QUOTE OF THE DAY
“Exports rebounded after a few weaker months, and that’s good to see.”
Paul Edelstein, IHS Global Insight Inc. director of financial economics Article, 1D
Browning's in LR gets new owner, name
Yellow Rocket Concepts has reached an agreement with BMG Group LLC to buy Browning’s Mexican Grill, the venerable Tex-Mex restaurant at 5805 Kavanaugh Blvd. in Little Rock, which will become the Heights Taco & Tamale Co.
The new format will be unveiled in late summer or early fall, according to a news release Tuesday from Yellow Rocket.
Browning’s will continue to operate through June, BMG Group chief executive Stephen Davis said in another release.
Yellow Rocket Executive Chef Scott McGehee said that “working with tamales in our test kitchen last fall inspired me to revisit the recipes my father created during his days as co-owner and co-creator of Blue Mesa Grill and Juanita’s.”
The group’s restaurants include Zaza Fine Salad and Wood-Oven Pizza Co., Big Orange, Local Lime and Lost 40 Brewing.
Browning’s was opened in 1946 by J.T. Browning and Boyd Montgomery.
“Scott and his team have consistently developed some of the best restaurant concepts in Little Rock in recent years, and I’m confident that their new venture will be something special. It has been very rewarding to have participated in the evolution of the historic Browning’s, and despite the end of that era, I’m very excited for the future of great Tex-Mex in the Heights,” Davis said.
U.S. pushes CEOs to shun Russian forum
WASHINGTON -- Top executives at major United States companies are reconsidering or withdrawing their participation in a Russian international economic forum amid requests from President Barack Obama's administration in the face of the growing crisis in Ukraine.
Some executives have been pressed to cancel their attendance by direct appeals from officials such as Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew and Valerie Jarrett, a senior adviser to Obama.
The St. Petersburg International Economic Forum, to be held later this month, is an annual affair prized by Russian President Vladimir Putin as validation of his country's economic influence.
Morgan Stanley Chairman James Gorman, who is listed as a forum participant, has canceled his plans to attend. And Goldman Sachs Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Lloyd Blankfein, also listed as a participant in the forum's website, is also unlikely to attend, a person briefed on the decision said. The person was not authorized to comment publicly by name and insisted on anonymity.
Office Depot to close 400 U.S. stores
BOCA RATON, Fla. -- Office Depot plans to close at least 400 U.S. stores, as its merger with OfficeMax resulted in an overlap of retail locations that can be consolidated.
The office-supply retailer had 1,900 stores in the U.S. at the end of the first quarter, so the plans call for closing about 21 percent of them. Office Depot and OfficeMax Inc. completed their $1.2 billion deal last November.
Office Depot said it has not quantified the number of jobs that will be affected by the store closures but that it will look to place its best talent from the closing stores into new roles, wherever possible.
Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Roland Smith said in a statement that one of the company's goals this year was to improve how its stores are positioned in North America to meet customer demand better and to ensure that it's well positioned in the markets it serves.
Office Depot closed 14 stores in the first quarter, a company spokesman said. All of the store closures are expected to occur by the end of 2016.
-- The Associated Press
GM recalls 60,000 Saturns for gear repairs
DETROIT -- General Motors is recalling nearly 60,000 Saturn Aura midsize cars because the automatic transmission shift levers can show the wrong gear, and it said it has known about the problem for at least a year.
The problem, caused by failure of the transmission shift cable, has led to 28 crashes and four injuries but no deaths during the past seven years, GM said in a statement issued Tuesday. The Auras can roll away unexpectedly because the driver may think the car is in "park" when it's in another gear.
In a letter detailing the recall submitted to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, GM said it had a plan as of May 2013 to reimburse owners for transmission cable repairs. It was unclear why the cars weren't recalled sooner.
GM spokesman Alan Adler said he wasn't aware of the plan referred to in the letter. "We're continuing to review this with NHTSA even now," he said. "They know what we're doing."
GM is already dealing with the delayed recall of 2.6 million small cars because of an ignition switch problem.
-- The Associated Press
Morgan Stanley fined for IPO practices
Morgan Stanley has been fined $5 million by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority for sales practices involving initial public offerings to individual investors, including that of Facebook Inc.
Morgan Stanley's brokerage, the world's largest by number of advisers, didn't distinguish in its policy between a client's indication of interest in an IPO and a conditional request to buy, the industry-funded watchdog group said Tuesday in a statement. The New York-based firm also failed to monitor compliance with the policy, the regulatory agency said.
Morgan Stanley was the top issuer of global IPOs from February 2012 to May 2013, the time period the fine covers.
"Customers must understand when they are entering a contract to buy shares in an IPO," Brad Bennett, the regulatory agency's chief of enforcement, said in the statement. "There must not be ambiguity regarding the customer's obligations given the significant legal differences between an indication of interest and a conditional offer to buy."
Brokers often gauge clients' interest in IPOs before the offering's registration. Indications of interest have to be reconfirmed before becoming binding orders, while conditional orders can be filled if they aren't canceled.
Morgan Stanley's unclear policy and lack of training may have resulted in the firm's staff and customers being unsure about the type of commitments made in 83 IPOs over the 15 months, the release said.
Business on 05/07/2014