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

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

Managing the market: Cigna Health Plan enrollment keeps pace with Leader Humana. (CIGNA Healthplan of South Florida Inc.; Humana Health Care Plans)
December 25, 1992... If this year is any indication, the gap in the battle for managed care market share may be closing between two Bay Area rivals. As of January, Cigna Healthplan of Florida's HMO and PPO plans will have an estimated 140,000 members in the area,...

Joint effort sought to save Largo plant. (high-technology and economic leaders' joint effort to save the Department of Energy's Largo nuclear weapons plant)
December 25, 1992... Bay Area high-technology and economic development leaders hope that by working together they can save the Department of Energy's Largo nuclear weapons plant from extinction. A recently formed task force is examining alternative uses for the...

Hotel gets new owners, new look. (Days Inn Rocky Point)
December 25, 1992... The Days Inn Rocky Point will leave the Bank of America's real estate-owned junkyard in January, when two local hoteliers buy the 30-year-old hotel on the Courtney Campbell Parkway. The 152-room waterfront hotel will then undergo a major...

Tuition's up, enrollment varies at area private schools.
December 25, 1992... Increased tuition is probably the only safe bet one can make these days about trends at the Bay Area's private schools. Tuition has risen by varying degrees across the board at Bay Area private colleges and secondary schools, according to Tampa...

What's ahead in '93? (Tampa Bay real estate market) (Real Estate Month)
December 25, 1992... Prognosticators rejoice. Here's what those on real estate's front lines say about the market in Tampa Bay. The high point for the industrial market in 1992 probably was the build-to-suit market. Several companies did build-to-suits in the...

Asset manager latest real estate player. (Real Estate Month)
December 25, 1992... With financial institutions owning a sizeable chunk of real estate these days, the asset manager is bound to play a continuing role in 1993. Because the institutions -- primarily pension funds and insurance companies -- have foreclosed on...

Lincare insiders start cashing in. (Lincare Holdings Inc.'s rising stock price)
December 18, 1992... The corporate officers and several directors of Clearwater-based Lincare Holdings Inc. are starting to cash in on the company's rising share price. Stockholders, including Lincare's CEO, CFO and executive vice president as well as five...

Grektorp backers claim secret deal. (Bo Grektorp)
December 18, 1992... Investors in City Towers of Florida and its subsidiary, City Gardens of Indian Rocks Inc., say their former president, Bo Grektorp, secretly funneled commissions from deals to his wife's real estate firm. Investors allege in civil filings...

New Homestyle head targets turnaround. (Homestyle Buffet Inc. chairman Edward P. Grace III)
December 18, 1992... The new chairman of Homestyle Buffet has taken on a formidable task: He plans to turn the struggling Palm Harbor-based chain of all-you-can-eat restaurants around. After ousting former Chairman Barry Rowles Dec. 10., stockholder Edward P....

NYSE brokerage makes inroads in Bay Area. (New York Stock Exchange Inc.; Edward D. Jones and Co.; Tampa Bay Area) (Company Profile)
December 18, 1992... Before too long, St. Louis-based Edward D. Jones & Co. wants to expand its Bay Area offices from a handful to as many as 26. This growth isn't likely to cause much hoopla. Few outside the brokerage industry are even familiar with the company....

Fidelity buys big stake in HSN. (purchase by FMR Corp., parent company of Fidelity Service Co., of Home Shopping Network Inc.'s stocks)(includes related article on a stockholder's sale of HSN shares)
December 11, 1992... During the past year, the nation's largest operator of mutual funds has accumulated more than 15% of Home Shopping Network's common stock. Boston-based FMR Corp., parent of the Fidelity family of mutual funds, is the first institutional...

Waterbed firm won't find itself sleeping on job. (Today's World Waterbeds' new computerized distribution system)
December 11, 1992... The owners of Today's World Waterbeds are installing a new computerized distribution system and have opened a second outlet that sells children's furniture. "We are refining how we manage the business," says Dennis Moody, executive vice...

Distribution centers find Plant City fertile ground. (increase in manufacturing facilities at Plant City, Florida)
December 11, 1992... While Plant City may be best known for strawberries, several well-known companies have selected the area to grow their businesses. With help from local economic development officials, Plant City recently has landed several big-name...

Alliance lobbies for Westshore taxing district. (Westshore Alliance's proposal to establish taxing district in Tampa, Florida)
December 11, 1992... Westshore businesses may be paying more in taxes starting late next year if the Westshore Alliance gets what it wants from the city of Tampa. The Alliance is trying to set up a special multi-year taxing district for Westshore. Taxes...

Flexing benefits muscles. (employers' provision of health insurance benefits to employees in Florida) (Special Pullout Section: Health Care Month)
December 11, 1992... More companies are turning to flexible benefits to offer their employees greater choice and to control the rising cost of health care. By day, Sal Maita is a sales manager at a Tampa Kash n' Karry on West Hillsborough Avenue. But for the past...

Real estate shake-ups: Hogan merges cos., buys out partners. (Mike Hogan; Hogan Group Inc., Hogan Group Asset Management Inc.; Michael Ebeling, David Novakoski)
December 4, 1992... Mike Hogan, chairman of The Hogan Group in Tampa and a high-profile developer, has decided to go it alone in the real estate business. The former Florida operating partner of Dallas-based developer Lincoln Property Co. has bought out his...

Top brokers leave CB Commercial. (CB Commercial Real Estate Group Inc.) (Real Estate Shake-ups)
December 4, 1992... By the end of the year, CB Commercial's Tampa office will have lost five of its top producers. Two former vice presidents have joined other real estate companies, two have changed careers, and one will retire at month's end. All were...

Albertson's plans Florida expansion.
December 4, 1992... Bay Area Distribution Key Albertson's Inc. plans to break new ground in the tough Florida market once the Plant City distribution center it's buying undergoes a multi-million-dollar renovation. Unlike some of its competitors, Boise,...

Local malls join holiday advertising fray. (West Shore Plaza; Clearwater Mall)
December 4, 1992... Even as West Shore Plaza prepares for the marketing blitz that will surround its renovation and upcoming 25th anniversary, the mall isn't ignoring the all-important holiday shopping season. On the contrary, in the marketing departments at...

Courting Belleair: banks & thrifts flock to Tony Beach community. (Belleair, Florida) (Pinellas Report)
December 4, 1992... Belleair's upscale image isn't lost on Bay Area bankers. Residents in the four municipalities of Belleair, Belleair Beach, Belleair Shore and Belleair Bluffs are just the sort of high-end customers bankers love to court. But as First...

Homes, Mido are Belleair's crown jewels. (Belleview Mido Resort; Belleair, Florida) (Pinellas Report)
December 4, 1992... At Eugen's, an intimate restaurant in Belleair where prices for entrees hit $34, the crowd is unusually friendly. Eugen's is a neighborhood restaurant in the small, exclusive residential area of Belleair, which includes Belleair Bluffs,...

Fudge-counter philosophy. (brisk business at The Pier reflects Tampa Bay Area economy) (Pinellas Report)
December 4, 1992... If Business At The Pier Is Any Indication, The Economy May Be Growing Optimism runs rampant behind the glass counters at Lennon's Fudge at The Pier. "I think people are tired of holding on to their money," says Manager Cherie Mainenti,...

Entrepreneurial leaps of faith fuel Dunedin. (Dunedin, Florida) (Pinellas Report)
December 4, 1992... Tales of the faithful fill Dunedin. Take A.J. and Vivienne Peterson, who spent $25,000 renovating an old feed shop three years ago near abandoned railroad tracks downtown. The couple's dream was to turn the space into an antique mall -- even...