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Macy’s Inc., which has three Indianapolis department stores, is still fighting a stubborn public relations battle in Chicago, where it bought Marshall Field’s two years ago and renamed the local legend Macy’s. More than 100 people marched yesterday to ask people living in Chicago to boycott the department store until Macy’s changes the name back […]
A proposed ban on new truck stops at Greenwood’s two Interstate 65 interchanges has gained unanimous support from the city council. The council also might ban additional gas stations and convenience stores, according to the Daily Journal of Franklin. A lengthy list of businesses, including dog kennels and boat dealers, already is banned by the […]
A group led by an aggressive, 29-year-old investor from Texas has boosted its stake in the struggling Steak n Shake Co. from 5.8 percent to 6.7 percent, according to a regulatory filing. Sardar Biglari, who runs San Antonio-based Lion Fund, began acquiring Steak n Shake shares this spring. Biglari and affiliates-including Western Sizzlin Corp., the […]
Indianapolis-based Finish Line Inc. has hired Moelis Advisers as a non-exclusive financial and capital markets adviser, the shoe and clothing retailer announced this morning. Moelis is a division of New York-based Mercanti Securities LLC, which is a unit of Los Angeles-headquartered Mercanti Group. In its statement, Finish Line didn’t discuss why it had hired Moelis. […]
Aprimo Inc., the north-side developer of marketing software, said in a Securities and Exchange Commission filing this morning that it plans to raise up to $50 million in an initial public offering. The company would be listed on NASDAQ under the ticker MKTG. Aprimo said the price and number of shares have not been determined. […]
The odds are long, but Jaron Garrett isn’t giving up on an ambitious plan to replace several blighted buildings along Washington Street with a twisting glass-and-steel apartment tower. The 25-story project…
The expected announcement that Indianapolis-based Clarian Health Partners will build a hospital near Muncie is raising anticipation about improved health care services as well as fears that the competition could hurt local hospitals, according to The Star-Press. Last week, the president of the town council of nearby Yorktown said Clarian plans to develop a 100-acre […]
When the Indianapolis Museum of Art landed the U.S. premiere of a 184-piece exhibit of Roman art from the Louvre, its staff knew the time had come to think big. “This show is considered a blockbuster,” said Daniel Incandela, director of new media at IMA. “I knew we should develop some blockbuster content ideas.” So he and his colleagues pitched their grand plan to museum leaders: They would travel to Rome and Paris to develop an 11-part series of digital…
This week, more thoughts on the Fringe and its attendees. It took me a while to figure out why the audiences at this year’s IndyFringe festival were so friendly. I don’t mean friendly as in walking up to you, shaking your hand, and asking how your family’s doing. I mean friendly in the sense that they seemed to warmly welcome whatever was being presented on stage. Don’t get me wrong: They didn’t love everything they saw or feel obligated to…
Jaron Garrett hasn’t developed anything like the 25-story tower he’s proposing. And he doesn’t come close to having the financial
muscle to pull off the $30 million project on his own. But Garrett is determined to sell his vision of transforming a downtown
eyesore at Washington and Pennsylvania streets into a twisting glass-and-steel apartment tower.
No question about it, the feel-good that sport can create has taken a beating this summer. There was Barry Bonds breaking the Major League homerun record under the strong suspicion of steroid use, NFL star Michael Vick’s guilty plea on federal dogfighting charges, the betting scandal involving NBA referee Tim Donaghy, and the revelation of match-fixing in professional tennis. Just to name a few. It could really get you down if you let it. Yet, I’ve written this before-sport provides…
The sliding value of the U.S. dollar is boosting financial results for some of Indiana’s big exporters. The dollar recently
hit its lowest point in 15 years against an index of other major currencies, such as the euro, the Chinese yuan and Canadian
dollar.
As the 14th-mostpopulous state in the union, Indiana generates a gross state product that is 16th-largest of the 50 states. Unfortunately, despite significant investments in equipment and processes by manufacturers and public-policy efforts to encourage the attraction and growth of knowledgeand technology-focused industries, our economy remains energy-inefficient. In 2003, Indiana was the country’s sixthlargest consumer of energy per capita, according to the Indiana Energy Report. Ninety-seven percent of Indiana’s electricity is generated by coal. Indiana is the fifthlargest emitter of…
Good news. The shortage of hospital nurses isn’t quite as bad as it used to be. In the last five years, Indianapolis’ hospitals have chipped away quietly at the gap in nurse staffing that seized local and national attention earlier this decade. To achieve these modest declines in what hospitals call their nursing vacancy rates, they have revamped their recruitment and retention efforts at a time when nurses have more options outside hospitals than ever before. Nursing schools are working…
Jim Cornelius had such success selling Guidant Corp. last year that analysts can’t stop speculating when he’ll pull off a mega-merger at B r i s t o l – M y e r s Squibb, the firm he now leads. How about pairing it, for instance, with Eli Lilly and Co., where Cornelius used to be chief financial officer? “We’re about the same size. Both Sidney Taurel and John Lechleiter are former colleagues and good friends. You can never…
Alan G. Symons’ company, Fast Tek Group LLC, lost a court fight with Fishers-based competitor Product Action International
LLC in February. So Symons pushed Fast Tek into Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in June–a move that clears the way for a
suitor to buy the assets without being saddled with the liabilities.
We don’t have to be obsessed with property taxes. All is not dreadful despite the clamor of some disaffected taxpayers. For example, La-Porte has two operating barbershops on the same street downtown. This warms the heart. Equally positive is finding an excellent housing stock in LaPorte, with many beautiful homes painted in a joyous, imaginative fashion. Can you believe the McDonald’s in Winamac opens at 4:30 a.m. and keeps its drive-through open 24 hours a day? That alone suggests a…
Growing up in Detroit, Andrew T. Porter had an early education in men’s fashion. The son of a minister, he recalls admiring the Sunday best of his father and members of the congregation. In his neighborhood, “there was a clothing store on every corner,” Porter said. “I always had an eye for putting things together. It came naturally to me.” Porter remained a student of fashion, even though he worked in manufacturing. When a friend who owned a Detroit clothing…
Hanging out at the art world’s water cooler, but don’t know how to break the ice? Here are several topics IBJ has identified that will be on the tips of the tongues wagging in the local arts scene. Read and discuss amongst yourselves. What do you think of Max Anderson’s leadership at the Indianapolis Museum of Art? Since taking over in mid-2006, staff say Anderson is constantly beating this drum: The IMA is a top-10 encyclopedic museum; it’s time we…
A big financial crisis spreads the notion that the interests of Wall Street differ from the interests of Main Street. The “liquidity crisis” of the past few weeks, with its difficult jargon and complex financial instruments, is a prime example. Unfortunately, the notion that the tumult represents a failure of markets is exactly the wrong lesson to take away from this experience. In a nutshell, here’s why. In the past few years, mortgage lenders-ranging from the George Baileytype savings and…
