shares with the Securities and Exchange Commission)
July 26, 1996... Biotech's shares registered with SEC, but won't be listed on any exchange Thwarted in its plans for a June initial public offering, Cell Therapeutics Inc. is nonetheless becoming a public company. The Seattle biotechnology company, which...

Portable Software gets $7.5 million for sales push.
July 26, 1996... Portable Software Corp. hopes to soar ever higher with help from a third round of venture capital. The Redmond company, whose software helps corporations computerize their travel and other expenses, has landed $7.5 million in new financing...

Pinpointing 911 calls from cell phones is Xypoint's aim.
July 26, 1996... While many people have started to carry cellular phones for safety reasons, calling 911 from cell phones may not be the safest bet - at least not yet. Unlike traditional phones, cellular phones generally don't provide emergency dispatchers...

Wall Data still trying to get in rhythm with Salsa. (releases latest version of database management software)
July 26, 1996... Connectivity software maker Wall Data Inc. is launching a second version of its new dance number called Salsa, a database software program the company hopes to use to diversify. But despite good reviews, early indications show that for Salsa,...

Office and industrial markets set a brisk pace. (Seattle, WA)(Industry Overview)
July 26, 1996... Already tight as a drum, Seattle's office market got a little tighter in the second quarter as vacancies edged down toward 7 percent, several new market studies have found. Meanwhile, an astonishing construction boom in the warehouse sector...

Rudy's rides the cutting edge. (Rudy's Barber Shop chain, Seattle, WA)
July 26, 1996... Hip barbershops offer retro ambience with a '90s buzz - and cheap trims With his straw hat and tattooed forearm - and lack of any formal training - Wade Weigel admits he's not a typical businessman. But Weigel has a problem most...

Quality Food Centers Inc. (Proxy Report Excerpts)(Company Profile)
July 26, 1996... P.O. Box 3967, Bellevue WA 98009, (206) 455-3761 Quality Food Centers began operations in 1954 with four stores and now operates a chain of 62 supermarkets in the Puget Sound region that employs more than 4,200 people. [TABULAR DATA...

Room at the inn? For a price. (hotel room availability and costs in Seattle, Washington)
July 19, 1996... Full hotels enjoy booming summer as tourists pay top dollar Dan Wohlfeiler's business trip to Seattle last week nearly forced him to camp out on a friend s couch. "I called probably 10 different hotel listings in the downtown area - I...

New course: hungry for young diners, Canlis will get a major facelift this fall. (restaurateur Chris Canlis to remodel restaurant in Seattle, Washington)
July 19, 1996... Restaurateur Chris Canlis paced before his kimono-clad waitresses like a coach preparing his team for the big game. "We have about 18 tables tonight, "he said, slapping his clipboard. "The Hendersons are staying at their beach house and will...

Microvision seeks $16 million in stock offering. (Microvision Inc.)
July 19, 1996... Money to fund work on retinal display device Microvision Inc. is a young Seattle company that sees its future in building miniaturized display devices that beam images directly into a viewer's retina. To keep itself afloat while completing...

Abodio Stores Inc. pushed into Chapter 7 by creditors. (Seattle, Washington-based home furnishings chain)
July 19, 1996... Abodio Stores Inc. has entered bankruptcy proceedings even though its six company-owned stores already have been closed and emptied. The Seattle-based home furnishings chain, faced with an involuntary bankruptcy petition signed by three...

Bagel vendors quickly filling up holes in market. (bagel bakeries expand in Puget Sound)
July 19, 1996... The local fight to schmear the competition is on in earnest. As bagel bakeries continue to outpace growth of other restaurant concepts and queue up to go public, bagel stores in Seattle are fast becoming as common as espresso grinds....

PriceCostco enjoys unique position in Canada market. (Price/Costco Inc.)
July 19, 1996... A recently ended supermarket strike in Canada proved to be a small boon for PriceCostco Inc. The Issaquah-based warehouse chain enjoyed a sales spike from the labor dispute that shuttered several grocery chains in British Columbia, and the...

A professional in progress: many webmasters wear multiple hats and face steep, constantly changing learning curves.(Computers & Technology)
July 19, 1996... Technology doesn't just extend the boundaries of knowledge. It also creates never-before-dreamed-of jobs. The World Wide Web is a good example. The proliferation of Web sites has created a new job that didn't exist until a year or two ago:...

Print design a launching pad for the Web.(Computers & Technology)
July 19, 1996... Designers have no trouble segueing into online work; Seattle a creative hub for corporate sites Davey Jolosky has a job that puts him on the leading edge of the fast-paced interactive-media business. He supervises a six-person creative...

Microsoft gross could top Boeing by 2002.(Computers & Technology)
July 19, 1996... Bruce Milne of the Corum Group once predicted that the Washington state software industry eventually would be bigger than The Boeing Co. At the time, the founder and president of the Bellevue-based software-industry mergers and acquisition...

Some prefer the mature type: increase in used computer sales is testimony that not all crave the latest, greatest technology.(Computers & Technology)
July 19, 1996... When Dale Kodama told people he was thinking of going into the used computer business, the reaction was uniform. "Everybody I talked to told me it was a bad idea," he recalls. Even Kodama was skeptical. But then he spent some time working at...

Laser generates turf battle in eye-care field. (laser surgery in eye treatment)(Computers & Technology)
July 19, 1996... They're doing it in Idaho, it's allowed in Oklahoma, and some optometrists in Washington want to do it, too - despite strong opposition from local ophthalmologists. It's the use of a laser to remove corneal tissue from the eye in treating...

Road to tech royalty riches can be bumpy.(Computers & Technology)
July 19, 1996... For small software developers or Internet-based content providers hoping to hit it big by licensing their programs or products, royalties can be a path to riches, but one fraught with opportunities for underreporting of royalty obligations....

Nextlink raises $350M; McCaw start-up will tackle telecom markets nationwide. (Nextlink Communications LLC)
July 12, 1996... Craig McCaw has quietly raised $350 million for his Bellevue-based Nextlink Communications LLC, which is throwing down the competitive gauntlet to local phone companies in 10 mid-sized urban areas. The low-profile, privately owned Nextlink...

PhotoDisc's picture brightens; venture capital infusion fuels stock photo firm's growth.
July 12, 1996... PhotoDisc Inc. has raised $7 million in equity financing that the company will use to accelerate its rapid growth. The cash infusion is the Seattle-based company's first outside investment, and comes from Boston-based TA Associates, which...

Selig goes Dutch to stave off high-rise foreclosure. (real estate developer Martin Selig)
July 12, 1996... High-rise developer Martin Selig has engineered a last-minute escape from a foreclosure action against his Fourth and Battery office building in Seattle. Selig's escape hatch: new financing from a Dutch financial giant. At the same time,...

Gargoyles IPO reflects hot market for sunglasses. (initial public offering)
July 12, 1996... The "performance sunglasses" made by Gargoyles Inc. are a hot commodity in a rapidly growing industry, and now the Kent company is going public to wipe clean its debts and set the stage for expansion. Selling up to 3.1 million shares at a...

Humongous lives up to name with $76 million sale. (Humongous Entertainment Inc.)
July 12, 1996... This week's acquisition of Humongous Entertainment Inc., in a deal worth $76 million, signals just how difficult it is for even the best small software companies to play the distribution game these days. Woodinville-based Humongous, one of...

Headbone is connected to new funds, distributor. (Headbone Interactive Inc.)
July 12, 1996... Headbone Interactive Inc., maker of quirky software for kids, has landed $4.2 million in venture capital that will help vault its products onto retail shelves. The 2-year-old Seattle company makes "edu-tainment" products for kids ages 4 to...

Washington Water Power Co. (Proxy Report Excerpts)(Company Profile)
July 12, 1996... P.O. Box 3727, Spokane WA 99220, (509) 489-0500 Washington Water Power provides electricity and natural gas services to areas in Washington, Idaho, Oregon and California. It also owns Pentzer Corp., a parent company to a number of nonutility...

Brooks quickens the pace in running shoes. (Brooks Sports Inc. expands product line to include fitness clothing)
July 5, 1996... For Helen Rockey, running a business is the business of running. President and chief executive of Bothell-based Brooks Sports Inc., Rockey was recruited away from Nike Inc. in 1994 as a turnaround specialist to pull Brooks out of its...

Logos first state company to test IPO on Internet. (Logos Research Systems Inc. goes public via Internet)
July 5, 1996... A developer of Bible study software is floating a stock offering on the surf of the Internet. Logos Research Systems Inc. of Whidbey Island is the first Washington company to test a new financing tool that has yet to raise much capital but...

Interactive Catalog plunges into Internet software.
July 5, 1996... Interactive Catalog Corp. has landed $6 million in a second round of venture financing to support its fast growth and changing focus. A year ago, Seattle-based Interactive Catalog's mission was helping larger companies put their catalogs on...

Sunstone REIT buys Renton Holiday Inn for $8.1 million. (real estate investment trust Sunstone Hotel Investors Inc. acquires Holiday Inn Hotel in Renton)
July 5, 1996... Another national hotel company is bulking up on Puget Sound lodging properties. Sunstone Hotel Investors Inc., a real estate investment trust based in Sacramento, Calif., paid $8.15 million for the Holiday Inn Hotel in Renton. The 188-room...

Japan firm bankrolls Bothell diabetes-treatment start-up. (Sankyo Co. Ltd. finances Hexos Inc.'s diabetes cure research)
July 5, 1996... A new biotechnology start-up will open its doors this summer in Bothell, marking an unusual collaboration between American researchers and a Japanese pharmaceutical giant. Hexos Inc., a drug discovery company focusing on diabetes, is almost...

Two firms get in on the ground floor with laminates. (Stel Industries Inc. and Pickering Inc. to produce laminate melamine flooring)
July 5, 1996... Two competing Washington companies are gearing up to cover the flooring market with a new, high-tech type of laminate material. Each is a substantial company experienced in other aspects of the lamination industry. Stel Industries Inc. is a...

Cascadian Farm sale may spur growth of product line. (Welch Foods Inc. sells its interest to Trefoil Natural Foods)
July 5, 1996... Under the control of Welch Foods Inc., Cascadian Farm has grown into one of the leading organic food makers in the country, posting sales of nearly $20 million last year. Welch Foods now has sold its interest in the 24-year-old Sedro-Wolley...

First Mutual Savings Bank. (proxy report excerpts)
July 5, 1996... 400 108th Ave. N.E., Bellevue WA 98004, (206) 455-7300 First Mutual's business consists of attracting deposits from the general public as well as wholesale funding sources and investing those funds in real estate loans, loans secured by...