The Cincinnati Enquirer from Cincinnati, Ohio • Page 10

A10 WEDNESDAY, JULY 8, 2009 THE ENQUIRER wniin numic USB INDIANA WESLEYAN UNIVERSITY Classes for adults in Ohio Indiana 866-IWU-4-Y0U and Kentucky www.caps.lndwes.edu IIMKII un iuun rnuiiL CONTACT US Call the business desk at 513-768-8372 Editor: Lee Ann Hamilton, lhamiltonenquirer.com 1 Tovt RI7NFWS to 44636 (4INF0) for business updates, as they happen, i 1 Harrier charaes may apply) MARKET GLANCE How the markets did yesterday, compared the previous trading day. See full Money Markets listings, page A12. 1 to A Mil DOW CLOSE: 881.03 Local airline cutbacks continue Delta's traffic in June CLOSE: 8163.60 CHANGE: Delta Air Lines saw its passenger traffic decline 6.3 percent in June CHANGE: OIL NASDAQ CLOSE: 1746.17 CHANGE: 41.23 CLOSE: 62.93 CHANGE: already undergone a series of cutbacks in the past two years, as owner Delta has pared back flights because of the lagging economy, oil prices that are edging up and the travel impact from the H1N1 pandemic. Almost 300 Comair pilots have been laid off since October. The actual numbers for this potential round of layoffs have yet to be determined, Bendoraitis said, but should be announced in the next two weeks or so.

compared with the same month last year, while its capacity fell by 5.8 percent, the airline reported Tuesday. That included all flights, both domestic and international. Domestic traffic fell 4.7 percent on a capacity decrease of 6.1 percent. The Atlanta-based airline, which operates a hub locally at the Cincinnati Northern Kentucky International Airport, is cutting its capacity by another 6-8 percent in September, including a 17 percent cut in CVG flying. Meanwhile, domestic regional flying saw a 5.3 percent boost (Er-langer-based regional carrier Comair is a Delta subsidiary).

Year to date, Delta's passenger numbers are down 8.7 compared with the first six months of 2008. James Pilcher By James Pilcher jpikheriienquirer. com ERLANGER Comair's top executive has told airline workers to brace for more layoffs after corporate parent Delta Air Lines' announcement last week of service cuts in September. Comair president John Bendoraitis said in a companywide memo and phone message to workers late Monday that "additional furloughs among our crews will be unavoidable." The locally based regional airline has See COMAIR, Page A12 KOHL'S, BURLINGTON RENEW nn a i i A COMPANY CUTTING Ikea layoffs unlikely ts i oies lease ooos Cincinnati Mall BUSINESS SUMMARY BVK buys publisher of crafting magazines Downtown-based BVK Holdings, owner of publisher New Track Media, has acquired CK Media LLC, a publisher of quilting, sewing and scrapbooking magazines with a combined circulation of about 1 million. Details of the acquisition were not released, but BVK said the move is expected to increase New Track's annual revenues to about $80 million.

New Track employs more than 200, with additional operations in Cambridge, Winterset, Iowa; Eagan, and Center Harbor, N.H. CK Media publishes nine magazines, including Creating Keepsakes. The deal also includes CK's conference and events division, book publishing, digital properties and other units serving craft hobbyists. BVK Holdings is an entity formed by Boston Ventures, a Boston-based media and communications private equity firm which has invested almost $2.5 billion in more than 70 companies since its founding in 1983. Lisa Bernard-Kuhn Convergys renews deal with US Postal Service Convergys Corp.

has renewed a contract with the U.S. Postal Service to provide customer service support at three U.S. contact centers. Cincinnati-based Convergys has provided customer support for the Postal Service since 2003. Convergys said it will provide live agent support, automated voice mail and e-mail, and back office support.

Convergys employees will also answer the 800-ASK-USPS number and measure customer satisfaction. The extension is for two years. David Holthaus CECO Environmental gets two orders worth OAKLEY CECO Environmental provider of air pollution control and industrial ventilation systems, said Tuesday that it won two orders valued at $2.9 million. The orders for CECO's equipment group were from the refining industry and a biomass operation. Mike Boyer Springdale office buildings get Energy Star honors The two Springdale office buildings that GE Aviation will leave this year f'l 1 I 1 sTO i I 1 7ponchos 1 i JJiJ-LUJ i'l JJhXJJ- Scarves 52 I I 3 P3- VtJtlJ Hats I Wu 'jrtf iJi $3 i nr-rflwlnn i TiiWlfc Photos by Cara OwsleyThe Enquirer Totes Isotoner opened a warehouse clearance store at Cincinnati Mall, the first new lease there since new ownership took over early this year.

1 here By Laura Baverman lbavermanenquirer.com Amid news of worldwide job cuts at Swedish furniture retailer Ikea, employment at West Chester's store is staying intact, a spokeswoman said Tuesday. "While there are no guarantees in this current economic climate, at this time, we do not foresee any layoffs in Ikea U.S. stores," said Tracey Kelly, corporate communications manager for Ikea U.S. The West Chester store, one of 37 in the U.S., employs 294 people. At its grand opening in March 2008, Ikea had staffed as many as 400 to handle the large amount of traffic.

News of the companywide layoffs surfaced early Tuesday when Swedish newspaper Dagens Indus-tri quoted founder CEO Ingvar Kamprad as saying sales were "far below budget" and that there was a "need to reduce personnel further, mainly within production and logistics." The company had already cut 5,000 jobs globally when sales dropped 7 percent below budget. Ikea spokeswoman Charlotte Lindgren said the cuts were meant to improve efficiency at existing stores, but said there were no details about where and when the cuts would be made. Lindgren said Ikea would still be recruiting staff in the 50 new stores it plans to open. It operates 246 stores and employs 140,000 globally. While layoffs haven't occurred, some individual stores have chosen to reduce working hours because of slower traffic.

The West Chester, store's opening time has been pushed back to 10 a.m. from 9:30, though the restaurant still opens at 9:30 a.m., Kelly said. Kitalena Mason, who handles public relations for the West Chester store, said traffic has been slower during the week but that store leaders are still happy with results. "If you come in on a weekend, you wouldn't think there was a recession," she said. Ikea just finished its first summer sale, in which items were discounted between 20 and 70 percent.

The store is preparing a celebration to release its new catalog, to be mailed to customers July 28. Kelly said some job cuts would come within the Ikea supply chain in the United States. A center in Jo-liet, 111., distributes to the West Chester store and five others. "Ikea's philosophy will always be to find more efficient ways of working in order to keep costs down and deliver lower prices to our customers," Kelly said. By Laura Baverman lbavermanenquirer.com A new lease at Cincinnati Mall provides a hint of good news for the Fairfield center plagued in recent years by ownership changes and fleeing retailers.

Cincinnati-based Totes Isotoner Corp. has leased 30,000 square feet of space near the mall's food court and is selling its gloves, hats, slippers, flip-flops and umbrellas at prices no greater than $6. It signed a month-to-month lease for the space and hopes to operate there on weekends only through December. Mall investor and agent Whichard Real Estate, based in Raleigh, N.C., also said Kohl's Department Store and Burlington Factory Warehouse renewed leases for five more years at the 1.5 million-square-foot mall. Bass Pro Shops still has six years left on its lease.

"It will reinforce the mall's appeal to our regular shopper, but we also expect the name brand and discounted prices to attract many new visitors to the mall," Kenneth Whichard, of the firm, said. have received Energy Star certification for performance that rates in the top 25 percent of facilities nationally. Northstar Realty Finance and manager CB Richard Ellis installed new HVAC systems, lighting and an energy management system at Executive Centre buildings 1 and 3 earlier this year. Laura Baverman The new Totes Isotoner store, located near the food court, sells gloves, hats, umbrellas and Georgia-based North Star Realty Group (in other product from the Springdale-based com- which Whichard is an investor) bought Cincinnati ,1 I pany, which usually sells wholesale, online or from stores at outlet malls. See TOTES, Page A12 'Really, we were getting ready for our fall product to start coming in, and we needed to clear some space.

Nicki Green, a retail buyer for the firm FORMER LOCATION OF CRONIN DODGE Retail outlets to open at Glenway Avenue site I I wz kBk WHi The Associated PressPaul Beaty, file Restarting the line Chrysler's Belvidere, assembly plant will resume work after being idle since May 1. The company still plans to lay off 992 of the 2,600 workers there on July 27. BUSINESS PEOPLE Brock Simon has been promoted to associate directorgroup delivery at dunnhumbyUSA, downtown, and Miska Spaulding has been promoted to directorcommunications and media. Joining the company are Ryan Barger and Chris Tallent as senior software developers. Today at Cincinnati.Com Refined design plans for the first leg of The Banks will go before Cincinnati's Urban Design Review Board.

Stay In touch with Latest Business News: We bring you the freshest local, national and international business news by e-mail at 8 a.m. Monday through Friday. Register at Cincinnati. Comtipsheetregistration.html. Stocks, mutual funds and more: Cincin-naS( Com is your locatychannel for complete, real-time quoterf.

By Jeff McKinney jmckinneyenquirer.com BRIDGETOWN Several retail outlets including new Chipot-le Mexican Grill and Chick-fil-A restaurants plan to open here soon on property that was the former site of the Cronin Dodge auto dealership on Glenway Avenue. Chipotle will lease space in a multitenant building being devel square-foot eatery July 17 at 6455 Glenway Ave. It will have about 30 employees and seat about 60 people. The restaurant will be Chipot-le's 20th location in Greater Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky. The Denver-based company also plans to open new local stores in Florence and Oxford by late summer or early fall, said Jenna Simenic, a public relations representative for Chipotle in Ohio.

Chick-fil-A, the Atlanta-based restaurant chain known for its chicken sandwiches, plans to open a restaurant at 6475 Glenway Avenue. It will have 60 to 65 employees. Snyder said plans call for Chick-fil-A to build a free-standing store on Glenway between Karen and Childs avenues. will be part of a 3-acre, $10 million-plus development that will be known as Glenway Shoppes. He also said City Barbecue, a Columbus-based restaurant chain, plans to build a free-standing store between the strip center and Chick-fil-A.

He said City Barbecue hopes to begin construction by fall. Wallander said InkStop, Chipotle and a Jimmy John's sandwich shop will join existing tenant T-Mo-bile in the building by this fall. He said about 2,800 square feet is still for lease in the multi-tenant building. Adam Goetzman, Green Township's development director, said, "It will be a quality development that complements the Glenway Avenue business Chipotle plans to open a oped by DW Real Estate Holdings LLC of Cincinnati, said Bryan Sny der, development services administrator at the Hamilton County Re gional Planning Commission. He said the company plans to develop about 20,000 square feet of retail space at the site in three The EnquirerCara Owsley Ikea staff cuts in the U.S.

could come from the supply chain, rather than fromftn-store personnel, the company said. buildings. Allan Wallftfider, manager of DW Real Estate, said the building.