Denver Business Journal articles from July 1996

Denver Business Journal archives from July 1996

TeleTech IPO: a tale of the new economy. (TeleTech Holdings; initial public offering)
July 5, 1996... Kenneth Tuchman may be on the verge of becoming a very rich man. If Denver-based TeleTech Holdings Inc. succeeds in selling a portion of its stock to the public later this month for its expected maximum price of $22.50 per share, Tuchman, the...

For Richina, it's a small world; home-based Boulder business goes global helping others. (Richina Group Ltd.)(includes related articles)(Small Business Strategies)(Company Profile)
July 5, 1996... Home-based Boulder business goes global helping others When Ziff-Davis Publishing Co. launched its Chinese editions of PC Magazine and PC Computing last year, a venture-capital company based in Boulder helped the New York mega publisher to...

Schuller, others mull move to suburbs: build-to-suit projects latest trend. (Schuller International Inc.)
July 5, 1996... Denver-based building products giant Schuller International Inc. is one of a handful of cost-conscious major companies looking at moving into new suburban office buildings. In the next 30 to 60 days, the former Manville Corp. will seek...

Young independent bank sees dollar roll in. (Denver, Colorado-based First American State Bank)
July 5, 1996... While not born exactly on the Fourth of July, First American State Bank has finished its first year with a huge bang. The Denver Tech Center bank's assets have skyrocketed to $15 million from the $2.3 million investors put in a year ago July...

Pipeline project could cut crude oil prices.
July 5, 1996... Rocky Mountain crude oil prices could decrease by $3 to $4 a barrel if a Canadian pipeline project gets the go ahead. Denver oil man George Fancher said the proposed Express Pipeline from Alberta, Canada, to Casper, Wyo., would glut an already...

Space imaging firms fear censors. (Space Imaging Inc. and Earthwatch Inc.)
July 12, 1996... Congress moves to block sale of data about Israel, other nations Colorado's fledgling space-imaging industry is keeping a close eye on a push to blind satellite coverage of some foreign countries. Space Imaging Inc. of Thornton and EarthWatch...

Railway commute faces test. (merger of Union Pacific Railroad with Southern Pacific Rail Corp.)
July 12, 1996... Union Pacific Railroad's merger with Southern Pacific Rail Corp. could free it to test passenger trains for commuters in the state as early as next year. Larry Smith, director of passenger services with the Omaha-based railroad, said that...

Fast-rising US West exec steers Baby Bell strategy. (US West Communications Group Inc. Catherine Hapka)
July 12, 1996... Catherine Hapka, upstart executive at U S West Communications Group Inc., takes a contrarian view of the phone business. "The real battleground's going to be around data," said the Baby Bell's executive vice president of markets. "That's why...

Ascent strives to clone Disney's success. (Ascent Entertainment Group)
July 12, 1996... Hollywood is coming to Denver. And Ascent Entertainment Group is writing the script. With some coaching from former Walt Disney Co. executive Gary Wilson, Ascent CEO Charlie Lyons is taking his company on a trip that is very Disney-like in...

Whatley lighting the way. (lighting pole manufacturer W.J. Whatley Inc.)
July 12, 1996... In its 25 years in business, Commerce City-based lighting pole manufacturer W.J. Whatley Inc. has learned that patience is the key that unlocks success in its industry. From the time founder Bill Whatley patented the first filament-wound...

Benton asset sale starting. (liquidation of Oren Benton's assets)
July 12, 1996... Creditors target Energy Fuels The liquidation of Oren Benton's empire has begun, signaled by the first official plan to sell one of his major uranium holdings. The creditor's committee in the enormous bankruptcy of the uranium trader and...

Federated mulls multi-store options. (Federated Department Stores)
July 12, 1996... Federated Department Stores, the parent of Macy's and Bloomingdales, may be looking at a multiple-store strategy as it edges closer to entering the Denver market. According to people familiar with the retail business, Cincinnati-based...

For Sheldon-Gold Realty, small niche is beautiful. (commercial real estate brokerage Sheldon-Gold Realty Inc.)
July 12, 1996... Moving to 'paperless' operating system creates more time for the important work A Denver commercial real estate brokerage that's already big on small deals has found a way to tuck itself even tighter into that niche. Over the last year and a...

Nordstrom boosts minority businesses. (Nordstrom Inc. opens in Park Meadows Town Center Aug. 30, 1996)
July 12, 1996... Nordstrom will not only bring 160,000 pairs of shoes to Denver when it opens in Park Meadows Town Center Aug. 30, it also will bring in opportunities for women and minorities. Through its supplier diversity program, the Seattle-based retailer...

US West puts fewer customers on hold. (US West Communications Inc.)
July 12, 1996... Backlog of orders drops 36 percent US West Communications Inc. slashed its backlog of orders for new phone lines in June. The number of Colorado customers delayed in getting their first phone number fell 36 percent from one year ago,...

Colo. gold mine digs into Wall Street. (Redaurum Ltd.)
July 12, 1996... Now that London-based Redaurum Ltd. has found a way to make diamond mining in North America a viable enterprise, it's hoping to uncover some new profits on Wall Street. The company owns the Kelsey Lake Diamond Mine, located between Laramie and...

Aurora blasts DIA Air Train: Tauer vows to derail any route deals made in secret. (Denver International Airport; Aurora, Colorado Mayor Paul Tauer)
July 19, 1996... Aurora Mayor Paul Tauer is threatening to put the brakes on Denver's proposed Air Train to Denver International Airport. During an interview July 16, Tauer blasted the the administration of Denver Mayor Wellington Webb and its private sector...

Leak busters save water - and budgets. (American Leak Detection)(Small Business Strategies)
July 19, 1996... In the leak-busting business, success is best measured in gallons. That is, how many gallons of water the Colorado franchise of American Leak Detection saves from costly, even catastrophic leaks. Owner Fred Grutzmacher describes his duties as...

TCI skirting D.C. cable franchise law: law demands minority owner, but Englewood giant runs show. (Tele-Communications Inc.)
July 19, 1996... WASHINGTON, D.C. - District Cablevision, the city's cable company, is managed, financed and supplied by cable giant TeleCommunications Inc., despite a local law calling for minority ownership of the system. In fact, Englewood-based TCI...

Rising feed prices squeeze Colo. dairies. (Colorado)
July 19, 1996... When dairy farmers take to feeding their cows candy bars, carrots and used beer hops, can higher milk prices be far away? Skyrocketing feed prices and a shortage of milk are squeezing the dairy industry, normally among agriculture's most...

New store targets home theater customer: Denver Media Designs competes for its share of electronics dollar.
July 19, 1996... Scott Hiller is hoping to tune customers in to a new way to buy home theater systems. Hiller opened Denver Media Designs last month in the Denver Design Community complex on South Broadway. The 1,500-square-foot store contains five complete...

Visitors bureau plots tourism future: master plan hopes to discover ways to reverse slide in spending. (Denver Metro Convention and Visitors Bureau)
July 19, 1996... The Denver Metro Convention & Visitors Bureau will start work next month on a master plan for tourism in the Denver area, based on a study of successful tourism programs in several other cities. Denver and Colorado continue to fall behind in...

Metro area to add 400,000 residents by 2005. (Denver, Colorado)
July 19, 1996... The metro area will add more than 400,000 residents and 350,000 new jobs by 2005, but concerns loom over the pace of income growth along the Front Range. Statistics that include the metro area, Boulder and Greeley predict the population will...

Gwen Bowen: a lesson in loyalty. (owner of Gwen Bowen School of Dance)(Small Business Strategies)
July 19, 1996... Dancer has groomed three generations in a labor of love Generally speaking, artists are not good business people, said Gwen Bowen, the 60-something owner of Gwen Bowen School of Dance in Denver. But after 43 years in business - 40 of those in...

ADT seeks new home in Aurora. (ADT Security Systems)
July 26, 1996... TCI unit may take security biz space A game of high-stakes musical chairs between ADT Security Systems and Primestar by TCI, two fast-growing local companies, is shifting property ownership in the southern suburbs. ADT Security Systems, the...

Prescription for change: go solo. (solo-practice physician)
July 26, 1996... Baby doc leaves large practice, risks it all for personal touch The lesson Problem: A physician in a 10-doctor practice wants more contact with patients. Solution: Quit. Borrow $110,000. Don't draw a salary for six months. Fight to stay...

Mall rockets local retail into future. (Park Meadows Town Center)
July 26, 1996... Park Meadows Town Center lacks the steely Space Age design and blinking technological wizardry that often signal innovation these days, but it's one of the country's first 21st century shopping malls nonetheless. As a mall of the future, Park...

Vail's mega-merger tests antitrust waters. (Vail Resorts)
July 26, 1996... Feds to study resort dominance Vail Resorts' $310 million cash-and-stock purchase of the three Summit County resorts owned by Ralcorp Holdings Inc. may not pass muster with federal antitrust investigators, but it marks an important test for...

Colo. ignores protest, picks welfare vendor. (Colorado's Dept. of Human Services signs contract with Citibank EBT Services Inc.)
July 26, 1996... Losing bidder: Action 'outrageous' Colorado's Department of Human Services has signed a contract with Citibank EBT Services Inc. to deliver welfare benefits electronically. But the move outraged Transactive Corp. of Austin, Texas, a Citibank...

How Nordstrom got to the Denver 'burbs. (Nordstrom Inc.)
July 26, 1996... It took a decade of false starts When the Park Meadows Town Center mall throws open its doors Aug. 30, Nordstrom Inc. will consummate a 10-year courtship with metropolitan Denver. Since the mid-1980s, the clothing retailer has proven...

Are shopping malls becoming extinct?
July 26, 1996... Older sites may be dinosaurs, but new ones are hot properties Don't call Park Meadows a mall. Call it a retail resort or a town center, but not that four-letter "m" word. Shopping malls, the retail darlings of the 1950s and '60s, have...

Patience pays off for Koelbel family, again. (Koelbel and Co.)
July 26, 1996... Buz adds energy to dad's vision With a new $50 million shopping center just coming out of the ground across from the ritzy Park Meadows Town Center mall, Denver-based Koelbel and Co. is ahead of the competition in Douglas County's topsy-turvy...

Mall wars heat up with new combatant. (Park Meadows Town Center will open on Aug. 30, 1996)
July 26, 1996... As Park Meadows Town Center prepares for its grand opening Aug. 30, Denver's seven existing regional shopping malls are busy battening down the hatches. Shopping centers throughout the metropolitan Denver area are bracing for a major hit this...

Tenant reps give clients negotiating muscle. (tenant representatives on real estate transactions)(Industry Overview)
July 26, 1996... Options lend strength to position during office lease transaction All real estate transactions are highly negotiated. The outcome of such deals is determined by which party has the most power - which party has the market in its favor and...

Commerce City recasts self with sharper image.
July 26, 1996... Proximity to airport helps suburb While Denver and Aurora have scrambled to develop the boundaries of Denver International Airport, Commerce City is quietly making savvy moves of its own to capitalize on its proximity to the tented port....

LaSalle builds Denver presence on service side. (LaSalle Partners Inc.)
July 26, 1996... High-powered Chicago firm keeps low profile One of the world's real estate powerhouses recently has kept a low profile in metropolitan Denver, but that's changing. Chicago-based LaSalle Partners Inc. has been in Denver more than 20 years and...

The general manager: Pamela Schenck. (general manager of Park Town Meadows Center)
July 26, 1996... Snagging the job of running Denver's hot new mall was no cinch As the general manager of Park Meadows Town Center, Pain Schenck will spend more time at the Douglas County mall than even Denver's most dedicated shoppers. Indeed, she's been...

Joyce opts for choice product. (Joyce Homes Inc.)
July 26, 1996... Builder carves Highlands Ranch niche for itself For most American families, home is a place for parents and children to gather, share meals and play games. For Bob Woodley of Highlands Ranch and his family, it's also a place to work. The...

'Squares' round out housing market. (house style known as Denver squares)
July 26, 1996... Venerable Capitol Hill houses still appeal to middle-class buyers The humble style of house known as the "Denver square" has seen Denver grow from cow town to boom town, all the while remaining the domain mostly of the middle class. Even a...

Sleepy Franktown gets a wake-up call. (Franktown community's lot prices have increased)
July 26, 1996... Metro growth heads southward Nestled 10 miles south of Parker, the sleepy ranching community of Franktown recently has awakened as a metropolitan Denver bedroom community. Lot prices have tripled in the last five years there as new custom...

New units heap on the posh amenities. (Denver apartment property)
July 26, 1996... No more little halls, bad lighting Have you visited a newly constructed apartment building lately? If you haven't, you will be shocked to see the new features that simply can't be found in apartments built in the 1970s or '80s. Most of us...