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Talk of the bay

By TIMES STAFF WRITERS
Published April 3, 2006

Brooks Brothers moving to more prominent location in Old Hyde Park

Looking for the first sign of the changes new owners will bring to Old Hyde Park Village?

Brooks Brothers, the bastion of traditional business dress, is moving to a more prominent spot in the center that's supposed to open before Christmas.

"We're tickled," said Pat Westerhouse, who manages the south Tampa shopping center for Wasserman Vornado Real Estate Fund. The Rhode Island owners have more sweeping changes in mind that hinge on a pending rezoning case for a $100-million overhaul that includes luxury condominiums.

Brooks signed a lease for a store of equal size in an empty corner of what used to be Jacobson's. Work begins within a month.

Other stores in the village block shared by Brooks Brothers will be moved out of the building that will be a construction zone if the zoning case is approved.

- - MARK ALBRIGHT, Times staff writer

Tougher rules means more bonuses?

Directors at many public companies are boosting their own pay to compensate for the added burden of antifraud rules.

A proposed hike at Odyssey Marine Exploration, which lost $14.9-million last year on revenues of $10-million, is relatively generous on that front.

Information in the Tampa treasure hunters' proxy statement suggests that audit committee chairman George Knutsson, for example, would have received up to $50,000 in cash and stock options last year, assuming he attended all relevant meetings and cashed his options at the current market price. Under the company's new plan, he would receive up to $66,000 in cash or restricted stock.

Odyssey defended the plan in an e-mail. It cited the increased time demands and liability that board members face today, and said the company used a consultant and market studies to determine fair compensation for a company its size. Separately, the proxy shows that vice president Greg Stemm and co-chairman and former CEO John Morris take Odyssey's cash situation seriously.

Each used his 2005 bonus of $200,000 to exercise previously-issued stock options. For a company in the feast-or-famine business of hunting sunken treasure, it's a good way to preserve cash.

-- SCOTT BARANCIK, Times staff writer

ABC takes aggressive ad campaign to the skies - above rival

All's fair in love and wine wars.

Total Wine and More, a chain of 38 superstores based in Potomac, Md., shook up local wine retailing last year by opening a Tampa store with 8,000 types of wine on N Dale Mabry Highway.

The state's largest spirits chain, ABC Fine Wine & Liquors, felt the sting and is fighting back. Among its weapons is the billboard, pictured above, that looms over Total Wine's home in a remodeled Rooms to Go.

So what inspired ABC's aggressive ad? Complaints from unhappy Total Wine customers? Reports from spies cruising the aisles? Well, no. Actually, it was a quote from Total Wine chief executive David Trone in a St. Petersburg Times story Sept. 5.

"We draw traffic from up to 15 miles away by pricing the 300 top-selling items - the Bud Lite, the Kendall Jacksons, the Korbels - at just a little over cost," he said. "Then we train our people to actively suggest other brands that may be a better choice."

That's an admission the competition engages in bait-and-switch tactics, says Bob Gibson, ABC's marketing director. The billboard isn't an attack ad, he says, but it "does point out a difference in philosophy" between the retailers.

-- STEVE HUETTEL, Times staff writer

Progress going green? Utility prepares report on climate change

An electric utility might seem an unlikely source for a statement on what the United States should do to address climate change.

Leave it to Progress Energy, after the prodding of some shareholders. In a report last week, titled An Assessment of Global Climate Change and Air Quality Risks and Actions, the utility called for a national climate-change policy involving both the government and private sector.

The report said such a policy should promote the use of renewable energy, nuclear power and clean-coal and gas technologies. It also said that any steps taken should not harm the economy or Progress' ability to provide reliable, affordable electricity to its customers.

Progress, the Raleigh, N.C., parent of Progress Energy Florida of St. Petersburg, prepared the report as a compromise. In 2004, Boston Common Asset Management, a Boston investment manager, and the Office of the Comptroller of New York City wanted Progress shareholders to approve a resolution to set up a committee of independent Progress board members to assess the company's efforts to reduce plant emissions.

They withdrew their resolution after Progress agreed to prepare this climate-change report, according to Dawn Wolfe, social research and advocacy analyst for Boston Common, which manages investments for Progress shareholder Brethren Benefit Trust.

"Overall they did a good job," Wolfe said."We consider the report a first step."

- LOUIS HAU, Times staff writer

Florida's legal systems ranks in lower half, survey says

As far as legal fairness goes, Florida doesn't have much to crow about.

At least not according to a ranking of the best and worst state legal systems released recently by the U.S. Chamber Institute for Legal Reform. The institute ranked Florida 38th among the 50 states, though that's an improvement from the 2005 ranking of 42nd.

"This survey sends a clear message to states whose legal climate drives away businesses, jobs and economic development," Tom Donohue, president and CEO of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, said in a statement. "If you want a healthy state economy, clean up your act."

The states leading the pack are, in order, Delaware, Nebraska, Virginia, Iowa and Connecticut. Among the worst states are West Virginia, Louisiana, Illinois, California and Texas.

The survey polled more than 1,400 senior lawyers about the reasonableness and fairness of the tort liability system as perceived by business. Among criteria lawyers were asked to consider were the fairness and competence of judges and juries and the treatment of class-action suits.

ILR says its mission is "to make America's legal system simpler, fairer and faster for everyone."

So its advertising campaign highlighting survey results should come as no surprise. The print campaign will feature a message not new to chamber types.

That message: "Please Don't Feed the Trial Lawyers."

-- WILLIAM R. LEVESQUE, Times staff writer

Developers learn harsh truth: Communities don't meet residents' wishes

The chicken with capers and chocolate mousse cake were the palate-pleasing preliminaries to some bitter tasting news.

Developers and planners have done a lousy job building communities that attract the affection of residents. That's what the crowd of 150 was told at a luncheon last week at the Centre Club in Tampa's Westshore district.

People prefer parks to golf courses, main streets to strip malls, easy commutes to traffic jams and tree-lined streets to clear-cut landscapes. Yet the market has spent the past few decades bucking those wishes.

The speaker was Ed McMahon - no, not that Ed McMahon - a nationally renowned authority on sustainable development with the Urban Land Institute in Washington, D.C.

McMahon picked on Atlanta as an example of the old unsustainable way. So crowded is Interstate 75 that Atlanta proposed widening the highway to 23 lanes.

"It's a little like letting out your belt to fight obesity," McMahon said.

McMahon had an ulterior motive for addressing the lunch crowd. In partnership with the Tampa Bay Partnership, the land institute wants to collect $300,000 in donations to write a vision plan for the region. The goal is balanced, harmonious growth.

Who knows? The proposal may have struck a chord among the assembled dirt diggers. More than one big-shot developer was seen nodding his head appreciatively.

-- JAMES THORNER, Times staff writer

Moderate-priced clothing stores for women comes to Tampa

Level X, a small but growing chain that stocks trendy apparel in the lower-moderate price range, is trying the Tampa Bay area on for size.

Based in Los Angeles, the 24-store chain offers women aged 16 to 25 an alternative to Forever XXI and Wet Seal for flashy but even less expensive casual clothes and clubwear. Typical prices are $12.80 for a top, $18.80 for pants and up to $60 for its best denim jeans.

The company opened its first area store in University Mall late last year and follows up with another in WestShore Plaza in Tampa this month. "Our name comes from intensity ratings of earthquakes," said Clair Barnhart, the chain's operations manager. "Level X shakes things up the most."

She might get an argument from Papaya Clothing, a rival chain also owned by Korean-American merchants that recently opened stores in University Mall and Westfield Countryside.

"We're a dollar or so cheaper," said Brendaliz Rodriguez, who manages the Countryside Papaya.

-- MARK ALBRIGHT, Times staff writer

[Last modified April 3, 2006, 12:13:13]