3rd Cranford leaves LR advertising firm
Chris Cranford, vice president of Cranford Johnson Robinson Woods and creative director of its film affiliate, Jones Film Video, resigned his positions Tuesday, a spokesman for the Little Rock firm said Wednesday.
"As a matter of policy, we do not comment on specific personnel issues or rumors," Richard McKeown, spokesman for the advertising, marketing and public-relations firm, said in an email. "We will say, however, that our number one priority is protecting and serving the interests of our clients and our employee owners. A critical aspect of that is being good stewards of the confidential information they trust us with, and the investment they place in the agency."
McKeown declined to elaborate on the statement.
Cranford was the third son of founder Wayne Cranford to resign from the firm, and it follows the April resignations of Ross Cranford, vice president of tourism services, and Jay Cranford, senior vice president and chief creative officer.
Wayne Cranford remains a director with the firm, a position he has held for 53 years. Another company vice president, Denver Peacock, also resigned in April.
-- David Smith
Whole Foods plans store in Fayetteville
Whole Foods has named Fayetteville as one of nine new locations for its national chain of grocery stores that specialize in organic and natural products.
The Austin, Texas-based company revealed plans for a Fayetteville location as part of its second-quarter earnings release. Whole Foods has 379 stores, including one in Little Rock.
Plans for a 35,500-square-foot shopping center at 3535 N. College Ave. were submitted to the Fayetteville Planning Commission last month by Georgia developer S.J. Collins Enterprises. The commission will consider final approval of the development Monday.
Whole Foods reported total second-quarter sales of $3.3 billion, a 10 percent increase from the second quarter of 2013. The average weekly sales figure per store was reported at $742,000.
In 2013, the company reported $13 billion in sales and opened 32 new stores.
-- Chris Bahn
Index advances 1.54 to close at 330.08
The Arkansas Index, a price-weighted index that tracks the largest public companies based in the state, gained 1.54 to 330.08 on Wednesday.
"U.S. stocks were mostly higher on Wednesday, recovering from early morning losses after Federal Reserve Chairman Janet Yellen reiterated that the central bank anticipates keeping interest rates low for the foreseeable future," said John Blackwell, senior vice president and managing director of equity trading at Stephens Inc. in Little Rock.
Murphy USA rose 3 percent on almost triple its average volume, while Acxiom fell 3.5 percent in heavy trading.
Total volume of the index was 25.2 million shares.
The index was developed by Bloomberg News and the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette with a base value of 100 as of Dec. 30, 1997.
Business on 05/08/2014