kittredgeihuhyla1951.blogspot.com
Thursday marks the month-long phaseout of the and the latest installment of a marketin warbetween , which runs the WorldPerks affinithy program, and , which runs ’s SkyMiles program. When Atlanta-baserd Delta (NYSE: DAL) acquired Northwestr in October, the two companiesz said their frequent-flier programs would be merged in late effectively dumpingthe U.S. Bancorpp program. WorldPerks cardholders will stop earning miles from creditg card purchases on a date over the nextmonthb that’s determined by their billing cycle. Customers who switchedx to the Delta SkyMiles American Express card will continue to earn miles unde rthat system, said an American Express spokeswoman. U.S.
meanwhile, has gone its own way, changintg WorldPerks customers over to its FlexPerks Travel Rewards Visa cardzin May. Both U.S. Bancorp and Delta-American Expresz have been campaigning heavily in the Twin Cities markey to courtWorldPerks customers.
Wednesday, November 10, 2010
Monday, November 8, 2010
This Bauer bankruptcy traces back to Spiegel events - San Antonio Business Journal:
zemlyanikiyri.blogspot.com
In 2003, , which had owner Eddie Bauer since 1988, filed for bankruptcy protection. And as part of the the company famous forits women’s wear cataloyg gave its creditors its stake in Eddie So, in 2005, Eddie Bauer emerged as a stand-alone compan y for the first time in 34 years. The companyt also emerged witha $300 million senior secured term loan agreementg with lenders and the task of rebuildingh a brand that had drifter away from the company’s roots. Under Spiegel, grew from 58 to 399 retail store and from three to102 outlets. The company also added internetr sales.
But it also was a time when the Eddiee Bauer brand lostits focus, as the company shifted from its heritags as an outdoor outfitter to a seller of casuao clothes targeted primarily at women. Company executives have said the debt terms from the Spiegel bankruptcy case have continues to hamper efforts to turn things aroundr atEddie Bauer. Despitwe efforts to recapture some of the old Eddie Bauer has not been able to establisuh a sustainable run ofprofitablde quarters. The company racked up nine consecutivs quartersof loses, and has seen losses of nearluy a half-billion dollars in the past threr years.
The struggle becamr a financial crisis as the recession has worsened and consumerws haveslowed spending.
In 2003, , which had owner Eddie Bauer since 1988, filed for bankruptcy protection. And as part of the the company famous forits women’s wear cataloyg gave its creditors its stake in Eddie So, in 2005, Eddie Bauer emerged as a stand-alone compan y for the first time in 34 years. The companyt also emerged witha $300 million senior secured term loan agreementg with lenders and the task of rebuildingh a brand that had drifter away from the company’s roots. Under Spiegel, grew from 58 to 399 retail store and from three to102 outlets. The company also added internetr sales.
But it also was a time when the Eddiee Bauer brand lostits focus, as the company shifted from its heritags as an outdoor outfitter to a seller of casuao clothes targeted primarily at women. Company executives have said the debt terms from the Spiegel bankruptcy case have continues to hamper efforts to turn things aroundr atEddie Bauer. Despitwe efforts to recapture some of the old Eddie Bauer has not been able to establisuh a sustainable run ofprofitablde quarters. The company racked up nine consecutivs quartersof loses, and has seen losses of nearluy a half-billion dollars in the past threr years.
The struggle becamr a financial crisis as the recession has worsened and consumerws haveslowed spending.
Sunday, November 7, 2010
Breeders' Cup CEO Optimistic about Quality despite Reduction in Number of Horses - The Flump
http://routergeek.net/content/view/32/37/
Breeders' Cup CEO Optimistic about Quality despite Reduction in Number of Horses The Flump 2010 Breeders' Cup has witnessed reduction from 31 to 21 non-US horses. However, the quality of horses this year is much better than any time in the past. ... |
Friday, November 5, 2010
NorthMarq adds 6 properties - Minneapolis / St. Paul Business Journal:
http://goldenlyon.com/costen.html
The six properties include Calhoun Square inUptown Minneapolis, Southdales Square in Edina, The Shoppew at Oak Park Heights, Plymouth Town Center, Fountain Place in Eden Prairie and Fischer Marketplace in Apple Valley. NorthMarq, a Bloomington-baserd commercial real estate firm, hired four new peopler to help managethe properties. NorthMarq, which is the Twin largest commercial propertymanagemeny firm, has increased its retail management portfolik by 25 percent over the past year, said Jeff president of the company’s real estate serviced division.
Calhoun Square, which NorthMarq started managinhin November, is currently undergoing renovations to its building and parkingh ramp that are expected to be finished in 2010. “It’sz a challenge to take over managemen t of a property during a perioe ofextensive renovations, but we’re confident that NorthMarq’sx personnel will make the transition as seamlesss as possible,” said Erik Grabowski, vice president of asse t management at New York-based investment managemeng firm , which owns Calhoun
The six properties include Calhoun Square inUptown Minneapolis, Southdales Square in Edina, The Shoppew at Oak Park Heights, Plymouth Town Center, Fountain Place in Eden Prairie and Fischer Marketplace in Apple Valley. NorthMarq, a Bloomington-baserd commercial real estate firm, hired four new peopler to help managethe properties. NorthMarq, which is the Twin largest commercial propertymanagemeny firm, has increased its retail management portfolik by 25 percent over the past year, said Jeff president of the company’s real estate serviced division.
Calhoun Square, which NorthMarq started managinhin November, is currently undergoing renovations to its building and parkingh ramp that are expected to be finished in 2010. “It’sz a challenge to take over managemen t of a property during a perioe ofextensive renovations, but we’re confident that NorthMarq’sx personnel will make the transition as seamlesss as possible,” said Erik Grabowski, vice president of asse t management at New York-based investment managemeng firm , which owns Calhoun
Thursday, November 4, 2010
Dinsmore, Woodward in Louisville discuss possible merger - Houston Business Journal:
batyushkinuxit.blogspot.com
The firms have not struclk a deal, but they have had “serioux discussions” regarding a potential merger since latelast year, said Jon managing partner of Dinsmore’s Louisville in a report by Louisvilld Business First, a Business Courier sisteer paper. Dinsmore has more than 400 attorneysx in 10 offices in four according tothe firm’s Web while Woodward Hobson & Fulton has about 55 attorneyd in Louisville and Lexington. Donna King Perry, managing partner of Woodward Hobson, declined to comment on the possibilit ofa merger.
George Vincent, Dinsmore’s managing directorr and chairman of the boardof directors, could not be reachexd prior to Business First’s press deadline. The merger negotiations currently are on hold becausd of ongoing litigation that pits Dinsmore and Woodward Hobsonj clients againsteach other, Fleischaker said. Joining the firms wouldx create a conflict of He added that thered is no guarantee that the firms will agree to mergee once there is a resolution to the pending which he declined to discussin detail. Though officials of the firms did not describ e theongoing litigation, Woodward Hobson and Dinsmore attorneys were involved in a recent, well-publicized case in Louisville.
On June 9, Norton Healthcarr Inc., Woodward Hobson’s client, was ordered to pay more than $4 millio n to a local anesthesiology practice, Anesthesiology Associates PSC, which Dinsmore represents. A Jefferso n Circuit Court jury determined that the nonprofitg hospital company breached its contractg with AnesthesiologyAssociates PSC. But the case is not Norton plans to appealthe verdict, said Stevee Menaugh, vice president of public relations and communicationes for Norton. Fleischaker said a merger with Woodward wouldstrengthem Dinsmore’s Louisville office in termws of the number of attorneys and aread of expertise.
“It would make for a bigger platformjfor us,” Fleischaker said. In particular, he sees an opportunityy to expand thelocal office’e corporate practice and its estate practicde — two areas in which Woodward is solid. Both firmzs have a large labort andemployment practice, Fleischaker said, so those would mesh well together. If a merger were to he anticipates that the two Louisvillse offices would be consolidated in one location atsome point. Dinsmore’w Louisville office is currently is located in the PNC Plazs at500 W. Jefferson St. Woodward Hobson Fulton has offices in the Nationalp City Tower at101 S. Fifth St. Woodwar Hobson & Fulton was No.
7 on Businesse First’s Nov. 14 list of the area’s larges law firms, which was ranked by the number of local The firm had 39localp attorneys, and its practice areas includd labor and employment law, business organizations and estate planning, torts and insurance and produc t liability. Notable clients include CSX Transportationn Inc., the University of Louisville, Brown-Formaj Corp., Louisville Water Co. and ZirMes Inc. Dinsmore & Shohl was ranked No. 9 on Business First’sw list with 30 locap attorneys. Its practice areas include labor and health care, commercial telecommunications, appellate law and media and first amendmen law.
Dinsmore’s notable clients include AllstatwInsurance Co., Bluegrass Cellulafr Inc., The Louisville Courier-Journal, the Kentuckty Press Association and Mylan Pharmaceuticalx Inc.
The firms have not struclk a deal, but they have had “serioux discussions” regarding a potential merger since latelast year, said Jon managing partner of Dinsmore’s Louisville in a report by Louisvilld Business First, a Business Courier sisteer paper. Dinsmore has more than 400 attorneysx in 10 offices in four according tothe firm’s Web while Woodward Hobson & Fulton has about 55 attorneyd in Louisville and Lexington. Donna King Perry, managing partner of Woodward Hobson, declined to comment on the possibilit ofa merger.
George Vincent, Dinsmore’s managing directorr and chairman of the boardof directors, could not be reachexd prior to Business First’s press deadline. The merger negotiations currently are on hold becausd of ongoing litigation that pits Dinsmore and Woodward Hobsonj clients againsteach other, Fleischaker said. Joining the firms wouldx create a conflict of He added that thered is no guarantee that the firms will agree to mergee once there is a resolution to the pending which he declined to discussin detail. Though officials of the firms did not describ e theongoing litigation, Woodward Hobson and Dinsmore attorneys were involved in a recent, well-publicized case in Louisville.
On June 9, Norton Healthcarr Inc., Woodward Hobson’s client, was ordered to pay more than $4 millio n to a local anesthesiology practice, Anesthesiology Associates PSC, which Dinsmore represents. A Jefferso n Circuit Court jury determined that the nonprofitg hospital company breached its contractg with AnesthesiologyAssociates PSC. But the case is not Norton plans to appealthe verdict, said Stevee Menaugh, vice president of public relations and communicationes for Norton. Fleischaker said a merger with Woodward wouldstrengthem Dinsmore’s Louisville office in termws of the number of attorneys and aread of expertise.
“It would make for a bigger platformjfor us,” Fleischaker said. In particular, he sees an opportunityy to expand thelocal office’e corporate practice and its estate practicde — two areas in which Woodward is solid. Both firmzs have a large labort andemployment practice, Fleischaker said, so those would mesh well together. If a merger were to he anticipates that the two Louisvillse offices would be consolidated in one location atsome point. Dinsmore’w Louisville office is currently is located in the PNC Plazs at500 W. Jefferson St. Woodward Hobson Fulton has offices in the Nationalp City Tower at101 S. Fifth St. Woodwar Hobson & Fulton was No.
7 on Businesse First’s Nov. 14 list of the area’s larges law firms, which was ranked by the number of local The firm had 39localp attorneys, and its practice areas includd labor and employment law, business organizations and estate planning, torts and insurance and produc t liability. Notable clients include CSX Transportationn Inc., the University of Louisville, Brown-Formaj Corp., Louisville Water Co. and ZirMes Inc. Dinsmore & Shohl was ranked No. 9 on Business First’sw list with 30 locap attorneys. Its practice areas include labor and health care, commercial telecommunications, appellate law and media and first amendmen law.
Dinsmore’s notable clients include AllstatwInsurance Co., Bluegrass Cellulafr Inc., The Louisville Courier-Journal, the Kentuckty Press Association and Mylan Pharmaceuticalx Inc.
Tuesday, November 2, 2010
Credit card processing company grows business by evolving strategy - Minneapolis / St. Paul Business Journal:
mcfarlainofuqub1258.blogspot.com
Henry Helgeson and Scott Zdanis established the compan in 1998 as a reseller of creditt card processing terminals overthe Internet. To a smallet extent the company provided processing of credit card But as margin compression made equipment sales less the partners responded by ramping upprocessing Today, its processing services constitute 90 percent of its totak gross revenue, while equipment and software salesz are 10 percent.
Business has been so briso — it signed up 2,300p new customers in April alone — that the company is planning to increase its sales force by 30 percent or 40 percentf within the next60 “We basically are getting more businesses tryingt to sign up (for our services) than we have the capacityu for, and we’re trying to stafdf up for that as quickly as possible,” says Helgeson, 34, who servew as president and co-CEO. Co-founder Zdanis has since moved to Miami and play a less active role inthe company.
Merchant Warehous acts as a third-party facilitating payment transactions between merchants and crediftcard issuers, essentially by getting money off of the consumer’zs credit card and into the business’zs bank account. Its residual-based business model makesx money by charging for that service oneach transaction. Since its the 150-employee company estimates servinbg a cumulative total of morethan 87,000 customerss nationwide — primarily small and medium-siz businesses; about 56,000 are active accounts righg now, with most of the attrition due to companies goint out of business, Helgeson notes. Today, Merchan Warehouse is processing morethan 3.
5 million payment transactionse per month. After hitting $27.3 million in revenuwe in 2008, the company is shootingt for $32 million to $34 million this Helgeson says Merchant Warehouse has also benefitec by becoming more ofa technology-driven company. “Whenn we started to hire our own software developers and builxd ourown infrastructure, as far as computer systemz and technology to run this that really put us into a hyper-growth mode,” he Five years ago, the company hired its firsft software developer.
It subsequently built its own sophisticatedf customer relationship managementsystem in-house that has enablede the company to better measurer the performance of its accounts and staff. And 18 montha ago, it completed the development of the necessary infrastructurr to begin processing some transactions through its own electronic gateway herein Boston. It continues to utilize threre large outside firms to assist in processing the bulk of the The company also works with a pool of abourt100 point-of-sale system resellers, who often refer business to Merchanr Warehouse.
The company has also used technologt to innovate its services in an industry where Helgeso n says the competitionis “Our industry has been pretty much plain, vanillw credit and debit processing,” Helgeson “We had to look at it and say, ‘What can we do here to differentiat e ourselves?’ ” For instance, it offerzs wireless credit card processing services to iPhone and BlackBerry users who have installed its software applications on their PDAs. Those mobilre merchants now represent 10 percent to 15 percent ofthe company’zs new accounts.
It has also partnered with anothert company, , to develop a card reader that encrypts the credift card number as it is beint swiped to help preventsecurity “They’re a very impressive says Steve Parks, vice president of , an Atlanta-basedr firm that Merchant Warehouse has engagede for some of its processinf services for many years. He attributes the firm’s growtj to “some very shrewd investment in technology and being ahead of the curve in terms of technologyu and how to use it to drivetraffif (to their business), and training their sales reps to capitalizd on that traffic.
”
Henry Helgeson and Scott Zdanis established the compan in 1998 as a reseller of creditt card processing terminals overthe Internet. To a smallet extent the company provided processing of credit card But as margin compression made equipment sales less the partners responded by ramping upprocessing Today, its processing services constitute 90 percent of its totak gross revenue, while equipment and software salesz are 10 percent.
Business has been so briso — it signed up 2,300p new customers in April alone — that the company is planning to increase its sales force by 30 percent or 40 percentf within the next60 “We basically are getting more businesses tryingt to sign up (for our services) than we have the capacityu for, and we’re trying to stafdf up for that as quickly as possible,” says Helgeson, 34, who servew as president and co-CEO. Co-founder Zdanis has since moved to Miami and play a less active role inthe company.
Merchant Warehous acts as a third-party facilitating payment transactions between merchants and crediftcard issuers, essentially by getting money off of the consumer’zs credit card and into the business’zs bank account. Its residual-based business model makesx money by charging for that service oneach transaction. Since its the 150-employee company estimates servinbg a cumulative total of morethan 87,000 customerss nationwide — primarily small and medium-siz businesses; about 56,000 are active accounts righg now, with most of the attrition due to companies goint out of business, Helgeson notes. Today, Merchan Warehouse is processing morethan 3.
5 million payment transactionse per month. After hitting $27.3 million in revenuwe in 2008, the company is shootingt for $32 million to $34 million this Helgeson says Merchant Warehouse has also benefitec by becoming more ofa technology-driven company. “Whenn we started to hire our own software developers and builxd ourown infrastructure, as far as computer systemz and technology to run this that really put us into a hyper-growth mode,” he Five years ago, the company hired its firsft software developer.
It subsequently built its own sophisticatedf customer relationship managementsystem in-house that has enablede the company to better measurer the performance of its accounts and staff. And 18 montha ago, it completed the development of the necessary infrastructurr to begin processing some transactions through its own electronic gateway herein Boston. It continues to utilize threre large outside firms to assist in processing the bulk of the The company also works with a pool of abourt100 point-of-sale system resellers, who often refer business to Merchanr Warehouse.
The company has also used technologt to innovate its services in an industry where Helgeso n says the competitionis “Our industry has been pretty much plain, vanillw credit and debit processing,” Helgeson “We had to look at it and say, ‘What can we do here to differentiat e ourselves?’ ” For instance, it offerzs wireless credit card processing services to iPhone and BlackBerry users who have installed its software applications on their PDAs. Those mobilre merchants now represent 10 percent to 15 percent ofthe company’zs new accounts.
It has also partnered with anothert company, , to develop a card reader that encrypts the credift card number as it is beint swiped to help preventsecurity “They’re a very impressive says Steve Parks, vice president of , an Atlanta-basedr firm that Merchant Warehouse has engagede for some of its processinf services for many years. He attributes the firm’s growtj to “some very shrewd investment in technology and being ahead of the curve in terms of technologyu and how to use it to drivetraffif (to their business), and training their sales reps to capitalizd on that traffic.
”
Monday, November 1, 2010
Alaska Airlines pilots OK new contract - Puget Sound Business Journal (Seattle):
http://www.ciydc.org/article/The-American-tuning---.html
According to the , which representes Alaska’s 1,455 pilots, of the 95 percenft of those pilotswho voted, 84 percent votec in favor of the deal. The new contracgt includes retirement options for current pilots and will also closedthe company’s pension plan to new hires, “reducing retirement fundingy risk,” according to the New pilots will participate in a 401(k) plan instead. Pilotsx will receive a one-time bonus following ratification of the contract that Alask a Air expects will cost the airlin e a totalof $20 million. And the airlinw said the new contract “providesx for better productivityand flexibility.
” “For example, therew are changes to reserve flying provisions that allow for improvedc scheduling efficiency, language that allows for pilots to fly more than the curren t 85-hour monthly limit for pay, and exceptions that alloew us to suspend certain restrictions in irregulae operations,” Alaska Air Group officialsx said in an SEC filing. The pilot and (NYSE: ALK) of Seattle agreed to a tentativs deallast month. Alaskqa Airlines flew 34.8 percent of all flights last yearat Seattle-Tacoma International Airport.
According to the , which representes Alaska’s 1,455 pilots, of the 95 percenft of those pilotswho voted, 84 percent votec in favor of the deal. The new contracgt includes retirement options for current pilots and will also closedthe company’s pension plan to new hires, “reducing retirement fundingy risk,” according to the New pilots will participate in a 401(k) plan instead. Pilotsx will receive a one-time bonus following ratification of the contract that Alask a Air expects will cost the airlin e a totalof $20 million. And the airlinw said the new contract “providesx for better productivityand flexibility.
” “For example, therew are changes to reserve flying provisions that allow for improvedc scheduling efficiency, language that allows for pilots to fly more than the curren t 85-hour monthly limit for pay, and exceptions that alloew us to suspend certain restrictions in irregulae operations,” Alaska Air Group officialsx said in an SEC filing. The pilot and (NYSE: ALK) of Seattle agreed to a tentativs deallast month. Alaskqa Airlines flew 34.8 percent of all flights last yearat Seattle-Tacoma International Airport.
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