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Racquet Club Pro Shop continues record growth: Team sales pushing specialty retailer’s expansion

In the midst of a down economy and tepid interest in tennis, the only problem the Indianapolis Racquet Club Pro Shop has is where to expand next. Pushed by double-digit-percentage sales growth in nine of the last 12 years, the IRC Pro Shop has expanded from a 750-square-foot shoebox to become an industry giant in the specialty tennis category. Most tennis club pro shops are breakeven operations, but IRC officials said they have seen profit grow each of the last…

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Hotels feeling travel slump: City occupany rates fall, but downtown operators performing well this year thanks to convention biz

Staggeringly high gasoline prices and a sputtering economy are preventing scores of would-be travelers from packing up their thirsty sport-utility vehicles and heading to their favorite vacation destinations. Nationwide, hotel occupancy rates slipped to 68 percent through June of this year, down from 71 percent the same time last year, according to the most recent data from Tennessee-based Smith Travel Research. For the most part, local hotel operators are feeling the same pain. Through the first six months of the…

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IU names Crean to AD search team

Indiana University President Michael McRobbie announced this afternoon that the school has formed a 13-person search committee to find a replacement for athletic director Rick Greenspan. The search committee will include faculty members, administrators and alumni. The search committee will be…

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Tracy, Subway could be back in IRL

Open-wheel race driver Paul Tracy may not be done this year on the Indy Racing League circuit. This morning, Walker Racing officials told IBJ they continue to work with Subway Restaurants and other…

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Tour victory rolls out of Speedway

Carlos Sastre’s Tour de France victory was cemented in Paris July 27, but the wheels that carried him to victory were made in Speedway.

While Zipp Speed Weaponry has been providing high-end bicycle wheels…

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IRL works on schedule, TV deal

At 2 p.m. today, IRL officials are expected to unveil their 2009 schedule. Motorsports sources tell IBJ there will be 18 races next year (10 ovals and eight road courses), with the Nashville…

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Threat of Crean’s exodus moves IU

Indiana University is making me look pretty smart these days. And it has nothing to do with the degree I earned there almost 20 years ago.

Three weeks ago I was asked on a…

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Tony, tires, Danica make news

The big stories in the world of motorsports have been coming at such a high rate of speed, it’s been difficult to keep up.

The long weekend kicked off with Tony Stewart getting into an altercation with a U.S. Auto Club…

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SPORTS: NASCAR: Good for the city, not so fun to watch

Depending upon when IBJ lands in your hands, the 15th Allstate 400 at the Brickyard will be either coming to or going from the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. So let’s talk racin’. Let me begin by saying how pleased I am that Tony George took that giant leap in 1994 and welcomed NASCAR to the hallowed openwheel grounds of IMS. By most accounts, the Brickyard 400 instantly became the second-most-coveted prize on the NASCAR circuit and it has remained in that…

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VOICES FROM THE INDUSTRY: Stock investing means navigating emotional mind fields

This has been a dizzy stock market, maybe even ill, but it isn’t terminal. Learning how to manage one’s own emotions while investing is an important part of success. And, the most crucial factor is practicing realism over optimism, instead of the reverse. Hope is helpful in most areas of life because it gives us optimism and a reason to live, but in the investment arena, it can quickly drive our portfolio into negative territory. Our desire for excessive investment…

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Big crowds greet IRL in Edmonton

The Indy Racing League’s foray into Edmonton is looking good.

Sources on the ground there for this weekend’s race report that IRL race signage and promotional material posted by city officials is evident along streets,…

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IRL drafts off NASCAR

Indianapolis Motor Speedway President Tony George’s open-wheel racing enterprise has gotten a boost from its fendered brethren that few outside racing circles are aware of.

So powerful is the connection between NASCAR and the…

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Indians hit home run with sponsors

At a time when many professional sports teams and properties are seeing their revenue drop in the wake of a rocky economy, the Indianapolis Indians this year have seen a nearly 18 percent…

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Jackets required for grand opening

Fear not. If you didn’t get your free ticket to tour the Indianapolis Colts’ new home venue, there’s still a way to get a sneak peak—at a steep price. And this event is…

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Danica Patrick vs. Milka Duno

If you haven’t seen the video of Saturday’s altercation between Indy Racing League drivers Danica Patrick and Milka Duno, you can go to YouTube. More than 600,000 people have watched it since…

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IUPUI’s Hunter delivers on promise

IUPUI men’s basketball Coach Ron Hunter is making good on a promise he made in January to personally deliver shoes to the poorest of the poor.

Thursday, Hunter and members of the Jaguars team…

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AAA to sponsor MotoGP event

AAA Hoosier Motor Club today finalized a three-year deal with the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, making AAA Hoosier Insurance a primary sponsor of the inaugural Red Bull Indianapolis GP MotoGP event on Sept. 14…

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Five finalists for IRL title sponsor

Indy Racing League officials searching for a title sponsor have their short list narrowed to five companies.

Subway restaurants and Eastman Kodak head the list, according to league sources. There are also two technology…

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EYE ON THE PIE: Taking the con out of economics

A marketing professor at the Kelley School of Business used to proclaim he could teach all one needed to know about economics in a week. That was back in the days when faculty would spend a few minutes of the morning hours in the coffee room engaged in friendly banter as well as serious discussion. The coffee room and my friend are both gone, but to me, a teacher of economics, the insult remains. Imagine-denigrating my calling, my faith, with…

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SPORTS: In hiring as in knee surgery, timing is everything

Of this, that and the other: Timing, as they say, is everything. The University of Notre Dame lost its athletic director, Kevin White, to Duke University on June 1 and has been actively engaged in identifying his successor. A couple of weeks later, Indiana University announced its athletic director, Rick Greenspan, would resign but serve in lameduck status until the end of the year. Somewhere in the middle of those circumstances was Indianapolis attorney Jack Swarbrick, a Bloomington native but…

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