IBJ Staff

Shares of HhGregg Inc. shot up more than 7 percent this morning only to tumble back to the $13.50 range where the stock started the day. The swing followed the first earnings report the Indianapolis-based appliance and electronics retailer filed as a public company. Gregg said it turned a $2.9 million profit in its fiscal […]

American Commercial Lines Inc. directors have approved buying as much as $150 million of the company’s stock, the Jeffersonville parent of barge builder Jeffboat said today. The move follows a buyback of $200 million of the stock in July. The company has seen its shares slump to $22 from $39 in February due to weakness […]

HhGregg Inc. turned a $2.9 million profit in its fiscal first quarter ended June 30-also its first quarter to report financial results as a public company. The gain reversed a $1.4 million loss of a year earlier. The Indianapolis-based appliance and electronics chain attributed the improvement to strong growth in comparable stores and rising gross […]

Despite alternately hitting the gas and the brakes, the recreational vehicle industry still could be on track for a solid year, according to the South Bend Tribune. Dealers are selling of a glut of inventory they accumulated after makers last year offered deals to keep their plants humming. As a result, factories are getting fewer […]

The man who spent the last five years retooling the menu and operations of Indianapolis-based Steak n Shake Co. is leaving the struggling hamburger chain. Peter Dunn is out as CEO, the company said today. Chairman Alan Gillman, who joined Steak n Shake in 1992 as CEO, will take the helm again on an interim […]

Zionsville Golf Course has agreed to be bought by the town for slightly more than $1.5 million, according to the Daily Sun of Lebanon. The nine-hole course lies directly north of Zionsville’s center. Owner Mike Morgan told the newspaper that he and his wife, Patty, wanted the course to remain as green space despite offers […]

Shares of locally based Steak N Shake Co. shed nearly 9 percent of their value this morning, hitting a 52-week low of $14.07. The drop comes on the heels of a dip in third-quarter profit and lowered guidance revealed Aug. 10. Shares had traded at $16.89 on Aug. 7, responding to news that an activist shareholder acquired a 9.5-percent […]

GilChrist & Soames, an Indianapolis company that supplies toothpaste to hotels across the globe, has started recalling toothpaste made in China because samples were found to be contaminated with diethylene glycol. The chemical is used as a coolant, and in cork, printing ink and other products, and has been involved in several mass poisonings. The […]

Indianapolis-based Emmis Communications Corp. and the Indiana High School Athletic Association have started a Web site for sports coverage, the organizations said today. The free site, IHSAASports.org, includes live and archived video and audio as well as scores, video interviews, stories and schedules. Other features include coach of the week and player of the week. […]

Two years after launching a plan to outsource 1,017 jobs through IBM, NiSource Inc. is 144 positions short of its goal, according to The Times of Munster. This spring, the Merrillville gas and electric utility announced to workers that some of the jobs would return because results hadn’t met expectations. NiSource executives also told Wall […]

Forty-six percent of new houses in the nine-county Indianapolis area are unoccupied-barely an improvement from the 49 percent of early this year. The figure were compiled by Market Graphics, a Nashville, Tenn., firm that researches housing stock in 30 Midwest and Southern cities. Market Graphics owner Edsel Charles said ongoing problems with mortgage foreclosures appear […]

Hours could be pared at as many as 25 percent of Steak n Shake Co. stores in order to cut labor costs, an official of the Indianapolis-based restaurant chain told analysts in a conference call late yesterday. An experiment with 12 stores showed that closing doors during certain periods rather than staying open around the […]

The Steak n Shake Co. late this afternoon reported that same-store sales slid 4.3 percent in its third fiscal quarter, which ended July 4. It was the eighth straight quarter same-store sells fell. The Indianapolis-based diner chain said total sales increased 2.1 percent, to $154 million. Profit was $124,000, compared with $7.3 million in the […]

At least one local real estate broker thinks Simon Property Group’s plan to expand the Fashion Mall is a competitive dig at the nearby Venu mixed-use project. Simon said yesterday it would add 150,000 square feet to the Fashion Mall. The long-rumored addition of a second level on the west side of the property will […]

Kenilworth Systems Corp. announced today that it plans to open cafes where patrons can bet at casino tables via laptop computers while drinking coffee-and it wants to launch one of its first locations in Indianapolis. The New York company also said it hopes to open Roulabette Cafes in Boston, Chicago, New York City, Silicon Valley, […]

Batesville-based Hillenbrand Industries Inc. reported today that profit in its third fiscal quarter slumped 31.3 percent, to $35.7 million. Profit of 57 cents per share fell short of the 68 cents expected by analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial. The maker of health care equipment and caskets blamed the decline on disappointing growth in its North […]

Plans by Rockies Express Pipeline LLC to build a gas pipeline through Shelby County probably will result in court action, Shelby County Commission President Tony Newton said this week. The 1,679-mile project, which has prompted heated opposition in Shelby, Morgan and Johnson counties, is intended to carry Colorado gas to Ohio. The 42-inch line currently […]

A blog that follows Silicon Valley gossip is implying that new Indiana University President Michael McRobbie had a conflict of interest when IU formed a partnership with Carmel-based ChaCha Search Inc. The blog, ValleyWag, said the deal appears suspicious because McRobbie had a long history as an IU information technology and research executive before becoming […]

Funds from operations, a common measure of real estate investments trusts, increased 10.7 percent in the second quarter for Indianapolis-based Kite Realty Group Trust. The $11.7 million was driven by strong performance in its core operations, the shopping center developer said this afternoon. Progress also continued on development and redevelopment projects, it said, adding that […]