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Around the State
Fort Worth, Texas-based Color Tile plans to close 234 unprofitable company-owned stores located throughout the U.S. Statewide, 18 stores will close, including seven in southeast Florida, five in Tampa Bay and four in the Orlando area. Approximately 70 Florida employees will lose jobs. Color Tile filed Chapter 11 bankruptcy, blaming a "downturn in the flooring products industry and an inability to service its debt." The company will still operate 387 stores in 48 states, including 15 in Florida.
Seventeen Byrons stores in Florida will close this year, and the remaining 37 will merge with another department store chain, Uptons. The consolidation action by the chains' owner, American Retail Group of New York City, will eliminate about 850 Florida jobs.
Foley & Lardner, a law firm based in Milwaukee, Wis., with five offices throughout Florida, merged with Weissburg and Aronson, a California law firm specializing in health-care issues. The combined firm, with more than 550 lawyers, does business as Foley & Lardner in Florida.
Florida won a $1.16 million settlement from four major suppliers of carbon dioxide: Chicago-based Liquid Carbonic Industries Corp.; Liquid Air Corp. of Houston, Texas; New Jersey-based BOC Group and Archer Daniels Midland Co. of Decatur, Ill. Four years ago, the state attorney general's office filed the federal price-fixing lawsuit on behalf of 22 municipal purchasers of carbon dioxide. The defendants agreed to the settlement before the trial could begin.
Florida ranks eighth among the 50 states in total energy consumption, according to U.S. Department of Energy figures cited by the American Petroleum Institute. But on a per capita basis, Florida's energy consumption ranks 47th, based on data for 1993, the latest available.
New York advertising agency Ammirati & Puris/Lintas won the Florida Department of Citrus' $27 million-per-year orange and grapefruit account with the slogan, "I'm tellin' ya, it's the juice." It beat out three other agencies: Tampa's WestGroup ("Florida Orange Juice. For Life."); New York's Grey Advertising ("Taste how good it feels."); and Dallas' Richards Group ("Drink More. Live More.").
Northwest
A+ Network will move its corporate headquarters from Nashville, Tenn., to Pensacola. The move will bring about 85 new jobs, including some to be filled by employees relocating from Tennessee. The telecommunications company was created in October 1995 through the merger of Network USA and A+ Communications.
Lieutenant Governor Buddy MacKay announced that $1 million from Florida's Tourism Promotion Trust Fund was allocated to promote Northwest Florida in the wake of hurricanes Erin and Opal, which damaged Navarre Beach and other parts of the region. The state's spending will target potential spring and summer visitors.
Northeast
Four radio stations in Jacksonville owned by Tucson, Ariz.-based Prism Radio Partners will be acquired by SFX Broadcasting of New York: WKQL-FM (plays oldies and ranks eighth in the market); WIVY-FM (contemporary and ranks tenth); WPDQ-AM (big band); and WOKV-AM (news/talk format and Jacksonville's top-ranking AM station). Prism is selling all of its assets, which include 12 other radio stations in Kentucky, Arizona, North Carolina and Kansas, for $105.25 million, pending FCC approval.
Baptist/St. Vincent's Health System plans to move its headquarters to the 17th floor of Jacksonville's Riverplace Tower this summer.
Shands Hospital in Gainesville acquired AvMed-SantaFe's hospitals, home care and health-related services, including Alachua General Hospital, Bradford Hospital, Lake Shore Hospital and Suwannee Hospital. As part of the transaction, Shands and University of Florida physicians will participate in AvMed's HMO. The acquired hospitals will continue to participate as AvMed HMO providers.
Ideon Group of Jacksonville announced that its SafeCard Services subsidiary acquired Norman, Okla.-based United Bank Services, a provider of value-added products and services. SafeCard says the acquisition "opens new channels of distribution" that should help the company grow. SafeCard Services is a credit-card services company.
Central
General Motors plans to open a new pavilion at Walt Disney World's Epcot in the spring of 1997. The new attraction, Test Track, will replace GM's World of Motion and will be the longest and fastest ride created by Disney.
Park Ridge, N.J.-based Chep USA plans to relocate its headquarters to Orlando in June, creating about 80 new jobs for local residents. The company, which leases pallets and containers, chose Orlando for several reasons, including its proximity to Latin America and its low taxes. The new jobs pay an average annual wage of $52,000 and many require a strong information technology background.
The South Florida Water Management District approved a $12 million acquisition of 11,087 acres along the Kissimmee River, the first phase of efforts to preserve an area known as the Kissimmee Prairie. Eventually the area will be managed by Florida's Division of Recreation and Parks.
Lakeland's Protel Inc., a maker of pay telephones, is eliminating 22 jobs as part of a reorganization of the company that will cut its work force to 200.
Orlando-based American Automobile Association (AAA) signed a ten-year joint venture agreement with PNC Bank Corp. of Pittsburgh to provide loans and other financial services to AAA members throughout the nation.
A corporate division of Chicago-based fertilizer producer Vigoro moved into new headquarters in Winter Haven. The Consumer and Professional Products Group, focused on lawn and garden product sales, was formed last year. The division expects to add at least 40 positions in Winter Haven.
Tampa Bay
Intermedia Communications, a provider of telecommunications services, moved its corporate headquarters to larger facilities at Tampa's Sabal Park office complex, two miles from its previous headquarters. Intermedia employs about 550 workers and expects to add another 150 by the end of this year, including 75 at its home office.
Irvine, Calif.-based Kia Motors America, the U.S. sales, marketing and distribution arm of the South Korean auto maker, opened six new dealerships in the Tampa Bay area. Kia sells two vehicles, the Sephia compact sedan and the Sportage sport-utility vehicle.
Southwest
Community Care of America (CCA), a Naples-based developer and operator of health-care networks serving rural markets, filed a registration statement with the Securities and Exchange Commission to sell 3.1 million shares of its common stock to the public. CCA will offer 2 million newly issued shares and a group of shareholders will offer 1.1 million existing shares.
Treasure Coast
Miami's Greenwich Air Services plans to purchase from Dallas-based Aviall its Commercial Engine Services division, with aircraft maintenance operations in Dallas, Fort Worth and Prestwick, Scotland, and an aircraft components business in McAllen, Texas. The estimated value of the purchase is upwards of $260 million. Greenwich says the deal would make it the world's largest engine repair, maintenance and overhaul company.
Sunglass Hut International of Coral Gables, the world's largest specialty sunglass retailer, this month will relocate its catalog and distribution operations from South Florida, Indianapolis and Boulder, Colo., to a consolidated location in Atlanta. About 70 jobs will be eliminated with the closure of the Medley distribution center.
Catalfumo Construction and Development in West Palm Beach was awarded a contract to build a 215,000-square-foot office expansion of Office Depot's headquarters. The three-story office building will be built on a 9.5-acre site next to the company's Delray Beach headquarters. Construction should start by the end of this year.
Patten Corp., a Boca Raton-based land development and sales company, changed its name to Bluegreen Corp. The company expanded its business in 1994 to include timeshare operations.
W.R. Grace & Co. of Boca Raton and Fresenius AG of Bad Homburg, Germany, agreed to combine Grace's National Medical Care unit and Fresenius' worldwide dialysis business to create a new publicly traded dialysis company called Fresenius Medical Care. Fresenius said it would pay Grace $2.3 billion in cash. Grace shareholders would get 44.8% of the new company and Fresenius shareholders the balance.
NABI, formerly known as North American Biologicals, privately placed $70 million principal amount of 6.5% convertible subordinated notes due 2003. Based in Boca Raton, NABI is a biopharmaceutical company that develops and markets products that prevent and treat autoimmune and infectious diseases and related complications.
Southeast
Burger King Corp. of Miami announced plans to buy 57 of its franchise restaurants in Florida and south Georgia from Davgar Restaurants for $55.6 million, pending federal approval. The deal would increase Burger King's company-owned operations in Florida to 153 restaurants.
Fort Lauderdale-based Republic Industries, a provider of solid waste services, agreed to acquire Denver Burglar Alarm, the oldest independent electronic security alarm company in the U.S., for Republic common stock. Separately, Republic agreed to acquire Smithton Sanitation, Incendere and Area Container Service from Dwight C. Schaubach, also in exchange for Republic common stock. The companies provide solid waste collection and recycling services to more than 11,000 residential, commercial and industrial customers in southeastern Virginia and eastern North Carolina.
