As motorists rush to buy antacid pills with each $4.25-a-gallon fill-up, the same car dealers who got pudgy five years ago selling SUVs with $6,000 profit margins are scrambling to profit from Aveos or anything else with decent mileage.
Local advertising powerhouse Young & Laramore signed a new contract with Steak n Shake, one of its flagship clients, just
two weeks ago, but ad industry observers can’t help but wonder if the 18-year-old relationship is about to run its course.
Before the ink on the contract was dry, the struggling hamburger chain had a new board chairman who is likely to shuffle Steak
n Shake’s executive suite and take the company in a new direction.
The Old Northside Neighborhood Association is fighting an administrative approval of plans to build a CVS pharmacy at the southeast corner of 16th and Meridian streets. The Metropolitan Development…
Former car dealer and congressional candidate Eric Dickerson has filed for personal bankruptcy after three failed businesses
left him saddled with more than $1 million in debt. Dickerson says he is virtually broke save for a $101,000 inheritance he
is set to receive from the estate of his late mother.
Rink-Savoy honored
A $7.4-million renovation of the Rink-Savoy apartment building downtown (shown here) has won first place in a competition that honors the best in developments that utilize low income housing tax…
Two local developers have submitted bids to redevelop the Ambassador apartments adjacent to the Central Library. Van Rooy and Buckingham both proposed mixed uses for the Ambassador building, with street-level retail and commercial…
The Metropolitan Development Commission approved a $15-million Broad Ripple redevelopment project by a 9-0 vote this afternoon, disagreeing with a handful of vocal remonstrators. In siding with the developer,…
Lafayette Square Mall could look a lot like the revitalized Glendale Town Center in a few years if the mall’s new owners get
their way. A proposed site plan shows that New York-based Ashkenazy Acquisition Corp. doesn’t intend to settle for filling
the mall’s ample vacant space.
A 1-acre site along the Central Canal will not be developed, at least for now, a state official said in an e-mail. The state’s public finance director, Jennifer Alvey,…
Plainfield’s top retail destination could become a much larger draw if a Florida-based developer gets its way. DeBartolo Development has a preliminary deal to buy Metropolis and hopes to land Bass Pro Shops…
Check out the renderings for a CVS pharmacy at the southeast corner of 16th and Meridian streets. A previous post on the development is here. What do you think? By request, the siteplan is
Domestic automakers were already scheming about new ways to chop dealers–cutting costs to service them–as their market share
drained to Toyota and other foreign competitors. Now, an economy standing on the brakes could drive another round of dealer
consolidations that might not be a good deal for family-owned peddlers of metal.
Sport Bowl calling it quitsThe owners of Sport Bowl, a south-side institution for 67 years, plan to close in about a week. The 32-lane bowling alley has struggled since locally based Royal Pin…
Two executives with longtime ties to The Steak n Shake Co. have joined a dissident Texas investor in his quest to overhaul
the Indianapolis-based restaurant chain. Shareholders who have agreed to work with Sardar Biglari include a former board member
the company once described as a “modern-day founder” of the restaurant chain, along with a former partner in Kelley & Partners
Ltd., the investment firm led by company patriarch E.W. Kelley before his 2003 death.
CVS has filed plans to build a new store where an IHOP now stands at the corner of 16th and Meridian streets. The new pharmacy would replace the iconic…
Sen. Barack Obama’s presidential campaign plans to temporarily take over one of the city’s most prominent retail spaces. The campaign has reached a deal to open an office in Flagstar Bank’s former…
Noble Roman’s Inc. has taken over the operation of six franchised restaurants in Indianapolis in a bid to prove its concept
can be executed profitably. The move–which comes amid a chorus of discontent from franchisees and as the company explores
the possibility of selling itself–could help the 1,000-restaurant chain avoid the embarrassment of store failures in its
own back yard.
Matt Ewer and his wife, Elizabeth Blessing, launched Farm Fresh Delivery LLC in July. With nearly 500 subscribers already,
the organically- and locally-grown-groceries delivery business is blooming in a segment where many large, mass-market retailers
failed during the dotcom bust.
Texas investor Sardar Biglari rode a wave of shareholder anger to a landslide victory in his quest for Steak n Shake Co. board
seats. Now, the dissident 30-year-old investor who models his approach after Warren Buffett’s is hoping to deliver on his
promise to turn around the Indianapolis-based chain, with or without the chairmanship he covets.
The new owners of Lafayette Square Mall are plotting a $12-million redevelopment that would add a go-kart track and PC gaming area to the former Lazarus. New York-based…
