The Cincinnati Enquirer from Cincinnati, Ohio • Page 19

THE CINCINNATI ENQUIRER Inside: Classified starts on C6 There are 4,148 classified ads in today's Enquirer. -OWjX sobjX NASOA -S6 -VlELD I "1 I 10,522.81 1211.23 2027.13 222.24 121.09 6.71 9.29 1.94 1.16 0.56 0.46 0.88 Columnist Cliff Peale It on vacation 5.522 0.008 WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 1, 2001 Editor: Richard A. Green. Phono: (513)768-8477 Wall Street Watch I Baldwin, lender meet oday Piano maker seeks answers to debt, cash-flow squeeze ble. Baldwin listed assets of $86.2 million and debts of $55.8 million when it sought bankruptcy court protection.

"Our belief is that there's significant value in this company. The assets are worth more than the debts, but the company is facing a cashflow problem. We've not come up with an overall solution, but we hope to do that sooner rather than later," Mr. Hurley said. This is the slowest time of the year for piano sales.

Typically, more than half of Baldwin's business occurs in the last few months of the year. One of the assets Baldwin had counted in its borrowing based with GECC was money due from Biasco Pianos, its largest dealer, which acquired Baldwin's 11-store retail chain this year. John Biasco, president of the retailer, said the amount it owes Baldwin is offset by purchase rebates now in escrow and that his company has agreed to pay Baldwin the difference about $400,000 in four monthly installments of $100,000. He said earlier comments that his company was having difficulty making the payments were incorrect. default on its borrowings from GECC because a couple of assets valued at more than $2 million it expected to borrow against weren't available.

Also, Duke Realty, landlord for Baldwin's corporate offices in Deerfield Township, a nearby retail store and warehouse, has asked the court for a hearing on eviction proceedings against the company, which owes about $150,000 in back rent. Late Tuesday, Bankruptcy Judge J. Vincent Aug Jr. hadn't issued his decision on Baldwin's bankruptcy financing plan. Attorneys for Bald win's unsecured creditors and its equity holders had objected to parts of the financing package.

Mr. Hurley said GECC, which is owed about $40 million from Baldwin, has continued to work with the company, including recently providing $800,000 so the company could meet its payroll. "They're committed to operating in good faith with us," Mr. Hurley said. "They've provided funding when we needed it." He told creditors that Baldwin's management still thinks the company is a via said at the company's first meeting of creditors Tuesday.

Baldwin, which sought Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization May 31, thought it had resolved financing with GECC, which would allow it to operate while working out a plan to repay creditors. Monday, at a bankruptcy hearing to obtain final approval for the financing, Baldwin said it was in technical By Mike Boyer The Cincinnati Enquirer Representatives of struggling Baldwin Piano Organ Co. and its lender, GE Capital are scheduled to meet today to discuss how to resolve the 140-year-old company's cash squeeze. "We're expecting meaningful and substantive discussions with GE Capital Tim Hurley, Baldwin's bankruptcy attorney, uT'i 7 Queen of the fleet Sun sets on L-10 11 Tristar Delta retires a writers Tristate Summary Ohio Casualty posts loss for 2Q A one-time accounting charge to cover an early retirement plan, combined with severe weather, caused Ohio Casualty Corp. to post an operating loss in the second quarter.

The Fairfield-based property and casualty insurer had an operating loss of $10.9 million, or 18 cents. That compares with an operating loss of $6.6 million, or 11 cents a share, in the same quarter last year. But the insurer, undergoing a major restructuring to improve profitability and cut costs, had net income of $16.7 million, or 28 cents a share, vs. loss of $8.2 million, or 14 cents a share, a year ago. Area economic signs looking up The Greater Cincinnati economy stabilized in July, with slightly greater Strength than in June, according to a monthly report from the National Association of Purchasing Management-Cincinnati.

The report shows that the economic slowdown might be over, at least locally. The group's leading indicator, new orders, has increased for three months. rr Some members of the group also have reported their second month of higher employment. The turnaround indicates that the previous five to seven months of weakness could be an "adjustment," instead of a long-term negative trend. The national NAPM report is expected to be released today.

Furniture Fair to open new store Furniture Fair is opening a sixth store. The new store will anchor the McCabe's Crossing shopping center in the Fields Ertel area and will include a Thomasville Home Furnishings center. From staff reports 1' Vil It )i ii 'It was just a great pleasure to flu' Bill Titus, Villa Hills Wide-body plane helped pioneer era By James Pilcher The Cincinnati Enquirer Delta Air Lines saw an era close Tuesday, as it operated its last revenue-generating flight with what was once the workhorse of its fleet the Lockheed Martin L-1011 Tristar. Some passengers and analysts say it was about time to retire one of the first wide-body models made. But to others, such as Bill Titus, Cincinnati-based Delta Air Logistics customer service agent, the passing is bittersweet.

"It was just a great pleasure to fly," said Mr. Titus of Villa Hills, a 20-year veteran of Delta. "It probably does need to be replaced, but it was the big airship of the day, and 111 never forget flying in first class and being able to step over the guy next to me who was stretched out without having him move." The last L-1011 in Delta's fleet (Bethesda, Lockheed Martin stopped making passenger planes in 1983 to concentrate on military aircraft) flew its normal flight from Orlando, to Atlanta Tuesday. Today, it will be flown to California, where it will be turned over to an aircraft management firm. Delta is donating the plane to Newport News, Flying Hospitals, an outpatient surgical operation that serves communities around the world.

But first, Delta employees including Mr. Titus will take that final flight to California after bidding on the seats, with proceeds going to charity. Other employees are signing their name to the outside of the fuselage. carrier vault itself into the No. 3 spot nationally.

The plane flew Delta's first European flight in 1978 (London-Gatwick), as well as the company's first trans-Pacific flight in 1987 (Portland-Tokyo). "It was the queen of the fleet, and really a workhorse," said Tom Crawford, who retired last month as Lockheed Martin's L-1011 program manager. "It just did a yeoman job. I'm sad to see it go, too, but of course, I'm biased." At the time it was in vogue, it was up against the more efficient DC-10 and Boeing 767, and after Lockheed got out of the passenger aircraft busi- Delta Air Lines Delta had operated the L-1011 since 1973. L-1011 by the numbers Passengers: 241-302.

Crew: 3 pilots, 7-12 flight attendants. Cruising speed: 553-560 mph. Range: 3,240 miles for L101 1-500, up to 5,300 miles L101 1-100. Maximum altitude: 42,000 feet Engines: 3 jets 1 tail, 2 wing mounted (Rolls Royce engines). Fuselage length: 164 feet, 2 inches long for L1011-1 and 178 feet 8 inches long for 250 and 500 models.

Tall height: 55 feet, 4 inches. Wing span: 155 feet, 4 inches for 250500 and 164 feet, 4 inches for 100. Total made: 250. Delta total fleet through years: 70 (56 in service at one time in 1991). Total still In service worldwide: 80.

Sources: Delta Air Lines, Lockheed Martin alumni connect Web site will provide outlets By James McNair The Cincinnati Enquirer Whether by buyout, layoff or retirement, leaving Procter Gamble no longer means having to say goodbye. From haunts around the world, former employees are beginning to reunite online through a newly created group, the Alumni Network. It's patterned after alumni groups at such companies as Microsoft and Lotus and is aimed at becoming an umbrella organization for smaller enclaves of emigres. "The concept here is basically to pull together a lot of the existing organizations into one global unit," said Carol Boyd, who left three years ago and is the group's network director. "It's exceeded my expectations in a big way." With the consumer-products giant slicing 9,600 jobs through an assortment of means, is contributing additional prospects for the fledgling alumni group.

The company does not know how many former employees there are, but with a total work force of about 110,000, suffice to say a caterer would be in order for any meetings. The latest exodus of workers into the outside world is prompting the Alumni Network to devote part of its Internet site to job-hunting functions. The Web site, www.pgal-ums.com, will be operational in mid-September, Ms. Boyd said. "I hope we'll have great networking tools for people to post their resumes on the Web site and have alumni shop through their re- sumes," Ms.

Boyd said. "The whole purpose of it is for people to help each other, to find good employees or get insights or solve problems." The Web site will also have job listings, a "best practices" section on topics such as marketing and pur- Lockheed made 250 of the airliners, each of which carried between 241 and 302 passengers depending on the configuration. About 80 are still in service worldwide. Delta was the only airline to operate all four versions of the Tristar. Delta had operated 70.

of the aircraft since 1973. The most L-lOlls it had in its fleet at one time was 56 in 1991, meaning that Delta used the plane extensively in the post-deregulation era, which saw the Atlanta-based Tie oi "Zs See DELTA, Page C5 Comair adds flights, 5 routes Service to Paris suspended longer New flights The new destinations are Bush International in Houston; Newburgh, N.Y.; Norfolk, Toledo; and Tulsa, Okla. In addition, a point-to-point flight between Tulsa and Las Vegas will resume today. quickly, which is something we're proud of," company spokesman Nick Miller said. "Not to say that it's been easy, but the airline has been able to implement a very aggressive resumption plan very efficiently." Comair also will reach 87 cities as of today, meaning that most of the heavy lifting needed to restart the airline is over following the 89-day strike that ended June 22.

The airline resumed flying July 2. Airline officials have said they plan to reach all 97 cities served before the strike by January and offer more than 750 flights. They had operated 815 departures system-wide and more than 323 departures locally before the strike. By James Pilcher The Cincinnati Enquirer Comair resumes its role as the busiest airline in Cincinnati today with the addition of another bank of flights and five new destinations as it recovers from last spring's pilots strike. The Erlanger-based regional carrier is adding 79 flights today, bringing its daily departure total to 511 system-wide, including 220 locally.

Before today, the airline had been operating 432 departures, some of them limited to Monday through Friday, including 182 locally. The new additions -which include adding frequency to already active routes mean Comair operates the most flights at on Comair to supply as much as 40 percent of the feed for the Paris flight. Company spokeswoman Diane Cornman said the load factors were not what the company had hoped last winter in the first full year of the route, declining to give specifics. She said there were no plans to lay off the approxi-mately 12 Air France workers employed locally, saying they could help on the Delta flight that is also an Air France codeshare. James Pilcher Air France on Tuesday said the suspension of service between Cincinnati and Paris would be extended until April.

The one-flight-a-day route was to be resumed Oct. 1, but has been postponed because of the soft economy and difficulty restarting what will mainly be a leisure flight in the midst of the off-season. The flight was suspended July 22, with company officials announcing the move in early June because of the then-strike at Comair. Air France said it relied the CincinnatiNorthern Kentucky International Airport, which is also the second-largest hub for Com-air's parent company, Delta Air Lines. The Atlanta-based airline, which owns Comair, operates almost 190 departures locally.

"And we've done it very See PROCTER, Page C5 Enquirer fileMICHAEL SNYDER Ed Carson displays candy wrappers for special occasions and corporate advertising. What's the Buzz? Specialized Hershey bars selling at mall Carson Enterprises the Fairfield company which specializes in customized messages on Hershey bars, is going retail. The company, started in owner Ed Carson's basement in 1993 to mark the birth of his first grandchild, opens a kiosk today in the Kenwood Towne Centre, offering Hershey bars with prepackaged messages such as "Thank You" and "I Love You." The booth will also be able to customize the bar wrappers further with personal messages on the back using a color printer. "We hope to be able to handle customer requests while they shop," said Jennifer Shear, Carson marketing manager. The new site will also accept and fulfill Hershey bar orders for the company's Fairfield location.

"(The retail booth) is another of Ed's brainstorms," Ms. Shear said. The company moved into a new $1.5 million plant off Route 4 last year. Mike Boyer Have a tip about a Tristate company that should be' included in our Buzz? Call 768-8147 or e-mail businessenquirer.com. Jobs, stocks shake consumer confidence in July Consumer confidence The Consumer Confidence Index from a survey of 5,000 U.S.

households. 150 140 -V Current 116.5 One month ago 118.9 "One year ago 143.0 news lately," said Mark Vitner, an economist at First Union Corp. A growing concern among consumers about prospects for future employment is reflected in the index. Those saying jobs were plentiful fell to 35.8 percent from 38.3 percent in June, and 14.9 percent of consumers expect more jobs to become available in the next six months, down from 15.6 percent a month earlier. The unemployment rate has climbed from 3.9 percent last October to 4.5 percent in June, when businesses eliminated 114,000 jobs.

Many economists are predicting the July jobless rate will rise to 4.7 percent and that another 38,000 jobs will be cut. The government will release the employment report Friday. wages, interest and government benefits, also moved 0.3 percent higher in June, the Commerce Department said Tuesday. "Incomes are rising, but not as fast as last year, and that's one of the reasons consumer confidence has sagged over the same period," said Gary Thayer, chief economist for A.G. Edwards Sons Inc.

in St. Louis. July's reading marked the first time the index fell since April, when it reached 109.9. Until now, consumer confidence appeared immune to the slumping financial markets, weak corporate earnings, anemic growth and layoffs that have hobbled the economy for nearly a year. "The biggest issue is probably concerns about their jobs because of all the layoffs we've seen in the The Associated Press NEW YORK The deteriorating job market and slumping stock prices eroded Americans' confidence in the economy in July, though consumer spending is expected to remain strong, a private research group said Tuesday.

The New York-based Conference Board said Tuesday that its Consumer Confidence Index slipped to 116.5, down from a revised 118.9 in June. The drop follows two consecutive gains in May and June. The latest reading came on the heels of a government report that said consumer spending, which has been credited for keeping the economy out of recession, rose a better-than-expected 0.4 percent in June. Personal income, which includes Local voices Some thoughts on Tuesday's consumer confidence report Orpha Pierce, Coleraln Township: "I keep thinking it is going to go back up. I'm hoping, but I don't think it's going back up soon." Ms.

Pierce is retired, but she still worries about job cuts affecting her children. Mary Ann Mlsch, Marlemont: "I have to be cautious (in spending) because I'm a single mom with two kids. I've cut down a lot since the first of the year. I'm basically living paycheck-to-paycheck now." Amy Cleveland, Golf Manor: "It hasn't affected me. I just bought a house.

I'm a schoolteacher, so I have job security, but some of my friends who work in sales are seeing it more." Anya Rao 135 no Seasonally adjusted, 1985-100 125 1 105 JASONDJFMAMJJ 2000 2001 SOWCE: The Conference Board The Associated Press.