Boston Business Journal articles from December 1990

Boston Business Journal archives from December 1990

Putnam Companies Inc. (Fast Track)
December 24, 1990... The Putnam Cos. In an effort to realign the responsibilities in its Putnam Financial Services division, The Putnam Cos. has named William Shiebler president and CEO of PFS, and has promoted Barry Hartstone to the position of PFS vice...

Landmark Bank for Savings. (Fast Track)
December 24, 1990... Landmark Bank for Savings Landmark Bank for Savings has named Kenneth Peterson president and CEO of its board of directors. The appointment is subject to regulatory approval. Peterson has served at Landmark as assistant treasurer and vice...

Cohasset Savings Bank. (Dividends)
December 24, 1990... Cohasset Savings Bank The Cohasset Savings Bank will issue a quarterly cash dividend of $0.06 per share payable Jan. 2, 1991, to stockholders of record on Dec. 14. A quarterly dividend of $0.23 per share will be paid by Stanhome of...

Stanhome. (Dividends)
December 24, 1990... Shawnut Design & Construction Shawmut Design & Construction recently completed projects for both American Airlines and the Pan Am Shuttle. Shawmut, in conjunction with project architectural firm Jung/Brannen, built additional office space...

Stratus Computer. (sells computer systems to Seven-Eleven Japan Co. Ltd.)
December 24, 1990... Stratus Computer Stratus Computer has sold $3.9 million worth of its computer systems to Seven-Eleven Japan Co. Ltd. in Tokyo, the largest convenience store chain and food retailer in Japan. The Stratus XA 2000 Continuous Processing...

Wang Laboratories forms alliance to market an automated student admission application process.
December 24, 1990... Wang Laboratories Wang Laboratories and the University of Southern California, located in Los Angeles, have formed an alliance for the marketing of an automated student admissions application process. The system is designed to help...

Designs Inc. (announces November sales)
December 24, 1990... Designs Inc. The Chestnut Hill location of Designs Inc. has announced that its November sales were $12.8 million, 49 percent higher than sales during November of the previous year. Designs is a retailer of Levi Strauss & Co. clothing and...

Workers' comp bill offers deductibles.
December 24, 1990... Workers' comp bill offers deductibles A proposed bill that would enable employers to save up to 15 percent per employee on their workers' compensation premiums is likely to be the new Legislature's first attempt at putting the brakes on...

Globe and Union steeling for contract talks. (Boston Globe, Boston Globe Employees Association)
December 24, 1990... GLOBE AND UNION STEELING FOR CONTRACT TALKS Slumping advertising revenues, a weak economy and a tougher bargaining posture will likely lead Boston Globe management to seek major concessions from its biggest union as formal negotiations on a...

Market scorches Hologic.
December 24, 1990... Market scorches Hologic After fumbling its fourth-quarter sales projections for 1991, Hologic Inc. is suffering its first harsh lashing from Wall Street since it raised $19.3 million in a successful public offering last March. When the...

Financing chills hot waterfront.
December 24, 1990... FINANCING CHILLS HOT WATERFRONT In this season of giving, the Boston Redevelopment Authority (BRA) has played Santa Claus in a big way by providing support for two long-awaited harborside development projects. Earlier this month, BRA...

Exit De Castro. (Data General Corp. fires Edson De Castro)
December 24, 1990... Exit de Castro Data General Corp. ousted its founder, Edson de Castro. De Castro started Data General in 1968 after leaving Digital Equipment Corp., and brought with him some of DEC's best engineers and plans for a hot new computer. ...

Federated's losses. (Federated Stores Inc.; includes American Telegraph and Telephone Co.'s attempted takeover of NCR Corp.)
December 24, 1990... Fed steps in The Federal Reserve tried to battle the nation's weakening economy last week by lowering its discount rate, the interest it charges banks for loans, from 7 percent to 6.5 percent. It was the first time in four years the Fed...

DeVillars urged to ratify Boston Harbor plan. (Environmental Affairs Secretary John DeVillars)
December 24, 1990... De Villars urged to ratify Boston Harbor plan Concerned that the Weld administration might delay approval of the city's master plan for Boston Harbor indefinitely, Boston Redevelopment Authority (BRA) officials are scrambling to have...

Single-payer system proposed. (health care proposal)
December 24, 1990... Single-payer system proposed A group of consumer advocates last week unveiled their proposal to create a single-payer system of health care in Massachusetts to replace the universal health care law (see BBJ, Nov. 12). The advocates,...

Bank closed. (ComFed Savings Bank)
December 24, 1990... Bank closed The Office of Thrift Supervision finally closed ComFed Bancorp's subsidiary, ComFed Savings Bank, on Dec. 14. For months, Jack Zoeller, ComFed's president and chief executive officer, had hoped he could save the state's...

Bonds approved. (Boston Industrial Development Financing Authority rules to issue tax-exempt bonds)
December 24, 1990... Bonds approved The board of directors of the Boston Industrial Development Financing Authority recently gave preliminary approval to issue $64 million worth of tax-exempt bonds for two Boston Thermal Energy projects, including a...

Easel's PC tool pack defines user-friendly.
December 24, 1990... Easel's PC tool pack defines user-friendly Easel Corp. is banking on software for Fortune 1,000 executives who would rather use a "mouse" to click on a cartoon telephone on their PC screen to activate a modem than memorize a string of...

London Harness tries to steer a new course.
December 24, 1990... London Harness tries to steer a new course At The London Harness Co. one recent afternoon, a swarm of customers riffled through a pile of leather date books, address books and diaries. Across the room a man in a trench coat briefly...

The statistics of recession: delinquencies, foreclosures are up.
December 24, 1990... The statistics of recession delinquencies, foreclosures are up As further evidence that Massachusetts is in a recession, the state saw sharp increases in mortgage delinquencies and foreclosures from July to September. For the third...

Building a new Boston Garden.
December 24, 1990... Building a new Boston Garden Every time Boston appears on the verge of building a new arena to replace the antiquated Boston Garden, the Garden's owners - Jeremy Jacobs and his company, Delaware North - declare that conditions have...

Caroline Collings: woman on the runway. (president and CEO, Fashion Inc.)
December 24, 1990... CAROLINE COLLINGS Woman on the runway From her Newbury Street atelier, Fashion Inc., a studio for Alfred Fiandaca designs, impeccably dressed Caroline Collings looks out on Boston's most fashionable block with the phone pressed to her ear....

Vermont's mountain merger faces some tough sledding. (S-K-I Ltd.'s merger of their Killington resort with the Pico ski area)
December 24, 1990... Vermont's mountain merger faces some tough sledding Executives at S-K-I Ltd. have quite a mogul field of conflicting interests to navigate before the dream of merging their Killington resort with the Pico ski area in Vermont becomes a...

Advanced Magnetics. (company profile)
December 24, 1990... Advanced Magnetics Table : Advanced Magnetics, Inc. Headquarters: Cambridge Stock Symbol: ADMG Market: NASDAQ Annual Revenues: ...

Stratus prepares a "pill": shareholders to vote on right plan. (Stratus Computer Inc.)
December 24, 1990... Stratus prepares a "pill" Shareholders to vote on rights plan Stratus Computer (NYSE: SRA), the Marlborough-based manufacturer of fault-tolerant systems, joined the ranks of U.S. companies that have adopted a shareholder-rights plan - also...

Investors force Krupp to restructure roll-up. (of several separate real estate limited partnerships into one real estate investment trust)
December 17, 1990... INVESTORS FORCE KRUPP TO RESTRUCTURE ROLL-UP Bowing to unprecedented pressure from investors and the brokerage community, the Krupp Cos. announced last Wednesday that it had significantly altered the terms of a proposed "roll-up" deal that...

Suite sound of success: Boston Ballet's cash dance.
December 17, 1990... Suite sound of success It's hard to believe Boston Ballet's seasonal marketing blitz for "The Nutcracker" started as a humble T-shirt about 15 years ago. Today, "The Nutcraker" is everywhere. The Nutcracker Players are romping at...

Hospitals post '90 profits.
December 17, 1990... Hospitals post '90 profits Although many of Boston's teaching hospitals have yet to release exact figures, it appears most institutions fared unexpectedly well during fiscal 1990, according to administrators and industry observers. ...

Boston HMO gets shot of Swiss efficiency. (health maintenance organization; Harvard Community Health Plan goes on quality improvement crusade)
December 17, 1990... Boston HMO gets shot of Swiss efficiency By any measure, Harvard Community Health Plan (HCHP) is in an enviable position. New England's largest and oldest health maintenance organization, HCHP is currently enjoying record profits and a...

Stuarts: Chapter 11 time. (Stuarts Department Stores)
December 17, 1990... Stuarts Chapter 11 time Franklin-based Stuarts Department Stores, whose losses have snowballed over the past year and a half, has voluntarily filed a petition for reorganization under Chapter 11 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code. The...

North Shore: a fuss over fees. (North Shore communities take Wheelabrator Technologies to court)
December 17, 1990... North Shore A fuss over fees Thirteen North Shore communities that use the Refuse Energy System Co. (RESCO) trash-to-energy plant in Saugus are taking the company's parent, Wheelabrator Technologies, to court claiming the company is...

Boston law firms offer new perk: backup day care.
December 17, 1990... Boston law firms offer new perk: backup day care The Christmas season presents a problem for many two-income families--what do you do with your kids during their school vacation? Some parents bring the kids to the office; others are forced...

New England becomes a Strawberries patch. (music retailer plans expansion)
December 17, 1990... New England becomes a Strawberries patch In a world of record retailing dominated by urban megastores and smaller peddlers in strip malls, Strawberries Records, Tapes & CDs has come up with what it thinks is a winning strategy: Do both. ...

Tom Scholz and SR&D try to regain the edge. (Scholz Research and Design)
December 17, 1990... Tom Scholz and SR&D try to regain the edge Coming off his success at the helm of the rock group Boston, Tom Scholz seemed to still have a hot hand when he established Scholz Research & Design in Waltham back in 1981. The company, which...

A better solar cell or just weird science? (Phototherm Inc. signs contract with China to develop an increased efficiency photocell)
December 17, 1990... A better solar cell or just weird science? Dr. Alvin Marks has been toiling in his labs for years searching for the Holy Grail of solar energy: a solar cell that would make it cheaper to harness the sun's energy than it would to generate...

A makeover at BayBanks: commercial lending is the focus now.
December 17, 1990... A makeover at BayBanks Commercial lending is the focus now If Massachusetts had its own customized game of Password, the clue BayBanks would certainly solicit the response: ATMs. But the Boston-based holding company is trying to...

Alison Taunton-Rigby: nurturing a wonder drug.
December 17, 1990... Alison Taunton-Rigby Nurturing a wonder drug Dr. Alison Taunton-Rigby admits she hasn't properly distanced herself from the 50 or so patients whose abdomens balloon with Gaucher's disease--and whose only hope for recovery is an...

The shoe with a perfect fit. (Ballet Makers Inc. new pointe ballet shoe)
December 17, 1990... The shoe with a perfect fit Boston Ballet's dancers in "The Nutcracker" will wear out more than 1,100 pointe shoes after 48 performances this year. Place those pink satin pointe shoes heel to toe, and they would reach from the ground to...

J. Baker, Inc. (company profile)
December 17, 1990... J. Baker, Inc. THE BUSINESS J. BAKER, INC. Headquarters: Hyde Park Stock Symbol: JBAK Market: NASDAQ Annual Revenues: $399,230,000 Net Income: ...

JP lifecare plan treads on Olmsted sanctuary. (Homecroft plans lifecare community on Jamaica Plain in the Frederick Law Olmsted nature area)
December 17, 1990... JP lifecare plan treads on Olmsted sanctuary Preliminary plans to develop a lifecare community are on the drawing boards for a prized slice of the Emerald Necklace in Jamaica Plain, and preservationists are worried that Frederick Law...

Dr. Hammer. (Occidental Petroleum Corp. chairman Armand Hammer dead; includes other business items)
December 17, 1990... Dr. Hammer Industrialist Armand Hammer, chairman of Occidental Petroleum Corp., died last week at the age of 92. The self-made millionaire was advisor to 10 presidents and enjoyed friendships with Russian leaders from Lenin to Gorbachev....

Apollo shuffle. (Hewlett-Packard Co.'s Apollo Systems Div. to reassign engineers; includes other business items)
December 17, 1990... Apollo shuffle Apollo Systems Division informed 120 engineers they will be reassigned to new jobs within the organization, a company spokesman confirmed. Apollo has shaved 500 jobs from its payroll since it was acquired last year by of...

P&G relents. (Procter and Gamble Co. will again buy advertising time on WHDH-TV; includes other business items)
December 17, 1990... P&G relents Five months after WHDH-TV (Channel 7) aired a commercial calling for a boycott of Folgers coffee, Procter & Gamble Co. will once again buy commercial time on the station. P&G had yanked its $1 million worth of product ads from...

What American needs. (American Airlines Inc. chairman Robert L. Crandall on what airline industry needs to survive; includes report on Massachusetts business failings)
December 17, 1990... What American needs In an address to travel agents and corporate travel planners at a Boston luncheon last week, American Airlines chairman Robert L. Crandall said the ailing airline industry needed higher fares, fewer and stronger...

Condos finally sold. (at River Court in Cambridge; includes American Telephone and Telegraph Co.'s takeover of NCR Corp.)
December 17, 1990... Condos finally sold The last 38 condominiums at River Court in Cambridge sold out last week in an hour and a half. Boston's Collaborative Cos. and California-based Kennedy-Wilson Inc. together sold off the more than $9 million worth of...

Construction unions file tougher bid law.
December 10, 1990... Construction unions file tougher bid law A group of construction unions last week filed legislation that would stiffen eligibility requirements for bidding on state construction projects, a move that would affect an estimated $37 billion...

No coal in CML's stocking this Christmas season: retailer is ahead by $18 million in sales. (CML Group)
December 10, 1990... NO COAL IN CML'S STOCKING THIS CHRISTMAS SEASON Retailer is ahead by $18 million in sales Cashing in on the world's growing concerns about the environment--global warming, destruction of tropical forests, acid rain--The Nature Co....

Banner year for bank hits. (robberies)
December 10, 1990... Banner year for bank hits Investors may be fleeing from the region's banks, but crooks are flocking to them. The state's slumping economy may turn 1990 into a record year for bank robberies in Massachusetts, according to statistics...

Boston Business bows out. (magazine suspends publication)
December 10, 1990... Boston Business bows out Boston Business magazine is heading for cold storage with the publication of its January/February issue, the latest media casualty of an ailing regional economy. "We're suspending publication," announced James...

Diamonds are a firm's best friend.
December 10, 1990... DIAMONDS ARE A FIRM'S BEST FRIEND Norton Co. is polishing up a technology that might someday turn diamonds into scratch-proof eyeglasses, windows for spaceships and razor blades that never become dull. The bright future of diamond...

Thermedics contemplates an explosive market.
December 10, 1990... Thermedics contemplates an explosive market Thermedics Inc. is sniffing out airlines in Western Europe and Japan to market its new portable bomb detectors, while the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) approval process for the...

Challenging the ZBA and its lack of appeal. (Boston Zoning Board of Appeals)
December 10, 1990... Challenging the ZBA and its lack of appeal When the Boston Zoning Board of Appeals voted last year to let Charley's Eating & Drinking Saloon on Newbury Street relocate to a larger space nearby, opponents vowed to fight the ruling in court,...

WGBH reaches its limit on House TV coverage. (US Congress)
December 10, 1990... WGBH reaches its limit on House TV coverage This week the state Senate's Rules Committee will consider a tentative agreement that should open the door to televising sessions of the Senate for the first time. But while broadcasting Senate...

The Roundtable's new quests: fresh leadership and a bid for influence. (Massachusetts Business Roundtable)
December 10, 1990... The Roundtable's new quests Fresh leadership and a bid for influence Ira Stepanian, Bank of Boston's taciturn, low-key CEO who was recently named the new chairman of the Massachusetts Business Roundtable, will have to become a white...

Jack Weeks. (senior campaign adviser, Silber for Governor)
December 10, 1990... Jack Weeks A consummate insider Position: Senior campaign adviser, Silber for Governor Education: B.S., Government, Harvard University, 1979 Age: 38 Quote: "I am never recruited for any campaign. I simply walk in and say do you want...

Furnishings from the big house. (Massachusetts Correctional Industries)
December 10, 1990... Furnishings from the big house There's a local furniture manufacturer that anticipates no layoffs; orders are on the rise. Profits are high because workers are only paid $0.60-$1.20 an hour. It's Massachusetts Correctional Industries, a...

Write Now's upscale gambit. (office supply store)
December 10, 1990... Write Now's upscale gambit Countering the latest trend of large, discount suppliers like Staples, a new luxury office-supply store in Boston's financial district, Write Now, is hoping to compete by offering easy access, distinctive items...

Used computer trade brisk. (Boston Computer Exchange, Baystate Computer)
December 10, 1990... Used computer trade brisk While the giants of New England's computer industry are awash in a tide of recession, at least one small segment of the industry appears to be buoyant: companies that specialize in buying and selling used...

The Pioneer Group. (company profile)
December 10, 1990... The Pioneer Group Headquarters: Boston Stock Symbol: PIOG Market: NASDAQ Annual Revenues: $60,745,000 Net Income: $14,149,000 Employees: ...

BankWorcester, Citizens' deal off. (Citizens Financial Group)
December 10, 1990... BankWorcester Citizens' deal off The state's deteriorating economy put the final nail in the coffin of Citizens Financial Group's proposed $149 million acquisition of BankWorcester last month after efforts to renegotiate the asking...

Wall Street wowed by Waban.
December 3, 1990... Wall Street wowed by Waban Waban Inc., the Natick-based owner of BJ's Wholesale Club and HomeClub, outlets geared to price-conscious shoppers, is suddenly drawing the attention of some bargain hunters on Wall Street. When John F. Levy,...

The war of the roses.
December 3, 1990... THE WAR OF THE ROSES Sandy Lawrence knows a hot idea when she sees it. So when Lawrence, who worked for Gillette Co. for 16 years and nurtured several new health-care products, stumbled upon a popular no-frills store in New York City...

Microcom looks to LANS to bridge its profit gap: company switching from modems to local area networks.
December 3, 1990... MICROCOM LOOKS TO LANS TO BRIDGE ITS PROFIT GAP Company switching from modems to local area networks Radio Free Europe reporters covering the next Polish elections will be able to shoot up-to-the-minute reports from their PCs to...

State dumps whistle-blower campaign on polluters.
December 3, 1990... State dumps whistle-blower campaign on polluters On their commute between work and home, straphangers on the T will for the next six months be confronted with ads goading them to report their bosses for environmental crimes. And as of last...

New Media's multimedia breakthrough. (New Media Graphics Corp.) (product announcement)
December 3, 1990... New Media's multimedia breakthrough The Dating Game, home videos and Nintendo are coming to the PC screen --for one-third the average price--with the help of a new video/audio board by New Media Graphics. The Billerica-based software...

wTe recycles "broken" recyclers.
December 3, 1990... wTe recycles "broken" recyclers wTe is a company that takes recycling to heart. As part of its business strategy, the nine-year-old waste-processing and consulting firm has started making a habit of buying failed waste businesses and...

Real estate shudders as financing dries up.
December 3, 1990... Real estate shudders as financing dries up The off-cited credit crunch, a legacy of the lending binge that fueled super-heated real estate growth during the 1980s, is choking Boston's office market so hard that industry experts are bracing...

Health care is at the core of financial reform.
December 3, 1990... Health care is at the core of financial reform If Gov.-elect William F. Weld is to achieve his announced goals of cutting state government costs and of restoring the local economy, he will have to restructure the delivery of health care in...

Hedgespeth's aftermath: arrest shakes up banking circles. (Grady Hedgespeth, director of government and community affairs, Bank of Boston)
December 3, 1990... Hedgespeth's aftermath Arrest shakes up banking circles When Grady Hedgespeth, former state economic affairs secretary, was arrested two weeks ago for allegedly driving while high on cocaine and marijuana, it was portrayed as the...

Robert Rufo. (Suffolk County Sheriff)
December 3, 1990... Robert Rufo The enforcer It wasn't supposed to be this way. Had Robert Charles Rufo followed the career path he mapped out after passing the Massachusetts bar exam in 1975, there would have been a brief stint working for the...

Community bank wraps up century of trust. (Cambridge Trust Co.)
December 3, 1990... Community bank wraps up century of trust Want to know about Cambridge Trust Co.? Read its annual reports. No, not the balance sheets and income statements. Read the chairman's letters to the shareholders. In those folksy letters, Lewis H....

Newcomer banks are in same stew as others.
December 3, 1990... Newcomer banks are in same stew as others It is difficult and painful to think back, but five years ago, when New England was swimming with excess capital, everyone wanted to start their own bank. Many people did. Twenty-one new banks were...

Bank of Boston's financial ace in the hole. (BancBoston Capital Inc.)
December 3, 1990... Bank of Boston's financial ace in the hole The Bank of Boston, like many of its competitors, has suffered through hard times recently. Its profits fell significantly in 1989, the result of a rash of nonperforming commercial real estate...

Is help on the way for compulsive snackers? (Interneuron Pharmaceuticals Inc. begins clinical trials with experimental drug)
December 3, 1990... Is help on the way for compulsive snackers? Not quite in time for the holidays, Interneuron Pharmaceuticals Inc. (IPI) is preparing clinical trials with an experimental drug that suppresses people's cravings for carbohydrate-rich foods. ...

Telco Systems. (company profile)
December 3, 1990... Telco Systems Telco Systems manufactures fiber-optic transmission products and network-access equipment for the telecommunications industry. Primary customers are the Bell Operating Companies, independent telephone companies such as MCI...