The Business Journal (Serving Greater Tampa Bay) articles from April 1992

The Business Journal (Serving Greater Tampa Bay) archives from April 1992

Recession, competition muddy Homestyle's menu. (Homestyle Buffet Inc.) (Company Profile)
April 24, 1992... Homestyle Buffet, the Palm Harbor-based chain of 33 cafeterias, is struggling to get a handle on five years of dramatic growth that have pumped up sales but sorely hurt the bottom line the past two years. Tough competition and higher...

Fla. hospitals lose in govt. fund shuffle. (rural hospitals have a bigger Medicare reimbursement rate over city hospitals)
April 24, 1992... The Robin Hood-like process called Medicare reclassification is a boon for rural hospitals nationwide, but Florida facilities overall are expected to lose out in the deal. For the second year in a row, the federal agency that reimburses...

Message men see IPO as music to ears. (Digital Message Systems Corp.'s initial public offering of stocks)
April 24, 1992... If there's one thing J.B. Seligman hates, it's silence. Even his office has piped-in music. On this particular day, Elton John leads the hit parade. "We're a high-energy company," says Seligman, president of Tampa's Digital Message Systems...

Food Lion to tie knot with Largo center. (moves to Palm Garden Shopping Center, Largo, Florida)
April 24, 1992... Two-year Courtship About To End After two years of courting, it looks like Food Lion will soon be moving into the Palm Garden Shopping Center in Largo. Demetra Rodriguez, leasing agent with IRT Properties in Orlando, has confirmed a...

Survival of the retro-fittest. (real estate development in Tampa Bay Area) (Special Section: Real Estate)
April 24, 1992... For retail developers in the Tampa Bay Area, it's survival of the retro-fittest. With the new influx of large anchors, most everyone seems to be surviving -- except Mom and Pop. During the past 18 months of economic woes, the Bay Area has...

Sabal Park chief sees opportunities up north. (John Carey, president of Sabal Corp.) (Special Section: Real Estate) (Interview)
April 24, 1992... John Carey, president of Sabal Corp., has been in the development business in Tampa Bay since 1981, beginning as a leasing agent with Trammel Crow. Carey, an accountant by training, took over Sabal Corp. in 1990. TBBJ: How's the market at...

Council must sort through hotel proposals. (Tampa City Council to select Tampa Convention Center hotel developers) (Special Section: Real Estate)
April 24, 1992... Now that Grubb & Ellis has submitted to Tampa Mayor Sandy Freedman a short list of four downtown Convention Center hotel developers, it's up to the City Council to decide on the final development team. Sometime in May, the city of Tampa...

Kash n' Karry plans upscale store. (Kash n' Karry Food Stores Inc.)
April 17, 1992... In its most costly venture ever, Tampa-based Kash n' Karry Food Stores has purchased 4 acres of land at the corner of Albany Street and Swann Avenue, where it plans to build a neo-modern-style prototype store. Groundbreaking is scheduled for...

Street loves St. Pete firm. (successful stock offering of St. Petersburg-based chiropractic clinic, Clinicorp Inc.)
April 17, 1992... No Bones About It Some people swear by their chiropractors. Others scorn the field entirely. But despite those varying views, it's obvious that Wall Street likes a St. Petersburg-based company that owns and manages chiropractic medical...

Judge tosses hospital to creditors. (Doctor's Hospital of Tampa)
April 17, 1992... Doctors' Hospital of Tampa still may have a chance to emerge from financial quicksand. But for now, it will have to do so without court protection from hungry creditors. When the hospital filed for Chapter 11 under the U.S. Bankruptcy Code...

Research center faces growing pains. (The Center for Microelectronics Research at the University of Florida)
April 17, 1992... Observers Say Microelectronics Center Is Undervalued, Hidden Gem The Center for Microelectronics Research at the University of South Florida is having to grow up fast. Given the budget crisis afflicting Florida's public universities and the...

Drug firm eyes industry for top exec. (Fountain Pharmaceuticals looks for chief operating officer and chief financial officer)
April 17, 1992... Following the resignation of its top executive, Fountain Pharmaceuticals now plans to look for a chief operating officer and chief financial officer within the pharmaceutical industry. New York lawyer Clark Marcus recently resigned as...

Business bets buyers will pay for less commission. (Industry Overview)
April 17, 1992... Developer Scott Shaw of Swain and Shaw Real Estate and Development has put aside developing for a while and is now marketing what he bills as a new concept in residential real estate. Shaw has started a residential real estate brokerage...

Market rebound. (Focus: Residential Real Estate) (Industry Overview)
April 17, 1992... Brokers Say 1991 Was A Tough Year. So Far, 1992 Looks A Whole Lot Better. A rebound is under way in the Tampa Bay housing market. All signs point to it; and interest rates are falling again after a short-term upward tick last month....

TV now part of strategy in marketing homes. (Focus: Residential Real Estate) (Industry Overview)
April 17, 1992... Remote-control addicts are probably familiar with the real estate channels offered on some Bay Area cable television systems. But unless they're looking to buy a house, they probably don't stay tuned for more than a few seconds. However,...

Mortgage lenders catching high-technology bug. (Focus: Residential Real Estate) (Industry Overview)
April 17, 1992... The one sure way to get a reaction from a mortgage lender is to mention the word "paper." "The problem we have in this business is that we're too paper intensive," says T. Donnell Smith, executive vice president of residential production for...

Condominium market coming back to life. (Focus: Residential Real Estate) (Industry Overview)
April 17, 1992... The condominium market, not too long ago considered a dead-end investment, has experienced renewed activity over the past six months in both Hillsborough and Pinellas counties, according to local brokers. Condo sales are up because little...

Seahawk Deep Ocean Technology. (Proxy Report Excerpts) (Company Profile)
April 17, 1992... 5102 S. Westshore Blvd. (813) 832-4040 TRADED NASDAQ-SDOT Seahawk Deep Ocean Technology conducts deep-water searches for shipwrecks and ocean treasures. Annual Meeting: Last held Nov. 7, 1991 Auditor: Citing continuing losses...

Restaurant stocks satiate buyers. (Tampa Bay, Florida's top performing stocks for 1st quarter 1992)
April 10, 1992... Anyone wondering "Where's the beef?" need only look at Tampa Bay's top stock performers for the first quarter. Checkers Drive-In Restaurants and Outback Steakhouse, two havens for hamburger and steak lovers, sparked enough excitement to...

Health stocks falling ill. (health care industry) (Industry Overview)
April 10, 1992... Health care still tops the nation's political and social agenda, but the industry's investment prospects cooled off during first-quarter 1992. Some Bay Area health-related companies are among those that benefited from the 1991 health care...

Legal maneuver prompts Gage-Cigna settlement. (George Gage; CIGNA Corp. CIGNA Individual Financial Services)(includes related article)
April 10, 1992... Retired GTE Florida executive George Gage and Cigna Financial Services have agreed to set aside Gage's $5.3-million arbitration award and to settle privately a dispute over his investment portfolio. Terms of the settlement are confidential,...

Opus South adds new direction - west. (Tampa Bay, Florida real estate developer concentrates on Texas market)
April 10, 1992... Few Bay Area developers are building anything these days. And if they are, it's probably a build-to-suit here or in another market, say local real estate sources. Given the state of the local economy, development opportunities in Tampa Bay...

Health group's funding plans spur corporate questions. (payroll deduction proposal of Combined Health Appeal of Tampa Bay)
April 10, 1992... A fund-raising organization that represents 11 health agencies is poised to begin a crucial phase of its development: Raising money via employee payroll deductions. But that phase is sure to face growing pains. Most large companies in the...

Job growth likely in environmental fields. (Focus: Environment) (Industry Overview)
April 10, 1992... The term environmental career used to evoke visions of forest rangers or khaki-clad geologists. That was years ago, before the increase in federal regulations and social consciousness that has spurred rapid growth in the environmental job...

Quality control includes environmental tasks. (Focus: Environment)
April 10, 1992... Today's economic times require innovation to improve competitive positions and enhance bottom lines. That includes programs aimed at getting lean and mean and improving operations to achieve overall management goals. Certainly, we have all...

SunTrust Banks. (Proxy Report Excerpts) (Company Profile)
April 10, 1992... TRADED NYSE-STI 25 Park Place N.E., Atlanta, Ga. 30303 (404) 588-7711 Atlanta-based SunTrust operates subsidiaries in three states: Georgia, Florida and Tennessee. In Florida, the company operates under the name SunBanks. SunBank of Tampa...

Private investment eases Seahawk strain. (Seahawk Deep Ocean Technology Inc.)(includes related article)
April 3, 1992... Despite a yearlong investigation by the Securities and Exchange Commission and limited finances, Seahawk Deep Ocean Technology still is attracting investors. Even though the Tampa-based treasure hunting company hasn't made a profit the past...

Book Fair puts building on market. (School Book Fairs Inc.)
April 3, 1992... St. Petersburg-based School Book Fairs Inc., a publisher and distributor of children's books, is downsizing and plans to either sell or lease its 129,000-square-foot, Class-A building in Gateway Centre, real estate sources say. Carolyn Sapp,...

Tampa United Way looks at choice. (donor choice programs)
April 3, 1992... Who Gets The Money? Contributors to the United Way of Greater Tampa may have a bigger say in where their dollars go under a program being reviewed by one of the organization's committees. The United Way's strategic planning committee is...

St. Joseph's puts the heat on Conn. vendor. (St. Joseph's Hospital sues Pullman Aerospace Inc. for selling defective food-heating system)
April 3, 1992... Officials at St. Joseph's Hospital have reached the boiling point with a Connecticut company the hospital says sold it a faulty food-heating system for more than half a million dollars in 1986. Five years after the Tampa hospital accepted...

Company seeks niche in imperfect medical world. (Informatics compiles medical information on diseases) (Company Profile)
April 3, 1992... Using the computer as a medical information tool for patients is becoming more common. St. Anthony's Hospital in St. Petersburg offers a database for cancer patients' use. Now, a Tampa resident has formed a company dedicated to compiling...

Hot topic: CFCs and HCFCs are at center of industry debate over what's environmentally correct. (chlorofluorocarbons; hydrochlorofluorocarbons) (Building Maintenance)
April 3, 1992... In the Tampa Bay Area, subtropical temperatures mean intense cooling systems. It's a hot topic in a market where air conditioners run 40 weeks a year. That means systems must be efficient so landlords don't go broke paying the electric...

Tale of two buildings. (airconditioning technology in Landmark Centre and Enterprise Plaza) (Building Maintenance)
April 3, 1992... Despite Age Difference, Downtown Skyscrapers Use Same Air-Conditioning Technology Some things you just can't improve. In downtown Tampa, a newly constructed skyscraper and an office tower built more than a decade ago use identical...

First Florida Banks. (Proxy Report Excerpts) (Company Profile)
April 3, 1992... TRADED NASDAQ-FFBK 111 Madison St., First Florida Tower, Tampa 33602 (813) 224-1111 First Florida is the largest bank headquartered in Tampa. It operates 144 banking offices along the state's Gulf Coast from Pensacola in the north to...