Athletic clubs change hands in LR and NLR
Pat M. Riley Jr. announced Monday that the Little Rock Athletic Club, the Little Rock Racquet Club, the North Little Rock Athletic Club and the Downtown Athletic Club have been sold.
The new owners are primarily executives of Stephens Inc., the Little Rock investment bank, and include Brad Eichler, who is majority owner; Warren Stephens; Doug Martin;
Noel Strauss; and Jackson Farrow, Riley said in an e-mail.
Riley, 57, said in an interview that he owned all the properties but the Downtown Athletic Club, which was owned by Stephens Inc. He declined to reveal the sale price for the clubs.
Frank Lawrence, 44, a former banker and also a stakeholder in the clubs, which will retain their respective names, has been named chief executive. The clubs have 7,000 memberships, including about 17,000 individuals, Riley said.
- Jack Weatherly
Wal-Mart brings back gasoline-price program
Wal-Mart Stores Inc. said Monday that it is bringing back its gasoline-price-rollback program, effective Sunday.
The rollback program offers customers 10 cents a gallon off if the purchase is made with a Wal-Mart gift card. Customers using a prepaid Wal-Mart MoneyCard or a Wal-Mart credit card will get 15 cents a gallon off the posted price.
The discounts will be available at more than 1,000 Murphy USA and Wal-Mart gas stations in 21 states, including Arkansas.
The discounts will be in effect through July 7.
In a news release, Gisel Ruiz, chief operating officer for the Wal-Mart U.S. stores division, said that for every cent that gasoline prices rise, consumers collectively have $1 billion less to spend on other things.
- Steve Painter
Arkansas Index drops 1.64, closes at 270.77
The Arkansas Index, a price-weighted index that tracks the largest public companies based in the state, fell 1.64 to 270.77 on Monday.
“U.S. financial markets fell but closed above session lows despite disappointing manufacturing data as investors appear to be biding their time awaiting the major economic and monetary policy news due later this week,” said Bob Williams, senior vice president and managing director of Delta Trust Investments Inc. in Little Rock.
Dillard’s saw its stock price gain by more than 1 percent, Williams said, while Arkansas Best and First Federal Bancshares lost in excess of 3 percent.
The index was developed by Bloomberg News and the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette with a base value of 100 as of Dec. 30, 1997.
Business, Pages 23 on 04/02/2013