QUOTE OF THE DAY
“There’s an awful lot of headroom for more gains in new-home sales once the job market recovers more fully.”
Jonathan Basile, Credit Suisse economist Article, 1D
LR loft-apartment project set to begin
Scott Realty Advisors will announce today the start of construction on 32 loft apartments at 315 Main St. in downtown Little Rock, a company spokesman said Wednesday.
“We plan on being done by the end of the year,” Jarrod Woodley, assistant project manager, said of the K Lofts, which will follow a restaurant and nightclub venue on street level and below street level.
Reed Realty, which is based in Portland, Ore., opened a restaurant and nightclub, Porter’s Jazz Cafe, on the ground floor and below street level in September 2011, though that closed in about a year. Since then, the Montego Cafe has taken its place.
The apartments, which will be on floors two through five, will be joined by 38 more in the Main Street Lofts between Capitol Avenue and Sixth Street, which will be built by Reed and some partners.
Reed, in another partnership, is seeking a zoning change for the Hall and Davidson Building in the 200 block of Capitol Avenue. Reed envisions Capitol Lofts LLC, with 56 apartments and 60 parking spaces.
Strike hits warehouse with Wal-Mart link
Workers at a warehouse operated by Olivet International in Mira Loma, Calif., walked off the job at 5 a.m.
Tuesday to protest what they deemed extreme intimidation, spying and retaliation by warehouse management since they exposed dangerous and unsafe working conditions at a Wal-Mart-contracted warehouse in the unincorporated area of Riverside County. The 30 workers formed a picket line in front of the Olivet warehouse and are expected to continue picketing during working hours today .
The warehouse is a repackaging and distribution point for goods, primarily Protege brand luggage and travel accessories. Though Protege is not sold exclusively through Wal-Mart, about 70 percent of what goes through the Mira Loma warehouse goes to Wal-Mart, said Elizabeth Brennan, communications director for Warehouse Workers United. .
Warehouse Workers United is an informal union in which members pay no dues, sign no contract and don’t have representation, she said.
In May, workers filed a complaint with the California Occupational Safety and Health Administration revealing blocked fire exits, inadequate access to water, frequent collapses of towers of boxes and more. While warehouse operators have scrambled to remedy some of the worst problems, they have also increased surveillance of workers, Brennan said. Managers installed dozens of cameras to monitor workers and threatened workers that they could lose their jobs if they continued to discuss health and safety problems, she said.
Wal-Mart spokesman Brooke Buchanan, said, “Today’s actions are nothing more than a publicity stunt conjured up by the unions attempting to gain attention ... When we learned of this, we immediately contacted the supplier to discuss the matter. We have very strict standards that we enforce with our suppliers and we will do so in this case, if appropriate.”
Trucker posts $1 million quarterly loss
Van Buren-based USA Truck continued to cut its losses, reporting a loss of $1 million, or 10 cents per share for the second quarter, compared with a loss of $3.5 million, or 34 cents per share for the same period last year.
USA Truck booked revenue of $111.5 million for the quarter ended June 30, an increase of nearly 8 percent over $101.5 million for the same period last year. Analysts had estimated a loss of 6 cents per share for the company, with projected revenue of $138.6 million.
“We reduced our net loss by 70 percent, marking our second consecutive quarter of material year-over-year improvement in operating results,” John Simone, president and chief executive, said in a release after markets closed Wednesday.
He said it appeared the company’s turn-around plan gained traction during the second quarter.
The company has had multiple losing quarters, including a record $6.1 million in the third quarter of 2012. It reported a net loss of $17.5 million in 2012 and $10.8 million in 2011.
“While we are encouraged by our progress, we are not satisfied and have not yet achieved our top priorities of returning to profitability and restoring shareholder value,” Simone said.
Shares of USA Truck closed at $5.83 in trading Wednesday on the Nasdaq exchange, down 46 cents or 7 percent.
Shares have traded as low as $2.65 and as high as $6.89 over the past year.
Louisiana flood panel sues energy firms
NEW ORLEANS - The oil and gas industry has cost Louisiana hundreds of acres of coastal land that serve as a natural buffer against flooding from hurricanes, officials in charge of New Orleans-area flood protection say in a lawsuit seeking to hold dozens of companies responsible.
Saltwater from a network of oil and gas access and pipeline canals has killed vegetation and eroded soil, the Southeast Louisiana Flood Protection Authority-East’s board of commissioners claims in the lawsuit, which it filed Wednesday in Orleans Parish Civil District Court.
The board said it will have to bear many of the costs associated with the need for increased flood protection.
“Even the industry recognizes they are responsible for some of the land lost, and it’s not an insignificant amount,” said board vice president John Barry, author of Rising Tide: The Great Mississippi Flood of 1927 and How It Changed America.
About 100 companies are named as defendants, including BP America Production Co., Chevron USA Inc., ConocoPhillips Co., Exxon Mobil Corp. and Shell Oil Co.
Failed sale prompts Yankee Candle IPO
Yankee Candle Co., the scented-candle maker owned by Madison Dearborn Partners LLC, is pursuing an initial public offering after dropping an attempt to sell itself earlier this year, people with knowledge of the situation said.
The IPO may take place as soon as this year.
Madison Dearborn sought as much as $2 billion for South Deerfield, Mass.-based Yankee Candle before scrapping the process after suitors balked at that price.
Madison Dearborn acquired Yankee Candle for $1.6 billion including debt in 2007, near the peak of a record buyout boom, data compiled by Bloomberg show.
Yankee Candle sells its products through more than 500 company-owned retail stores.
Business, Pages 26 on 07/25/2013