KB Toys announces the opening of 30 stores
KB Toys Inc., a Pittsfield company that operates a toy retail chain, announced today the opening of 30 new stores in time for the holiday season.
Opening across the country, the new stores will augment the company's existing base of more than 460 stores, and the new stores will close after the holidays, a company spokesman said. Like KB's permanent stores, the temporary stores will generally be located in major shopping malls.
Among local malls where KB plans to open seasonal stores are Natick Collection in Natick, Northshore Mall in Peabody, and Independence Mall in Kingston, KB said.
Although temporary, the seasonal stores will feature a "full selection of all the favorite toys, games, and video games," KB said.
Toy retailers are bracing for a challenging holiday season with US consumers expected to cut back on spending amid fears about the world financial crisis. Both KB and Wal-Mart Stores Inc. recently announced plans to cut prices on some toys. To read a story about Wal-Mart and toys, please click here.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)
Novell plans to buy Managed Objects
Novell Inc., a Linux software vendor headquartered in Waltham, today announced it had entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Managed Objects to broaden its portfolio of data-center services.
A press release included no financial details of the proposed transaction.
Privately held Managed Objects is based in Virginia, Novell said.
“This acquisition extends Novell's strategy of making IT work as one in the data center,” Novell senior vice president Joe Wagner said in a statement.“The Managed Objects products are very complementary to our existing management and virtualization capabilities. By adding the Managed Objects toolset to the Novell portfolio of data center solutions, we are unique in providing technology-agnostic and proven cross-platform solutions that span both the physical and virtual worlds - all in one unified view.”
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)
Epsilon renews big Wakefield lease
Epsilon, a Texas-based marketing services firm, said today that it has signed a 12-year lease renewal for 113,000 square feet of office space in Wakefield.
A company spokeswoman said that Epsilon has occupied the space since 2003 and that the new lease includes an option that would let Epsilon expand to up to 150,000 square feet at the location.
"Epsilon currently employs more than 400 people at the Wakefield location, with the ambitious goal to add another 100 employees in 2009," an Epsilon publicist noted in an e-mail.
The company said it has a total workforce head-count of more than 2,400.
Epsilon president and chief executive Michael Iaccarino (at right in a company photo) said in a statement: "We're committed to hiring the best, and the talent pool in Greater Boston is strong for the roles we require. Despite the downturn in the national economy, our business is strong, and we anticipate continued momentum."
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)
JPMorgan Chase CEO: Political leadership lacking
The top executive of JPMorgan Chase & Co. today railed against the nation's political leadership -- but didn't name names -- saying government too often proposes solutions that appeal only to "the madness of the crowd" while letting complex issues such as energy policy go unresolved.
"We've seen this consistently -- an oversimplifying and casting aside of issues and facts," Jamie Dimon (right, in a 2004 Reuters file photo) said in panel discussion on leadership issues at Harvard Business School, where Dimon earned an MBA in 1982.
When complex matters come before lawmakers on issues such as financial regulation and energy policy, many politicians are often unwilling to embrace appropriate policy solutions "because they say they're not politically feasible," Dimon said.
Dimon, who is chairman and chief executive of JPMorgan Chase, one of the biggest US banking companies, acknowledged there's plenty of blame to go around in the banking industry amid a financial crisis that has taken down several of his company's key rivals.
State Street confirms US Treasury investment
A State Street Corp. spokeswoman confirmed today that the Boston financial services company will receive a $2 billion investment from the US Treasury under its program to purchase capital directly in banks and other institutions.
Spokeswoman Hannah Grove said that State Street was already well-capitalized, but said the infusion will strengthen its balance sheet and "provide additional flexibility to help continue our leadership role in what are very challenging markets.''
State Street provides financial services to large institutional investors.
As with other institutions receiving investments under the terms of sweeping government plans announced this morning, State Street would be subject to certain limits in areas like executive pay and dividend payments.
The company did not immediately say how the infusion might affect the salaries paid to executives including chief executive Ron Logue (in Globe file photo at left). The bank expects to continue to pay a dividend, Grove said, though she acknowledged any increase would need to be approved by the Treasury as a preferred shareholder.
Separately, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York said State Street will serve as the custodian and administrator of a new funding facility meant to buy commercial paper as a way to prop up money market funds. Pimco will serve as the asset manager, the Fed said, adding final arrangements are still being worked out.
(By Ross Kerber, Globe staff)
MassHousing aims loans at two Hub neighborhoods
MassHousing announced loan commitments today of up to $12.2 million for the acquisition, rehabilitation, and preservation of 103 apartments in the Mission Hill and Longwood neighborhoods of Boston.
Of those 103 apartments, located in 18 buildings in various locations, 93 percent will maintain long-term affordability, said MassHousing, an independent, quasi-public agency charged with providing financing for affordable housing in Massachusetts.
"The Roxbury Tenants of Harvard Association, Inc. is planning to rehabilitate the 17-building, 81-unit Restoration Housing development located in scattered sites on Francis Street, Fenwood Road and St. Albans Street, along with another building containing 22 apartments on Huntington Avenue," MassHousing said.
"MassHousing's financing will not only preserve nearly 100 affordable apartments in the Mission Hill and Longwood neighborhoods, but allow the developer to make substantial upgrades and repairs to the units so that residents can live comfortably and affordably in these apartments for many years to come,'' MassHousing executive director Thomas R. Gleason said in a statement.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)
Mass. gas prices fall another 18 cents per gallon
(File photo: Mike Derer/AP)
Lower oil prices contributed to an 18-cent drop in Massachusetts gas prices in the last week, bringing regular unleaded gas to its lowest price point locally since March, AAA Southern New England said today.
AAA Southern New England said its latest survey of Massachusetts prices found self-serve, regular unleaded averaging $3.14 per gallon, 18 cents less than last week.
Massachusetts is currently 2 cents below the national average for regular unleaded of $3.16; a year ago at this time, AAA Southern New England said, the average price in Massachusetts was $2.64.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)
Converted Organics teams up with distributor
Converted Organics Inc., a Boston company that recycles food waste into fertilizer, said today that it is teaming up with a distributor to get its products to the professional turf market in the western United States.
The company said it has entered into a "strategic relationship" with Simplot Partners of Idaho, a major distributor of proprietary fertilizers and turf maintenance products to the golf marketplace.
"The professional turf market represents an enormous opportunity for Converted Organics, and the network of golf courses serviced by Simplot Partners is extensive," Converted Organics president Edward J. Gildea said in a statement. "Our relationship with Simplot Partners provides Converted Organics with the opportunity to sell our line of organic turf fertilizer and soil amendment products to a large customer base of approximately 2,500 golf courses through a well-established distributor known for providing high-quality products."
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)
Synta Pharmaceuticals to get $25m from Glaxo
Synta Pharmaceuticals Inc. of Lexington said today that it triggered a $25 million payment from UK drugmaker GlaxoSmithKline PLC after reaching milestones under a development agreement for the cancer drug elesclomol.
The injectible drug is undergoing a late-stage clinical trial to treat metastatic melanoma, a type of skin cancer that has spread elsewhere in the body, and has not been approved in any market. Elesclomol is designed to start apoptosis, or programmed cell death, in cancer cells.
Synta said it could earn two additional payments of $25 million for completing enrollment in the trial and if the trial meets the primary endpoint or if the two companies decide to file for regulatory approval.
The collaboration between the companies calls for a potential total of $585 million in development and regulatory milestone payments.
Synta shares closed at $7.15 yesterday on the Nasdaq Stock Market. (AP)
Netezza will provide services to Indian retailer
Netezza Corp., a Marlborough company focused on data warehouse and analytic appliances, today announced that Shoppers Stop, a retail chain in India, has selected the Netezza data warehouse appliance to provide faster and more comprehensive sales data analytics for its expanding retail operations throughout the country.
In a press release, Netezza said, "With more than 10 million customers, close to 2 million square feet of retail space, and 250 brands of garments and accessories, Shoppers Stop is one of India's fastest-growing companies and a one-stop shop for customers."
The photo at right was taken from Shoppers Stop's website.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)
Perini receives more Iraq construction work
Perini Corp., a building and civil construction company headquartered in Framingham, announced today that it has been awarded three new US Army Corps of Engineers task orders for work in Iraq worth $175 million.
This is in addition to the $170 million of US Army Corps of Engineers projects announced last month, said the company, whose specialties also include building casinos and resort hotels.
For recent Globe coverage of Perini, please click here.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)
Staples Foundation for Learning awards $317,000
Staples Foundation for Learning, a private foundation created by Framingham office supply retailer Staples Inc., said today that it has awarded grants totaling $317,000 to nonprofit organizations dedicated to serving youth throughout the country.
Local recipients of the awards included Boys & Girls Clubs of MetroWest, InnerCity Entrepreneurs of Cambridge, and the John F. Kennedy Library Foundation, the Staples Foundation for Learning said.
"Staples Foundation for Learning's mission is to teach, train, and inspire youth," Ron Sargent (left, in a Globe file photo), president of Staples Foundation for Learning and chairman and chief executive officer of Staples Inc., said in a statement. "We remain committed to supporting organizations throughout the country that provide educational programs that help youth realize their full potential and prepare them to be the leaders of tomorrow."
A list of award recipients was included in a Staples Foundation press release, which can be read by clicking here.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)
Evergreen Solar creates new Asia Pacific job
Evergreen Solar Inc., a Marlborough manufacturer of solar power panels, announced today that it has appointed William "Smitty" Ovitt as its director of sales, Asia Pacific.
"In this newly-created role, Ovitt will oversee the sales and marketing in the Asia Pacific region, a key geographic area in Evergreen Solar's global expansion plan," the company said in a press release.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)
Hanson will head Caritas Norwood Hospital
Caritas Christi Health Care, the six-hospital chain owned by the Archdiocese of Boston, announced the appointment of Margaret Hanson R.N. as president of its hospital in Norwood.
Hanson, who previously served as executive vice president and chief operating officer of the two-hospital Cape Cod Healthcare system, will succeed Dr. John B. Chessare (right), "who has decided to pursue other opportunities," Caritas Christi said.
Chessare had earlier served as the interim chief executive of the entire Caritas Christi chain after a previous chief executive was forced to resign in 2006 amid allegations of sexual harasment.
Earlier this year, Dr. Ralph de la Torre was appointed as the chain's permanent chief executive. According to a Globe story, Chessare had applied for the job of permanent chief executive.
In a statement, Robert Guyon, chief operating officer of Caritas Christi, praised Hanson.
“Margaret has a wealth of clinical and administrative health care experience and a proven record of success in improving the quality of patient care and maximizing operational efficiencies,” he said. “Her experience managing a large community-based health care system on Cape Cod will be invaluable as she joins the Caritas family in its mission to bring world class medical care to the communities where our patients live.”
The 264-bed Caritas Norwood Hospital provides emergency, cardiology, advanced surgical, cancer, endoscopic, OB/GYN, and Children’s Hospital pediatric services, Caritas Christi said.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)
Boston Scientific discloses stent market share
Boston Scientific Corp., a Natick medical device maker, said today that the aggregate US market share for its two drug-eluting stents for the third quarter was estimated at about 45 percent.
The company said it reported the same aggregate US market share for the second quarter.
The estimates were based on preliminary data from Millennium Research Group, or MRG, a provider of information to the healthcare sector. (At right is an image of a stent taken from Boston Scientific's website.)
Stents are wire mesh tubes used to keep open arteries that have been unclogged during a medical procedure. Some stents are coated with drugs that aim to assist the healing process. Such stents are called drug-eluting stents.
Based on the MRG data, Boston Scientific estimates its share percentages of the US drug-eluting stent market for September was 25 percent for its Promus Everolimus-Eluting Coronary Stent System and 19 percent for its Taxus Express2 Paclitaxel-Eluting Coronary Stent System.
"These recent developments bode well for ongoing leadership by Boston Scientific in the drug-eluting stent market," Jim Tobin, president and chief executive of Boston Scientific, said in a statement. "With a market-leading aggregate share of approximately 45 percent, our two-drug platform is offering doctors excellent choices for their patients."
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)
Redstone's vehicle to sell some Viacom, CBS shares
National Amusements Inc., a movie theater operator in Dedham that is controlled by Sumner Redstone, plans to sell some of its nonvoting stake in Viacom Inc. and CBS Corp. to pay down debt.
National Amusements, which holds Redstone's controlling interest in Viacom and CBS, said its NAIRI Inc. subsidiary plans to sell $400 million of the companies' nonvoting shares. Redstone is executive chairman of both companies.
The company owns 46.8 million of Viacom's voting shares and 23.4 million nonvoting shares. It owns 46.8 million of CBS' voting shares and 39.8 million nonvoting shares.
NAIRI expects to sell roughly an equal dollar amount of Viacom and CBS nonvoting shares. The company does not plan to sell any voting shares. (AP)
Boston Scientific gets FDA approval for new stent
Boston Scientific Corp., the Natick medical device maker, today announced it has received approval from the Food and Drug Administration to market its second-generation TAXUS Liberte Paclitaxel-Eluting Coronary Stent System in the United States.
The company said it plans to launch the TAXUS Liberte stent early next month in the United States, following completion of the introduction of its TAXUS(R) Expresss2 Atom Paclitaxel-Eluting Coronary Stent System, which was approved by the FDA last month.
The TAXUS Liberte stent was launched in Europe and other international markets in 2005, Boston Scientific said.
But the stent was "delayed in the US by a sweeping warning letter issued by the FDA in 2006 over corporate quality issues," the AP noted in its story on the announcement today.
Stents are wire mesh tubes used to keep open arteries that have been cleared during a medical procedure. Some stents are also coated to release, or elute, drugs that aim to promote healing.
"The TAXUS Liberte stent represents our latest advance in drug-eluting stent technology," Donald Baim, chief medical and scientific officer of Boston Scientific, said in a statement. "This device has substantially thinner struts and a more flexible cell geometry for improved deliverability, as well as uniform strut distribution designed specifically for drug elution."
To read previous some stories about Boston Scientific and the Taxus stent, please click here.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)
Asian grocery chain to close stores
(File photo: Justine Hunt/Globe staff)
The Super 88 Market, a local Asian specialty food chain, is downsizing its operation, shuttering half of its six Boston area stores in the last month.
The grocer, which specializes in Chinese, Japanese, Vietnamese, Korean, Thai and Southeast Asian goods, closed its Quincy store last Monday, said attorney Glenn Frank, general counsel for Super 88 owners Peter and George Luu. Potential buyers, including another ethnic grocer, are now looking at the property, he said.
Last month, the company sold off its South End store and closed the chain's original location in Chinatown, which opened in 1978, though that property will likely “remain in the family,” said Frank.
Despite the national economic downturn and a highly competitive local field for Asian markets, Super 88 is not in trouble financially, said Frank. The store closures were not a result of overly-aggressive expansion or related to a six-figure fine lodged against the company by the Massachusetts attorney general in late June for violating state prevailing wage laws, he added.
“Super 88 is not only not going anywhere, we’re thriving,” said Frank. The Quincy, South End and Chinatown markets, all 12,000 feet or smaller, did not perform as well as expected and were too costly “to justify their existence,” said Frank.
Some workers have been reassigned while others were laid off, he said.
(By Christina Pazzanese, Globe correspondent)
SEC discloses settlement with Fidelity employees
Eight current and former Fidelity Investments employees have reached a preliminary agreement to settle charges brought by the Securities and Exchange Commission over improper gifts, documents released by the agency show today.
The eight were among 13 current and former employees of the Boston mutual fund giant, mostly traders, who the agency claimed in March improperly accepted more than $1.6 million worth of lavish gifts and entertainment from outside brokers seeking the firm's business from 2002 to 2004.
Fidelity itself agreed to pay $8 million to settle the government's probe of its actions, but it did not admit or deny wrongdoing.
Of the 13, three had previously agreed to settle the government's claims, including its onetime star fund manager Peter Lynch, who allegedly received nearly $16,000 worth of free tickets to a golf tournament and other events.
Some of the others previously had denied wrongdoing.
The documents released today, dated from September 4 through October 6, show eight more individuals have reached settlements in principal with SEC staff, though they do not spell out the terms of the arrangements.
David Bergers, the head of the SEC's Boston office, declined to comment. The settlements seem to still require final approval from the commission itself.
Individuals now settling include Scott E. DeSano, who once supervised trading operations; Timothy J. Burnieika; Edward S. Driscoll; Christopher J. Horan; Steven P. Pascucci; Kirk C. Smith; Robert L. Burns; and Jeffrey D. Harris, the documents show.
The documents do not show settlements between the SEC and two other former Fidelity traders, however, Thomas H. Bruderman and David K. Donovan.
Attorneys for Bruderman and Donovan did not immediately return messages.
A lavish bachelor party for Bruderman in Miami in March 2003 became a symbol of the investigation, described by the SEC as including adult entertainment and dwarf-tossing, and the settlements could increase the legal pressure on the remaining defendants.
Fidelity spokeswoman Anne Crowley said of the group of eight and the two remaining defendants only one, Horan, remains employed by the company and is no longer on its trading desk. Most had already left and three more left Fidelity on Sept. 30, including Burnieika, Pascucci, and Smith, the spokeswoman said.
To read a previous story about the SEC and Fidelity, please click here.
(By Ross Kerber, Globe staff)
Flutie will help Eastern Bank celebrate a merger
(File photo: Mike Nowak/Freelance)
Eastern Bank said that football legend Doug Flutie will be part of its celebration of its merger with MASSBANK.
On Tuesday, between 3 and 4 p.m., the fabled Flutie is scheduled to greet new customers and sign autographs at Eastern’s new branch in Chelmsford on North Road, the bank said.
"Special prizes, including miniature footballs, will also be handed out," Eastern Bank said in a press release.
In September, Eastern announced that it had completed the acquisition of MASSBANK Corp. of Reading in a cash transaction valued at $170 million. One result of that acquisition was to increase Eastern Bank's presence in Middlesex County, where MASSBANK had 15 offices, said Eastern Bank, which added then that the MASSBANK branches would ultimately be "merged under the Eastern name."
The Flutie event next week will mark the name change in Chelmsford.
Based in Boston, Eastern Bank has $7.1 billion in assets and nearly 90 branches stretching from Merrimack Valley to Cape Cod.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)
