Print

Email story

Comment

Email editor

Business Today

Winn-Dixie reopens 102 Gulf Coast stores

By wire services
Published September 17, 2005

Winn-Dixie Stores Inc., which recently delayed filing a plan to reorganize its finances in a Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceeding, on Friday said sales levels had fully recovered in its storm-struck Gulf Coast markets of Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama.

The company has business interruption insurance for lost sales and has reopened 102 of the 125 stores in its New Orleans division. But the Jacksonville grocer said it may face short-term liquidity issues to stock its stores while it waits for insurance money. The grocer said property and inventory losses from Hurricane Katrina may top $100-million.

Dale Schumacher, chief executive of the Tampa Bay Federal Credit Union, was named outstanding small business leader Friday at the Greater Tampa Chamber of Commerce's annual small business of the year awards gala. Also winning awards were airport retailer Stellar Partners, financial settlement solutions provider Fintech and Jeanne T. Tate, P.A.

America's deficit in the broadest measure of international trade showed a slight improvement in the April-June quarter although it was at the second-highest level in history. The Commerce Department reported the deficit in the U.S. current account totaled $195.7-billion in the second quarter. That was down 1.5 percent from the deficit in the first three months of this year - $198.7-billion - which was the record.

The University of Michigan's midmonth report on consumer sentiment for September fell sharply to 76.9 from 89.1 in August, according to media reports Friday. Economists surveyed by Dow Jones Newswires had expected to see a reading of 84.0 for preliminary September consumer sentiment.

Google Inc., the most-used Internet search engine, may consider making a bid for America Online to keep the company from switching to Microsoft Corp.'s search technology, a Merrill Lynch & Co. analyst said. Losing AOL as a client would cut Google's earnings per share by 5 to 10 percent, Lauren Rich Fine wrote in a note to clients.

The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries on Monday is widely expected to increase the oil production ceiling by 500,000 barrels a day, although analysts said the effect will be minimal. Previous OPEC moves have done little to ease market fears over supply.

An administrative law judge fined former Raymond James Financial Services president Stephen Putnam $200,000 and ordered him suspended from serving in any supervisory capacity in the securities industry for 90 days. A story Friday mischaracterized the suspension.

And now, a bulletin from the you-have-to-spend-money-to-save-money category:

Anchor Glass Container Corp., a Tampa bottlemaker that filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection last month, is seeking court permission to hire a Southfield, Mich., turnaround company.

Crisis managers from AlixPartners LLC don't come cheap. John Dubel, who has agreed to serve as Anchor's full-time chief restructuring officer, charges $650 an hour. Ted Stenger, whose title has not been determined, would get $670 an hour on an as-needed basis. Assistant treasurer Jon Shell would bill a paltry $410 per hour, according to a motion filed Wednesday.

If the court approved Anchor's reorganization plan, or ordered it to sell its assets, Anchor would pay AlixPartners a "contingent success fee" of $400,000.

Past clients of AlixPartners include such well-known financial basket cases as WorldCom and Kmart. Dubel also helped Tampa's Walter Industries through one of its restructurings.

AlixPartners' engagement letter to Anchor says Dubel will assess employee-related costs, help identify funding sources, develop cash-management processes and help prepare court filings.

International Business Machines Corp., worried the United States is losing its competitive edge, will financially back employees who want to leave the company to become math and science teachers.

The program, announced Friday, reflects tech industry fears that U.S. students are falling behind peers from Bangalore to Beijing in the sciences.

Up to 100 IBM employees will be eligible for the program in its trial. Eventually, Big Blue hopes many more of its tech savvy employees - and those in other companies - will follow.

The workers would have to get approval from their managers to participate. If selected, the employees would be allowed to take a leave of absence from the company, which includes full benefits and up to half their salary, depending on length of service.

In addition, the employees could get up to $15,000 in tuition reimbursements and stipends while they seek teaching credentials and begin student-teaching.

Information from Times staff writer Scott Barancik and the Associated Press was used in this report.

[Last modified September 17, 2005, 02:15:31]