LITTLE ROCK — QUOTE OF THE DAY
“Europe is a mess. It’s going to be tough
for anyone to make any money in Europe for the foreseeable future until the economies turn around.” Dennis Virag, president of Automotive Consulting Group Article, 1D
KLRT, KARK-TV cut jobs, consolidate
Two Little Rock television stations - KLRT, Channel 16 and KARK-TV, Channel 4 - laid off employees this week as the stations consolidate.
Mike Vaughn, general manager of KARK-TV, would not say how many employees were let go or which departments they were from.
“It’s just a reduction in force,” he said. “The main anchor teams are still in place.”
Mission Broadcasting Inc. of Brecksville, Ohio, controlled by Irving, Texas-based Nexstar Broadcasting Inc., recently purchased KLRT and KASN, Channel 38, a CW affiliate in Little Rock. KARK is owned by Nexstar.
The layoffs come as KLRT moves into the Victory Building on Capitol Avenue where KARK operates.
Vaughn stressed that the two stations are not combining their news coverage.
“What people are accustomed to seeing is not changing,” he said.
The stations will air their first newscasts from the Victory Building on Saturday. KLRT will also produce its new morning show on Monday from 7 a.m. to 9 a.m., Vaughn said.
Dallas firm buys Mimi’s Cafe Chain
Columbus, Ohio-based Bob Evans Farms, Inc. has sold its Mimi’s Cafe chain, which has two locations in Arkansas, to LeDuff America, Inc. for $50 million, according to a release.
Mimi’s Cafe is a French-inspired restaurant chain with 145 locations in 25 states, in the West, Midwest and Southeast. Its Arkansas locations are in Rogers and Little Rock.
The deal includes $20 million in cash and a $30 million note. The deal is expected to close within 45 days.
Dallas-based LeDuff America Inc. is a subsidiary of Rennes, France-based Groupe LeDuff SA, the world’s second largest company in the cafe-bakery sector.
It has annual sales of more than $1.5 billion, more than 1,100 restaurants and bakeries, and 13,400 employees worldwide. LeDuff America owns and operates Le Madeleine Country French Cafe, Brioche Doree, Bruegger’s Bagels, Timothy’s Coffee and Michel’s Baguette.
Firms sue over Kevlar trademark use
DOVER, Del. - The DuPont Co. is feuding with sports equipment-maker Easton-Bell Sports over the use of the Kevlar trademark in packaging for bicycle tires and locks.
DuPont filed a federal lawsuit in Delaware this week claiming that Easton-Bell’s prominent use of the Kevlar trademark on tire and lock packages infringes on DuPont’s trademark. DuPont says Easton-Bell’s packaging suggests that DuPont endorses or sponsors the tire and lock products, which it does not.
DuPont tried to work out a licensing deal with Easton-Bell, based in Scotts Valley, Calif., but Easton-Bell rejected it, saying DuPont’s proposed licensing fees were exorbitant.
Easton-Bell instead filed its own federal lawsuit seeking a court declaration that it is not infringing on Du-Pont’s trademarks.
Rice producers meeting set for Feb. 7Arkansas rice producers will be able to hear the latest crop recommendations from University of Arkansas Division of Agriculture experts at the Southeast Arkansas Rice Production meeting on Feb. 7.
There’s no cost to attend the meeting, which begins at 4:30 p.m. at the AAM building in McGehee on U.S.
65-North. The meeting will conclude at 6:45 p.m. with a dinner sponsored by Harvest Rice Inc. of McGehee which will also provide an update on incentives for farmers to grow rice in 2013.
The meeting’s agenda includes topics such as weed control, rice production tips, insect issues, soil nitrogen testing and an update on the public rice breeding program.
More information about the session is available from the Desha County Cooperative Extension office. Those interested in attending are being asked to contact the extension office at (870) 222-3972 or (870) 382-4785 to reserve a spot. Certified crop advisers will be able to receive continuing education credits for attending.
Added promotions boost J.C. Penney
J.C. Penney shares rose the most in four months Tuesday after the department store company said it will resume holiday-related promotions in another adjustment to Chief Executive Officer Ron Johnson’s pricing strategy.
The shares rose 9.3 percent to close Tuesday at $21.01 after earlier climbing as much as 9.9 percent for the biggest intraday gain since Sept. 19.
Johnson, Apple’s former retail chief, has eased up on his everyday low pricing model after the company’s revenue fell at least 20 percent for the past three quarters.
J.C. Penney will hold sales on popular items tied to “key events and holidays” such as Valentine’s Day, Easter and Mother’s Day, Kate Coultas, a company spokesman, said in an e-mail message. There will be fewer than 100 of the events, compared with almost 600 unique promotions in 2011, she said.
Disney closing video game studio
Walt Disney Co. is closing Junction Point Studios, the maker of the Epic Mickey video games, as the world’s largest media company works to increase results in its money-losing interactive division.
A spokesman for Disney declined to say how many jobs were eliminated by shuttering the Austin, Texasbased studio.
Disney Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Robert Iger is restructuring the company’s interactive division, which designs games and websites, and has said it will be profitable in 2013 after six years of losses totaling $1.6 billion.
This month, Burbank, Calif.-based Disney unveiled a new game platform called Infinity that is designed to reduce some of the cost in releasing new games. Characters and storylines from new Disney movies can be added to the Infinity system without all of the expense of developing games from scratch.
Junction Point, founded by game designer Warren Spector, designed the 2010 Epic Mickey game, a merger of current video-game technology with classic Disney characters that sold 2.6 million copies.
- Bloomberg News
Business, Pages 26 on 01/30/2013