St. Louis Post-Dispatch (St. Louis, MO) articles from November 2001

St. Louis Post-Dispatch (St. Louis, MO) archives from November 2001

Success Comes to Steady, Patient Trenton, Mo.-Based Formal-Wear Wholesaler.
November 1, 2001... Byline: Shera Dalin Nov. 1--What began in Trenton as the "tuxedo store in the cornfields" nearly four decades ago is now among the largest men's formal-wear wholesalers in the nation. Jim's Formal Wear Co. stocks 500,000 tuxedos in up...

Zero-Financing Atmosphere Spills Over into Used-Car Market.
November 1, 2001... Byline: Gregory Cancelada Nov. 1--Even if you can't take advantage of zero-percent financing to buy a new car, the programs are spurring good deals in the late-model used-car market as well. The generous financing programs being...

Missouri State Utility Regulators Hear Ideas to Help Customers with Bills.
November 1, 2001... Byline: Bill Bell Jr. Nov. 1--JEFFERSON CITY, Mo.--State utility regulators are considering how to loosen rules designed to help Missourians who are having trouble paying their natural gas bills. The Missouri Public Service Commission...

Research Group Reports Missouri Banks Charge Highest Fees in Nation.
November 2, 2001... Byline: Jim Gallagher Nov. 2--Banks in Missouri charge the highest fees in the nation -- an average $22.50 -- for stopping payment on checks, the Missouri Public Interest Research Group says. Missouri banks also extract an "outrageous"...

Creve Coeur, Mo.-Based Internet Firm to Sell Assets to Williams Communications.
November 2, 2001... Byline: Peter Shinkle Nov. 2--CoreExpress Inc., an Internet startup based in Creve Coeur, has succumbed to the realities of the marketplace. The company, which pulled in $573 million from private investors early last year, has agreed...

St. Louis Post-Dispatch David Nicklaus Column.
November 3, 2001... Byline: David Nicklaus Nov. 3--The ink isn't even dry on some third-quarter earnings reports, and many companies and analysts are already sounding the traditional World Series loser's refrain: Wait 'til next year. We've heard this...

St. Louis Post-Dispatch Your Money Column.
November 4, 2001... Byline: Jim Gallagher Nov. 4--If you haven't refinanced your mortgage yet, you could be missing out on big bucks. Except for one golden week in 1998, mortgage rates haven't been this low since the days of flower power in the 1960s. ...

St. Louis Civic Boosters Try Cloning Success from Biotechnology Firm's Failure.
November 5, 2001... Byline: Virginia Baldwin Gilbert Nov. 5--Leaders of the region's biotech industry and civic boosters are trying to turn Incyte Inc.'s closure of its cloning operation in the St. Louis area from a blow into an opportunity. Incyte, based...

Union's Minority Coalition Honors St. Louis' Largest Supermarket Chain.
November 5, 2001... Byline: Philip Dine Nov. 5--WASHINGTON--Schnuck Markets Inc., the largest supermarket chain in St. Louis, has been named company of the year by the minority coalition of the United Food and Commercial Workers international union. The...

Some Question Value of Data after Wal-Mart Discontinues Supplying Numbers.
November 5, 2001... Byline: Thomas Lee Nov. 5--Earnings season is typically the time for analysts and investors to gauge a company's performance by crunching financial and market data. But for food and consumer products companies, numbers tracking market...

Bertelsmann-Owned Business Magazine Editor Unfazed by Economic Downturn.
November 7, 2001... Byline: Peter Shinkle Nov. 7--The days of the Internet boom, when glossy business magazines grew fat on a flood of high-tech advertising, are long gone. Yet Alan Webber, a founder and an editor of Fast Company magazine, isn't worried by...

Military Official Says Veterans Face Roadblocks When Looking for Civilian Work.
November 7, 2001... Byline: Repps Hudson Nov. 7--As the U.S. war against terrorism heats up and continues in the months and perhaps years ahead, tens of thousands more men and women in uniform might be drawn into the conflict. One day, most will return to...

St. Louis Post-Dispatch David Nicklaus Column.
November 7, 2001... Byline: David Nicklaus Nov. 7--Doha, Qatar, clearly is not Seattle. Security in the authoritarian Persian Gulf nation is extremely tight, and the environmental and labor groups that sent hundreds of protesters to Seattle in December...

Missouri to Use Some Tobacco Settlement Money for Life Science Research Grants.
November 8, 2001... Byline: Virginia Baldwin Gilbert Nov. 8--Missouri is opening shop for life science researchers seeking grants from the $21.5 million set aside by Gov. Bob Holden from the state's share of tobacco settlement money. Holden set up the...

Study Says St. Louis Area Has Plenty of Room for Laboratory Growth.
November 9, 2001... Byline: Virginia Baldwin Gilbert Nov. 9--The St. Louis region needs more "wet labs" for rent. A study released Thursday by the Regional Chamber & Growth Association found that the market could be expanded to absorb four times as much...

Investors Buy Two Operations of Missouri-Illinois Nursery, Orchard.
November 9, 2001... Byline: Christopher Carey Nov. 9--LOUISIANA, Mo.--After an ill-fated buyout and a short trip through bankruptcy, Stark Brothers Nurseries & Orchards Co. has returned to its local roots. Two groups of investors, each with ties to the...

St. Louis-Based Foods Maker Cobbles Together Ingredients to Restructure.
November 10, 2001... Byline: Thomas Lee Nov. 10--Aurora Foods Inc. might be the only $1 billion company that didn't have time to become a company. Truth is, the St. Louis-based food manufacturer was cobbled together in 1998 by a group of investors who...

Former St. Louis Ford Assembly Plant May Soon See New Life.
November 10, 2001... Byline: Virginia Baldwin Gilbert Nov. 10--Pink-faced St. Louis officials are trying to garner enough votes on the tax-increment financing commission to reverse its recent thumbs down on a plan by the Desco Group to renovate a building for...

St. Louis-Area Hospital Awaits Outcome of Lengthy Study.
November 10, 2001... Byline: Judith Vandewater Nov. 10--Normandy Community Hospital -- a property that has operated as a hospital under three owners -- may be reopened as health-care clinic or leveled for parking, depending on the outcome of a study that will...

St. Louis-Area Lead Producer Talks with Bondholders about Restructuring Debt.
November 10, 2001... Byline: Gregory Cancelada Nov. 10--Lead producer Doe Run Resources Corp. is betting that an expected modest recovery in the price of lead over the next 12 months can stanch the company's heavy losses and can avert serious financial...

Department Stores Want to Operate at Lifestyle Centers in St. Louis Area.
November 10, 2001... Byline: Chern Yeh Kwok Nov. 10--Most tenants of lifestyle centers are specialty retailers, but department stores are starting to move in on their turf. Companies such as Nordstrom Inc., Saks Inc. and St. Louis-based May Department...

Old-Style Stadiums Get Old for Baseball Fans in St. Louis Area.
November 10, 2001... Byline: Christopher Carey Nov. 10--A team that Major League Baseball might disband had one of the biggest jumps in attendance this year. The team that won the World Series lost ground at the ticket office, as did four of the other...

St. Louis Post-Dispatch Tax Column.
November 10, 2001... Nov. 10--It has been a terrible year for savers and investors. So, let's make the tax man feel our pain. This is a great time to dump the dogs in your investment portfolio, cutting your taxes at the same time. Missouri residents shouldn't...

TWA Pilots Express Dissatisfaction with American Seniority List Merger.
November 10, 2001... Byline: Cynthia Wilson Nov. 10--The board of the union that represents the pilots at American Airlines has approved a plan to merge the pilots at TWA Airlines LLC into its seniority list. But the terms of the plan -- devised by the...

Turmoil at United Pains Airline's Former CEO.
November 10, 2001... Byline: David Nicklaus Nov. 10--When he retired as chief executive of United Airlines in July 1999, Gerald Greenwald thought he was leaving the company in good shape. Profits had more than tripled in the previous four years, and an...

Some Aviation Experts Predict American Airlines to Bounce Back from Crash.
November 13, 2001... Byline: Phillip Dine Nov. 13--WASHINGTON--Some aviation accidents remain in the public consciousness for years and are associated indelibly with the airlines involved. Though most accidents fade quickly from memory, TWA Flight 800 and...

Survey Finds Customer Satisfaction in St. Louis Area Declines from 1997.
November 13, 2001... Byline: Chern Yeh Kwok Nov. 13--St. Louis-area shoppers are in a "somber mood," and consumer confidence has "weakened dramatically" after the terrorist attacks Sept. 11, a new survey by the Better Business Bureau shows. Still,...

Travel Agents in St. Louis Area Try to Ease Customers after American Crash.
November 13, 2001... Byline: Christopher Carey Nov. 13--Though the crash of another U.S. airliner Monday didn't lead to a rash of cancellations for travel agents in the St. Louis area, it slowed their efforts to reassure customers and to rebuild business lost...

State Senator Pushes Tax Break Plan for Airlines Operating in Missouri.
November 14, 2001... Byline: Christopher Carey Nov. 14--A Missouri state senator is proposing a package of tax breaks and incentives designed to aid American Airlines, Vanguard Airlines and other air carriers operating in Missouri. Sen. Harry Wiggins,...

Business Groups Try to Help Missouri Casinos Get Repeal of $500 Loss Limit.
November 14, 2001... Byline: Virginia Young Nov. 14--JEFFERSON CITY, Mo.--Business leaders on both sides of the state have taken the first steps toward backing the casino industry in its longtime quest to repeal the state's $500 loss limit. The executive...

Getting Factories Healthy Can Cure Economic Woes.
November 14, 2001... Nov. 14--Industrial production has been declining for more than a year. It peaked in September 2000, and more than a million manufacturing jobs have disappeared since. Large and small companies have felt the pain. Emerson, one of the...

Getting America's Factories Healthy Can Cure Economic Woes.
November 14, 2001... Nov. 14--Recession is a relatively recent worry for America's flight attendants, hotel clerks and amusement-park workers, but it's an old problem for folks who work in the factories. Industrial production has been declining for more than a...

St. Louis Loft Condominiums May Mark Start of Trend.
November 14, 2001... Byline: Charlene Prost Nov. 14--It's loft-style living: wide-open spaces, high ceilings, exposed timber beams and even interior columns. But it's not, as you might expect, in a renovated building downtown. These lofts are being built...

Boeing to Set Up Unmanned Aircraft Unit in St. Louis.
November 15, 2001... Byline: Cynthia Wilson Nov. 15--Boeing Co. is speeding up its pursuit of unmanned aircraft by setting up a new unit, based in St. Louis, that would oversee such operations. Its goal: to build unmanned systems into a major source of...

Copper-Smelting Company Files for Bankruptcy.
November 15, 2001... Byline: Gregory Cancelada Nov. 15--Copper-smelting company Chemetco filed for bankruptcy late Tuesday, asking to liquidate its assets to pay off more than 1,000 creditors. Chemetco said it owes $45.1 million but has only $22.3 million...

St. Louis Firm Says Product Could Measure Glucose Level Without Skin Breakage.
November 15, 2001... Byline: Virginia Baldwin Gilbert Nov. 15--MicroSense International LLC of St. Louis is developing devices that could end the bloodshed required by many medical tests. The small startup company's first product would measure a person's...

Justice Department Drops Charges in McDonnell Douglas Chinese Export Case.
November 15, 2001... Byline: Philip Dine Nov. 15--WASHINGTON--The Justice Department on Wednesday dropped all criminal charges against the former McDonnell Douglas Corp. related to aerospace exports to China, two years after accusing the St. Louis firm of...

Boeing Offers Korea Incentive to Buy Jet Fighter.
November 16, 2001... Byline: Philip Dine Nov. 16--WASHINGTON--Pressing to sell the F-15 Eagle fighter to Korea to keep the struggling St. Louis assembly line alive, Boeing Co. is offering a $2.8 billion incentive if Korea buys the plane. Under the...

Former Charter Communications CEO Walks Away with Bonus, Stock Earnings.
November 16, 2001... Byline: Jerri Stroud Nov. 16--Jerald L. Kent got a $900,000 bonus when he resigned in September as chief executive of Charter Communications Inc. His successor, Carl E. Vogel, got $1 million as a salary, $250,000 as a signing bonus and...

Gas Prices Increase in St. Louis Area.
November 16, 2001... Byline: Repps Hudson Nov. 16--Dollar gasoline is gone again -- after just a week. Though the fight between Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries and non-OPEC producers drove crude-oil futures below $17 a barrel Thursday on the...

Owners of St. Louis Mall Hand Tenants Steep New Bills.
November 16, 2001... Byline: Jerri Stroud Nov. 16--St. Louis Centre's new owners have sent bills to some tenants that would more than double the cost of space at the troubled multilevel shopping mall downtown. This month, the tenants received bills of up...

Aviation Experts Predict Parent Company of American, TWA Will Endure.
November 17, 2001... Byline: Cynthia Wilson Nov. 17--AMR Corp.'s purchase in April of most assets of Trans World Airlines helped make it the world's largest commercial airline. But with many aviation experts predicting industry consolidation in the wake of the...

Southwestern Bell to Start Long-Distance Service in Missouri, Arkansas.
November 17, 2001... Byline: Jerri Stroud Nov. 17--Federal regulators on Friday approved SBC Communications Inc.'s request to offer long-distance service in Missouri and Arkansas, ending a battle SBC has fought for at least three years. Southwestern Bell,...

Demand, Prices for Telecommunications Buildings Decline.
November 20, 2001... Byline: Peter Shinkle Nov. 20--Real estate investors who sold two telecommunications office buildings in downtown St. Louis for $56 million last year said Monday that they have repurchased them for $22 million. The sharp drop in price...

St. Louis-Based Equipment Manufacturer Files for Bankruptcy Protection.
November 20, 2001... Byline: Gregory Cancelada Nov. 20--Thermadyne Holdings Corp., a manufacturer of cutting and welding equipment, sought bankruptcy protection Monday in an attempt to reorganize nearly $1 billion in debt and to put itself back on sound...

Laclede Gas Starts Taking Applications in St. Louis under Cold Weather Rule.
November 20, 2001... Byline: Repps Hudson Nov. 20--Rev. Kelly Allen of the First Presbyterian Church of St. Louis usually takes Mondays off, but not this week. She had rounded up $500 from her congregation to help two women without natural-gas service to...

Former Campaign Chairman for Al Gore to Help SBC Expand Long-Distance Service.
November 20, 2001... Byline: Jerri Stroud Nov. 20--William H. Daley believes that he can help SBC Communications Inc. to win the right to offer consumers and businesses the full spectrum of communications services, a key goal as it strives to become a global...

St. Louis Cutting, Welding Equipment Manufacturer Files for Bankruptcy.
November 20, 2001... Byline: Gregory Cancelada Nov. 20--Thermadyne Holdings Corp., a manufacturer of cutting and welding equipment, sought bankruptcy protection Monday in an attempt to reorganize nearly $1 billion in debt and to put itself back on sound...

American Airlines to Start Process of Replacing TWA Trademark.
November 21, 2001... Byline: Cynthia Wilson Nov. 21--The terrorist attacks Sept. 11 and the crash of an American Airlines jet into a New York neighborhood this month have delayed many of the airline's expansion plans. But the airline's effort to fold TWA...

Bankruptcy Court Approves St. Louis Movie-Theater Firm's Reorganization Plan.
November 21, 2001... Byline: Chern Yeh Kwok Nov. 21--The Bankruptcy Court in St. Louis confirmed Wehrenberg Inc.'s plan of reorganization Tuesday, setting the movie-theater company on course to shed its Chapter 11 bankruptcy status early next month. The...

Stock in Small St. Louis Bank Rises 64 Percent.
November 22, 2001... Byline: Jim Gallagher Nov. 22--Investors who want an excuse to kick themselves might consider this: They could have bought stock in Pulaski Bank. The stock has increased 64 percent this year, when the overall stock market has dropped...

St. Louis-Based Energizer Battery Maker Won't Award Executive Bonuses.
November 22, 2001... Byline: Thomas Lee Nov. 22--Top executives at Energizer Holdings Inc., including its chief executive, won't get bonuses this year, according to a proxy statement the company filed Wednesday with the Securities and Exchange Commission. ...

Some Companies in St. Louis Area Plan to Hold Holiday Parties on Smaller Scale.
November 22, 2001... Byline: Gregory Cancelada Nov. 22--When two clients canceled their holiday parties in late September, Richard Nix started to worry that the terrorist attacks and the faltering economy would hurt his full-service catering firm, the Butler's...

St. Louis-Based Welding Equipment Manufacturer Seeks Reorganization.
November 22, 2001... Byline: Gregory Cancelada Nov. 22--Thermadyne Holdings Corp. hopes to reorganize so it can emerge from bankruptcy quickly, lawyers for the company said Wednesday. "We intend to move these cases to a confirmed Chapter 11 plan of...

Partners Balance Running Clayton, Mo., Cafe and St. Louis Coffee Warehouse.
November 24, 2001... Byline: Thomas Lee Nov. 24--On most days, you can find Suzanne Langlois in one of two locations. The first is a cramped basement office at Kaldi's Coffee House & Market Bakery, the popular cafe at 700 DeMun Avenue in Clayton. The...

Time Magazine Calls Utah Gyroplane One of the Best Inventions of 2001.
November 24, 2001... Byline: Steven Oberbeck Nov. 24--A Utah-made gyroplane manufactured by Groen Brothers Aviation, stink-free shoes and an automatic mashed potato machine have been identified by Time magazine as among the best inventions for 2001. Groen...

CORRECTION: Savvis Communications Reaches Deal over Arena Naming Rights.
November 26, 2001... Nov. 26--The headline for the story slugged SL-INTERNET-PROVIDER, moved for Nov. 24 by Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News, was incorrect. The corrected version moves below. SL-INTERNET-PROVIDER/19 Savvis Communications Reaches...

South African Farmers Begin to Plant, Harvest Genetically-Altered Cotton.
November 26, 2001... Byline: Virginia Baldwin Gilbert Nov. 26--T.J. Buthelezi, a cotton farmer from South Africa, has become a spokesman in the worldwide debate over the wisdom of developing genetically engineered plants. He's one of 100 small landholders...

Shoppers Give Retailers a Holiday Boost.
November 27, 2001... Byline: Chern Yeh Kwok Nov. 27--Thanksgiving weekend sales were generally better than expected, as discounts drew consumers hungry for bargain shopping. In the St. Louis area, several retailers said sales were up, with some reaching record...

Latest SBC Mail Promotion Runs Into Some Trouble.
November 27, 2001... Byline: Florence Shinkle Nov. 27--Southwestern Bell Corp.'s newest direct-marketing promotion to business customers takes the form of an octagonal cardboard pizza box. Inside, you see a luscious picture of a self-rising deluxe with olives...

Colorado-Based Progressive Sports Management Helps Athletes Adapt to Changes.
November 28, 2001... Byline: Christopher Carey Nov. 28--Terry Stieve doesn't envy Mark McGwire, who quit baseball this month to begin a new life in sunny southern California. Stieve, a former professional athlete who now works in commercial real estate,...

Company President Says St. Louis-Based Monsanto Dealing Openly with Critics.
November 28, 2001... Byline: Bill Lambrecht Nov. 28--WASHINGTON -- Monsanto Co. President and Chief Executive Hendrik Verfaillie said Tuesday that his company has "changed our behavior significantly" and was making good on a year-old promise to deal more...

Farm Groups Oppose Nestle Purchase of St. Louis-Based Ralston Purina.
November 28, 2001... Byline: Thomas Lee Nov. 28--For years, independent farmers looked on with frustration as an increasingly consolidated food industry shrank its pool of customers to a few food mega-companies. Through mergers and acquisitions, these...

St. Louis Post-Dispatch David Nicklaus Column.
November 28, 2001... Byline: David Nicklaus Nov. 28--Former St. Louisan Laurence Meyer, delivering what he says is his last major forecast message as a member of the Federal Reserve Board, said he sees "remarkable resilience" in the U.S. economy. The...

TWA Extends Security Positions to Hundreds of Ticket, Gate Agents.
November 28, 2001... Byline: Cynthia Wilson Nov. 28--Heightened security at Lambert Field -- as well as at airports throughout the nation -- will let some employees of TWA Airlines LLC dodge layoffs. The airline is offering 766 ticket and gate agents who...

Creve Coeur, Mo.-Based Hotel Holding Firm to Sell Adam's Mark Chain.
November 29, 2001... Byline: Peter Shinkle Nov. 29--With hotel occupancy rates sinking, HBE Corp. is trying to generate cash by selling hotels in its Adam's Mark chain. Fred Kummer, president and chief executive of Creve Coeur-based HBE, said Wednesday...

Pharmacia Announces Monsanto to Be Independent Company Again by Late 2002.
November 29, 2001... Byline: Virginia Baldwin Gilbert Nov. 29--On the eve of Monsanto Co.'s 100th anniversary, its parent company announced plans to make it a fully independent company again by the end of next year. Pharmacia Corp., which owns 85 percent...

Building Renovation Delays in St. Louis Could Prevent Reopening of Restaurant.
November 29, 2001... Byline: Charlene Prost Nov. 29--The Cafe de France, considered one of the finest restaurants in St. Louis, may not reopen as planned. Its space was demolished as part of Charles Drury's plan to renovate the 110-year-old...

Utility Consumers Pay for Missouri Public Service Group Delay, Lawyer Says.
November 29, 2001... Byline: Repps Hudson Nov. 29--Whether intended or not, the pace of the Missouri Public Service Commission in reviewing an overearnings case against AmerenUE is costing consumers of all sizes hundreds of thousands of dollars a day, says a...

TWA Airlines' Frequent Fliers Must Take Steps to Be American Airlines' Members.
November 30, 2001... Byline: Cynthia Wilson Nov. 30--On the eve of the expiration of TWA Airlines LLC's frequent-flier program, American Airlines said Thursday that it will not enroll Aviator members automatically into its AAdvantage program and transfer their...

St. Louis Biotechnology Startup Moves towards Public Listing.
November 30, 2001... Byline: Virginia Baldwin Gilbert Nov. 30--A local startup hoping to find genes that cause disease has taken a first step toward being listed as an over-the-counter stock. Genomic Medicine LLC, whose sole stockholder is Dr. David...

St. Louis Toy Company Closes Its Offices.
November 30, 2001... Nov. 30--Haystack Toys started three years ago with a lofty dream: to search for toys that were rare finds -- each the proverbial needle in the haystack. The company held high-profile nationwide contests seeking ideas for new toys. Today,...