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Talk of the bay

By TIMES WIRES
Published January 16, 2007

Fill up in the lot of your local Publix

After four years of testing, Publix Super Markets Inc. is finally going to rev up its entry in the gas station business. The Lakeland chain plans to begin aggressively expanding its collection of seven Pix convenience store/filling stations and roll out more of its Spartan gas kiosks that debuted two months ago at a Starkey Road Publix in Seminole. Both outlets are designed to share parking lot space with full-sized Publix stores. The kiosks feature four pumps and a glass cashier station a bit larger than a phone booth. Clerks also sell cigarettes and lottery tickets.

Kmart stocks generic Zocor

The battle between discounters for the best deal on generics has produced a new dividend for consumers. Kmart, which offers a 90-day supply of generics for $15, has added Simvastatin, the generic form of the popular cholesterol-lowering drug Zocor, to its list. Wal-Mart, which charges $4 for 30-day supply of generics, carries two different generic statins: Lovastatin and Pravastatin. Zocor lost patent protection in June; the brand had generated $4.4-billion in annual sales for drugmaker Merck & Co.

Come hear Wales, other local execs

After years of international fame but a low local profile, Jimmy Wales, founder of Wikipedia and Pinellas County resident, is popping up at all kinds of Tampa Bay venues. On Sunday, he was scheduled to speak at the St. Pete Beach Library. And on Jan. 25, he'll be one of three local business execs to appear at a Business Network Symposium at the University of Tampa. Other panelists at the UT event don't quite share Wales' tech edge, which led him to create one of the world's 50 most-visited Web sites. They are Eric Newman, whose family-owned company in Tampa has been making cigars since 1895, and Rick Michaels, a Tampa investment banker.

Keep sanitary when at Chick-fil-A

Concerned about spreading germs? Chick-fil-A restaurants are deploying free sanitary hand wipes at the counter. The fast-food chain is also offering sanitized placements for toddlers younger than 3 who prefer to gobble their finger food without benefit of containers. Created by a North Carolina mom who religiously sterilized her baby bottles only to watch her child eat from bare restaurant tables, the disposable placemat sticks to tabletops and trayless high chairs.

[Last modified January 16, 2007, 01:14:49]