30 acres along I-30
fetch $5.87 million
Fletcher Realty LLC has bought about 30 acres on Interstate 30 in Mabelvale for $5.87 million for a possible dealership, according to Chief Financial Officer Tom Roy.
Roy said that only 5 to 8 acres would be needed for a dealership, and the rest of the acreage could be sold.
The land was purchased from Thomas Bartholomew, who owns CalArk, a trucking company with headquarters at 12024 I-30.
Fletcher Realty is one of the Frank Fletcher Cos., which includes 14 auto dealerships in Arkansas and Missouri. Properties also include the Wyndham Riverfront hotel in North Little Rock, location of the Benihana Japanese Steakhouse and the Riverfront Steakhouse, also owned by Fletcher.
Bensky & Fletcher Furs also is part of the holdings.
- Jack Weatherly
Chinese donkey meat pulled by Wal-Mart
In China, Wal-Mart Stores Inc. has recalled donkey meat that was mixed with fox meat, saying it is considering legal action against the meat supplier and will conduct DNA test samples of meat products in the future.
The retailer said it is supporting an investigation into the supplier, Dezhou Fujude Food Co. Limited of Jinan, the capital of Shadong province in northeast China.
Robert Daly, director of the Kissinger Institute on China and the U.S, at the Wilson Center in Washington, D.C., said Friday that donkey meat is widely eaten in certain parts of China but has a reputation as a rustic food in other areas of the country.
Fox meat is not commonly eaten. Daly said the Chinese would be as appalled at having fox meat in their food as Americans would be to discover raccoon meat in hot dogs.
In June 2012, Wal-Mart took two products off shelves in China after they were found to contain banned chemicals. In October 2011, Wal-Mart suspended operations in 13 stores temporarily after the company was accused of mislabeling ordinary pork as organic.
- John Magsam
Arkansas Index up 0.55; 10 stocks gain
The Arkansas Index, a price-weighted index that tracks the largest public companies based in the state, rose 0.55 to 334.24 Friday.
Ten stocks advanced, five declined and two were unchanged.
USA Truck climbed 4.4 percent in below-average volume.
Acxiom led the winners with a 0.9 percent gain in heavy trading.
For the week, 13 stocks fell and 4 gained ground.
Dillard’s rose 1.1 percent for the week.
USA Truck fell 7.1 percent for the week.
Volume for the index was 16 million shares. The average daily volume for the week was 18.4 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, Pages 27 on 01/04/2014