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Briefs

Talk of the bay: Suppliers force Friedman's into bankruptcy

By Times staff
Published February 23, 2008

Friedman's Jewelers, which has two stores in Tampa Bay area malls, is back in Chapter 11 bankruptcy. A Delaware judge granted the 500-store chain, based in Addison, Texas, financial protection from creditors after three suppliers filed to force an involuntary liquidation in the wake of the dismal holiday shopping season. The suppliers claimed unpaid debts of $9-million. Founded in Savannah, Ga., in 1920, Friedman's last emerged from bankruptcy in 2005.

Accounting firms are joining forces
Capping a two-year flirtation, Cherry Bekaert & Holland, based in Richmond, Va., has acquired 18-year-old Aidman Piser to create the largest Tampa Bay area accounting firm after the national Big Four. Terms were not disclosed. But Cherry Bekaert will double its size locally to 100 employees and have annual billings of $20-million. Terry Aidman, the 61-year-old co-founder of the acquired firm, will become managing partner of Cherry Bekaert's expanded Florida practice that has offices in St. Petersburg, Tampa, Orlando and West Palm Beach. Aidman Piser's accounts include SunTrust, DeBartolo Development, biotech firms and several beach resorts.

LifeLink to build $26.5M facility
LifeLink Foundation of Tampa is building a bigger tissue bank to meet demand. The nonprofit group, which harvests organs, skin and bone tissue from the deceased, processed and provided 40,000 tissue grafts for patients last year. It plans a 60,000-square-foot tissue bank at Tampa's Crosstown Expressway and U.S. 301, opening in 2010. LifeLink operates out of a facility half that size off Waters Avenue. LifeLink's new bank will cost $26.5-million to build, with most of that funded through tax-exempt bonds. Though a LifeLink spokeswoman was unable to say how many workers would be added with the new tissue bank, the current facility employs 85.

Correction
A brief on page 2D Friday misidentified the newspaper company that joined a news and advertising consortium with Yahoo! Inc. It is the Times Publishing Co. that produces the Erie Times News in Erie, Pa.

All about housing
James Thorner digs deeper into bay area housing news in his (Un)Real Estate blog at blogs.tampabay.com/realestate.

[Last modified February 22, 2008, 22:34:17]