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Houlihan's to return to Tampa Bay area
By wire services
Published October 7, 2005
Houlihan's Restaurants, a chain once controlled by Tampa Bay Buccaneers owner Malcolm Glazer that later sought Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization, is back in operation and returning to Tampa with three locations.
Doors open Oct. 24 in Carrollwood and will be followed by sites in the North Tampa and the Brandon area. The restaurants will be run by Radiant-Tampa Restaurants, owned by Manish Doshi and Alan Gaylin. Gaylin has the development rights for Houlihan's in Tampa, Phoenix and Austin.
Bright House to offer faster Net speeds
Bright House Networks is offering its high-speed Internet customers even faster connections for its Road Runner service. Starting Oct. 17, customers can choose online access that's double or triple the speed offered by the consumer-oriented service. Depending on what other services the customer gets from Bright House, the area's dominant cable company, cost for the additional speed will range from $10 to $15 more a month.
Tampa Wyndham hotel sale completed
Columbia Sussex Corp. on Thursday completed the acquisition of a site in Tampa and 13 other hotels from Wyndham International Inc., an affiliate of the Blackstone Group, for $1.4-billion. The hotels contain more than 5,800 rooms and are primarily in large urban markets. In addition to Tampa, the deal includes hotels in Atlanta, Baltimore, Boston, Chicago, Fort Lauderdale, New Orleans, Philadelphia, San Diego, Toronto and Washington, D.C.
Trinsic COO leaves
Trinsic Inc. said chief operating officer Frank Grillo resigned Sept. 30 "to pursue other opportunities." The Tampa phone company said chief executive Trey Davis will take over Grillo's duties.
AMD seeks details from Tech Data
Advanced Micro Devices Inc. said it served subpoenas this week on dozens of customers of rival computer chipmaker Intel Corp. as it seeks documents for its antitrust lawsuit against Intel, Reuters reported. Tech Data Corp. of Clearwater is among the more than 15 computer makers and a dozen distributors and retailers that AMD thinks may have information related to its claims against Intel.
363,000 jobless from hurricanes
The number of people thrown out of work from Hurricanes Katrina and Rita rose to 363,000 last week. The Labor Department reported 74,000 more hurricane-related claims for unemployment benefits were filed last week, up from 70,000 the previous week.
$200M earmarked for canker
LAKELAND - Florida citrus growers will be eligible for $200-million in compensation for losses they have suffered from citrus canker, U.S. Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns said Thursday.
Johanns authorized the funding under the Agricultural Adjustment Act, which allows the agency to provide money to growers in a disaster. Last year, the agency authorized more than $30-million to citrus growers who suffered losses from the three hurricanes that tore through citrus-growing regions of the state.
Citrus canker is a bacterium that disfigures and weakens citrus trees and is a major threat to the $9-billion industry.
Once canker is found in a grove, the state requires that citrus trees within a 1,900-foot radius be destroyed and a quarantine banning the movement of fruit and trees usually is established. Owners of backyard trees have sued to stop the destruction, but have been rebuffed.
The federal funding will cover the difference between a grower's loss from canker and what private insurance provided, said Dan Richey, a Vero Beach grower, who is a former chairman of the Florida Citrus Commission.
United agrees to $3B in financing
CHICAGO - United Airlines signed off Thursday on a $3-billion all-debt financing package that leaves it in position to exit Chapter 11 in February as targeted after more than three years in bankruptcy.
CEO Glenn Tilton touted the final commitment for financing, led by JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Citigroup Inc., as "a signal event in United's restructuring" and a vote of confidence in the nation's second-largest airline.
United, the primary subsidiary of holding company UAL Corp., said the financing package is expected to cover a period of six years, with the marketplace to set the final terms.
Big Lots closing 170 stores
COLUMBUS, Ohio - Closeout retailer Big Lots Inc. said Thursday it will close up to 170 underperforming stores, or 11 percent of its total, by the end of the year to bolster companywide performance.
The targeted stores are mostly in the Midwest and the company said they have marginal performances and are mostly in sparsely populated markets. Big Lots operates 1,536 stores in 47 states. The company would not say if any Florida locations would be included.
MCI shareholders approve merger
ASHBURN, Va. - MCI Inc. shareholders voted overwhelmingly Thursday to approve an $8.4-billion acquisition by Verizon Communications Inc., despite some lingering shareholder resentment over the company's rejection of a higher bid.
Stockholders voted 210-million shares in favor of the acquisition, with 28-million shares opposed.
AOL buys Weblogs
WASHINGTON - America Online Inc. Thursday agreed to buy Weblogs Inc., the publisher of 85 freelance online sites about cars, movies, parenting, travel and other subjects, in a $25-million deal.
We'll give them this - these buildings are unique
No concern over affordable housing here, folks.
Just outside San Francisco, David Duffield, a billionaire who amassed most of his fortune by reluctantly selling PeopleSoft Inc. last year, has submitted plans for a 72,000-square-foot home that would eclipse the mammoth mansions custom-made for his more famous peers, Bill Gates and Larry Ellison.
And in Dubai, U.S. real estate kingpin Donald Trump is joining forces with top Emirates developer Nakheel LLC to build a tulip-shaped hotel on a man-made island shaped like a palm tree.
We're not kidding.
Duffield's palatial vision may never be realized, however.
The project is facing intense opposition from the neighbors who would have to live in the shadow of the proposed three-story home in Alamo, Calif. The residence will dwarf the 60,645-square-foot Hearst Castle and the 55,000-square-foot White House.
And Duffield will demolish an 8,000-square-foot home on the property to make room for his castle. But really, you'd be cramped in 8,000 square feet, too.
Halfway around the world, Nakheel plans to break ground next year on a luxury hotel, the Palm Trump International Hotel and Tower, which will be built on the Palm Jumeirah, one of three palm-shaped islands that Nakheel is building off Dubai's coast.
No word on the building's size or cost, though.
Other chatter
A VIDEO IPOD?: A new video-enabled iPod is expected to be unveiled by Apple Computer Inc. during a press conference next week - though the maverick company is masterful at foiling such predictions. "From our checks with industry and channel sources, we believe Apple will release a first-generation video-capable iPod," American Technology Research said in a report Wednesday. Am Apple spokesman declined to comment.
VOGUE FOR MEN: Vogue, the bible for women's fashion, is about to get a baby brother. Conde Nast Publications, a major magazine publisher, said Wednesday it would begin regularly publishing Men's Vogue next spring, after the success of a test issue that went on newsstands in early September.
Information from the Associated Press was used in this report.
[Last modified October 7, 2005, 01:49:15]
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