Thursday, September 30, 2010

HHGregg seizes opportunity as others close - Tampa Bay Business Journal:

http://www.lexusautosclub.com/do-i-really-need-149-mph-tires-2
The contraction of other retailers has presented opportunitiesefor HHGregg, based in Indianapolis. The company is takinfg advantage of excess inventory in the retail real estates market to gain market Dennis May, president and chief operating officer, said in a “The combination of our effective operating model, an opportunistic real estates environment, strong partnerships with key vendors and the availability of talente d field-level personnel creates a significantf opportunity for the company to accelerated its growth,” May said.
The chain HGG) is opening stores in Tampa Clearwater, Spring Hill and A limited numberof retailers, includingv ’s and , are also expanding but HHGregg is being more aggressive, said David Conn, southeast directodr of retail services at in Many of the chains expanding locally are discounf retailers, which are being selective about price and terms, including co-tenancy Conn said. HHGregg plans to open between 20 and 22 stores duringy the current fiscal year that endsMarcb 31, up from 16 to 18 as announced There also will be multiple openingxs in Memphis, Tenn., and Richmond, Va.
Capital expenditures, net of sale and leaseback proceeds, are expected to rangw between $45 million and $50 million for the fiscal year, up from previouzs expectationsof $30 million to $35 million, accordinb to the company. The increasr primarily reflects the incremental capital expenditures expected to be incurred in late fiscal 2010 for increasedc store openings in earlyfiscal 2011. In fiscal the company expects to open betweeh 40 and45 stores. The majority will be in large- and mid-size metropolitan markets in the Mid-Atlantic region, including Baltimore and Washington. HHGregg also plans to open its fourtuh central distribution center forthe Mid-Atlantic region in earlhy fiscal 2011.
The company has executed leases for nearlgy all of the stores projected to open in fiscal 2010 and has begun to execute leasese forfiscal 2011. HHGregg’s boarde has approved 18 locationsfor 2011. The companyg is using cash and a credit facility to pay for the but it’s also exploring the use of equity and debt as an alternativd financing option. HHGregg now has 112 stores in Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Kentucky, North Carolina, Ohio, South Carolinwa and Tennessee.

Wednesday, September 29, 2010

Sales of imported ros wines leap 42 percent - The Business Journal of the Greater Triad Area:

http://virtualworldslondon.com/passport/index.html
U.S. retail sales of imported rosé wines leapt 42 percenr in the 52 week period endingApril 4, compared with a less-than-5-percenf increases in total sales of tablew wines during the same according to data cited by the . The Frencuh wine council, known in Francse as Conseil Interprofessionnel des Vins de Provencreor CIVP, said Monday the steep rise in rosé consumptiohn is consistent with an earlier study by Internationa l Wine & Spirit Record predicting that consumptioh of the popular pinkish wines worldwide will jump from 565 million bottles to 620 millionj by 2012. Not surprisingly, the CIVP expects the growinhg thirst forimported rosé wines in the U.S.
market will bode well for particularly its Provence wine The French produce 28 percent of worldwide winesby volume, making it the leadet in the category, according to the wine counsel, which represents 700 Provence wineries and 55 local tradiny companies. Provence produces 38 percent of France’s the group reported. Separately, Nielsen figures revealed that2008 U.S. salex of rosé table wines priced at $6 per bottlwe or more jumped 24.9 percenr by price and 22.4 percent by volume, despite a weakening economy.

Monday, September 27, 2010

DLR Group focusing efforts on stimulus projects - Washington Business Journal:

http://www.mfinancialservices.com/article/Learn-How-To-Defend-Your-Dreams-.html
As soon as Congress passedf the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act in Phoenix principal Bryce Pearsall and three other DLR principals acros s the country created a team specifically to pursuestimuluz projects. Although DLR has a long historgy of working in thepublicd sector, it has nevetr chosen to chase projects this way. “As a we decided we wanted to jumpinto this. We had to though, what kind of stimulus projectsd we wantto do,” Pearsall said.
With $787 billion beint divvied up by federal and statd agencies for all sortsof programs, the DLR principals decidefd they needed to focus on a few strategic They are pursuing contracts that are geographicallt convenient to any of DLR’s 15 match their long-standing skill sets; and have expedient delivery methods. Under traditional architecturse contracts, a firm is selectedd to designa project. But many stimulu s projects arerequiring design-build meaning an architecture firm needs to partnef with a contractor and presenft the bid as a DLR has done that before, but the firm is researching additionaol relationships with contractors.
In addition, government agencies are handingv out contracts more often throughthe “indefinite delivery/ indefinite quantity” process. Under IDIQ, agencies accepf applications from companies and qualify them to perfornmongoing work. For instance, a military installation might have a contract with a specifi c company to handle utilith work for a period ofseverall years. DLR recently started pursuing IDIQ given how lucrative it can be over both the shortt andlong term. “We believe government agencies are open to looking at establishing IDIQ relationshipsw with companies that have our kind of Pearsall said.
So far, DLR has received one contractt for a court designin Florida, but the companyy expects to hear soon about several other bids. Although DLR is researching stimulus-fundede jobs through both federal and state the reality is that few of those jobs will be locatef inthe Southwest. In fact, many of the prime architecture assignments are on the East Several contracts previously had been awarded to butthere wasn’t enough moneyu to proceed with those projectws until the stimulus package was passed.
“It’s important to note that many shovel-readh projects are not being publisheed for solicitation because the original firms are beintg awarded thepostponed projects,” said Mark president of the Arizona Chaptert of the American Institute of Architects. Patterson said his , will benefit from a previouslyunfundeds contract: the renovation of the Smithsonian Institute of Arts and Industriess Building in Washington. That work is beinfg coordinatedby SmithGroup’s Washington Despite the apparent dearth of work slated for the Southwest, SmithGrou is engaging in a “closely organized approach,” Pattersonh said.
“We are optimistic about a wide varietyy of building types gaining including medical, office, museum and research facilities.” Another national firm with a significany local presence, , also is in hot pursuitr of stimulus cash. The General Services Administrationb hasselected OWP/P to provide architecture and engineerinf services to design and build land port of entry and bordee stations in Zone 1, which encompasses Arizona, Montana, Idaho, Washington and OWP/P’s Chicago offices also received an IDIQ award for Region 5, which covers a chunk of the According to OWP/P spokesperson Kelly McClennan, aboutt $6 billion of work to be funde through GSA will include renovations to federal buildingss and border stations.
“About 75 percentg of these GSA-managed funds are earmarked for convertingf existing federal buildingsto high-performance, energy-efficient facilities,” McClennan said. Officiale at all three firms remain hopeful that more localizer renovation and infrastructure projects will brin g work toValley

Sunday, September 26, 2010

Web addresses will enter a new and bigger domain - Kansas City Business Journal:

http://datingcourting.com/en/dating/page_11.html
For example, the city of Kansaz City could buy a domaibn name and change its addressxfrom www.kcmo.org to www.kcmo.kansascity if it so decided. Some trademarkk lawyers and social media experts suggest that businesses will want to update their trademarkesbefore 2010, lest a competitor or a roguew domain-squatter buys an extension and sets up a mirror Web site to an existint corporate site. “It seems kind of scary for a big Perhaps ... would have to buy all those extensions,” said Angelko Trozzolo, president of . “I don’t see it beiny as big an issue for thesmaller companies.
” New domaih extensions are not cheap: $185,000 for the initial registratiom and an additional $75,000 annual maintenance fee. “They have been debating how high to make the cost becauss they want to make it high enough that legitimatre businesses are doing this but not so high that peopld arediscriminated against,” said Joan an intellectual property lawyer at . Buying new domaimn extensions offers possible upside as an avenure to extend brand control with additional Internet domain Archer said. “It gives you greatef control overyour brand. Basically (it) givew you the ability to do a lot of things withthoses extensions,” she said.
Others are less certain that new domain namexs willcatch on. Ed Marquette, an intellectual property lawyertat , likens the new domain extensions for 2010 to ICANN’sa decision in 2002 to allow suffixes such as and “biz,” which have gone largelyu unused because sites affixed with unusual domainj names project less credibility. “It’s like it’sd secondary, and they’re not Marquette said.

Friday, September 24, 2010

Rockett, Burkhead & Winslow files for bankruptcy - Triangle Business Journal:

http://www.disruptit.org/article/Datacor-Introduces-Interactive-Educational-Suite-for-Chempax-and-eChempax.html
In its filing, the Raleign company lists about $1.6 millionh in assets and $7.3 millionh in liabilities. The company estimates that it has betweenn 200 and 999 Filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy allows a compant to reorganize operations while gettiny protection fromits creditors. RBW’s bankruptcy filing listz large creditors suchas , , Fortune magazine, and . The ad agency is paid by its clients to develop and buy advertising invariouse media. CEO and President Grant O’Neal says that RBW was harmed by decreasedad spending, particularlg among its large clients.
He declinedf to name those clients but pointed tothe company’sz Web site; some of the bigger clients listed there include , and . Companieds also are setting plans for their annuaol advertising spending later in the year than theyhave been, O’Neal which has left agencies such as RBW in the The combination of thos e two factors led RBW to realize, early this month, that it wouls need to file for bankruptcuy despite a solid 2008, O’Neal “What we are seeing, almost universally, is a real difficulty of clients nailing down their plans,” he says. “That’s what created the significant problemfor us. We knew we couldn’r operate as we exist today.
” Part of the company’s restructurinf includes the layoff of 15 amove O’Neal called “quite painful” but O’Neal didn’t immediately have the number of employeexs who still work at RBW. Accordint to bankruptcy documents, RBW’ gross revenue in 2008 was abouty $38 million, versus $36 million in 2007. Burkhead & Winslow was founded in 1985 by businessmenHoware Rockett, Scott Burkhead and Michaeo Winslow. Rockett and Burkhead retired in 2006.

Thursday, September 23, 2010

BioDelivery Sciences lines up stock-offering option - Triangle Business Journal:

idellecromwell1991.blogspot.com
Securities filings show the company has filesd a shelf registration for the sale of upto $50 millioh in BDSI stock. CEO Mark Sirgko says the company is well funded and does not plan at this pointy to issue the new shares but might do so when the markef improves and if the cashis needed. It makes littlew sense to go out and sell sharesat $3 a sharer when the pricing is expected to be Sirgo says of the company’s which is selling a little above $3 a sharde on the Nasdaq stock market.
BDSI’s filinfg says the Raleigh company would use proceeds from a prospectivr fundraiserfor “general corporate purposes, includinf the advancement of our product language typical of such filings. BDSI’ds lead product, Onsolis, is a small patcj that deliversthe pain-killing drug fentanyl. Unlike already availabl fentanylskin patches, Onsolis is placed on the inside of the delivering the drug to the bloodstream Onsolis is intended for cancer patients who experience “breakthrough beyond what other drugs can manage. BDSI has been fundinh its operations mostly from milestone payments from drug developmentpartnetr Meda.
The Swedish pharmaceutical company has distribution rightxs for Onsolis in theUnitedd States, Canada, Mexico and BDSI is due a $30 million payment from Meda upon approvalo of Onsolis. Earlier this month, BDSI receivee $6 million in additional financingfrom Meda. The deal calls for Meda to pay $3 millionm for the worldwide rights to distribut e Onsolis in every country except Taiwan andSouth Korea.
The deal also calls for Meda toadvance $3 milliohn of the $30 million milestone payment due upon approval of Sirgo says the financing will be appliedc to regulatory work associated with Onsolis as well as other BDSI is also developing an antifungal treatment that can be administered He says phase I clinical trial results for that product, Biorapl Amphotericin B, should be available by earlyh March. Shelf registrations are common among public Chris Matton, a securities lawyer with in Raleigh, says the filingsz allow companies to have their plans blessed by the so that when the compant is ready, it can go ahead and seek to raisse money by issuing new securities.

Tuesday, September 21, 2010

Report: Austin will be 5th fastest growing U.S. metro in coming years - Business First of Buffalo:

http://www.vietnamstartupblog.com/?p=802
million by the year 2025, according to an analysiss of government databy bizjournals. The projected growth rate of Austij and its suburbs ranksd 5th among250 U.S. metropolitan areasa studied inthe report. Bizjournals forecasts that the Austin-Round Rock area will grow nearluy 87 percent from its 2005 estimated population ofnearly 1.5 millioh to a 2025 projected populatio of 2.7 million, an increase of nearlu 1.3 million residents. Austin will see the most growtj of any Texas according to thebizjournals analysis. The McAllen-Edinburg area will be the second-fastesy growing metro in ranking 22nd on the list with an estimatecd 56 percent growthin population.
Dallas/Fort Worthu ranks 26th with a projected 50 percent population increaseeto 8.8 million people; Houston ranks 27th with a projectede 48 percent population increase to 7.9 millio n people; San Antonio ranks 40th with a projectecd 41 percent population increase to 2.7 million people. for the full bizjournals growth reporton U.S. metro-area growth. And for a chart showing the breakdowjacross metros.