Harrison's Petromark sold to Colorado firm
Harrison-based Petromark Inc. has been sold to Offen Petroleum, a fuel distributor in 23 states, both companies have announced.
The sale is expected to close Tuesday. Terms were not disclosed. The deal also includes the Petromark LLC trucking company.
Owned by Stephen Lair and Steve Turner, Petromark is a wholesale fuel distributor in Arkansas, Missouri and Oklahoma. It operates or leases nine White Oak Station stores in Arkansas and Missouri. Steve Turner will continue to work as an adviser with Offen after the deal is closed.
"I am very pleased that we are able to add such a successful business to further the growth of Offen Petroleum. Petromark is a perfect fit to the Ozark Mountain Energy business, which we acquired in December of last year," Bill Gallagher, chief executive officer of Offen Petroleum, said in a news release.
Offen, based in Commerce City, Colo., has operations in 23 Western and Midwestern states.
-- Stephen Steed
Target halts in-store trading card sales
MINNEAPOLIS -- Target on Friday cited safety concerns in suspending in-store sales of sports and Pokemon trading cards, but made no mention of a recent fight over cards outside a Wisconsin store.
While the Minneapolis-based retailer didn't give a direct reason for the change, the Minneapolis Star Tribune reported that it came after police in Brookfield, Wis., reported that four men had attacked another man over cards on May 7.
"The safety of our guests and our team is our top priority," Target said in a statement. "Out of an abundance of caution, we've decided to temporarily suspend the sale of MLB, NFL, NBA and Pokemon trading cards within our stores, effective May 14. Guests can continue to shop these cards online at Target.com."
The newspaper reported that the value of some trading cards has soared, driven in part by people rushing to buy up new cards for resale online, the Star Tribune reported.
Some individual Pokemon cards, which are sold in stores as parts of small decks priced at a few dollars, are selling for several hundred dollars online.
Target shares rose $2.55, or 1.2%, to close Friday at $211.16.
-- The Associated Press
Index surges 20.63; Dillard's leads way
The Arkansas Index, a price-weighted index that tracks the largest public companies based in the state, closed Friday at 637.08, up 20.63.
Shares of Dillard's Inc. jumped $23.23, or 22.8%, a day after the department store retailer posted a first-quarter profit of $158.2 million. America's Car-Mart shares rose 3.2%. Tyson Foods Inc. shares fell 0.27%.
The index was developed by Bloomberg News and the Democrat-Gazette with a base value of 100 as of Dec. 30, 1997.