St. Louis Post-Dispatch from St. Louis, Missouri • Page 13

ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH BUSINI SECTION THURSDAY, JULY 9, 1992 BRIEFCASE bland Texas Discounter Buys Nort 11 Bills, a close-out, dollar-store retailer that expects to open in September. Spigel said he was already talking to potential tenants for the Famous building. The replacement "will be another soft-goods store," he said, but "more geared to discount." He also said that he wanted to divide the space currently devoted to the Famous store, using its lower level for a separate tenant Still other potential at the center lies in the space for more outlot buildings, Spigel said. The parking lot covers more than 50 acres, he said, which can be used "to add up to 200,000 square feet of additional retail space." The company will be looking at restaurants and fast-food outlets, video stores and some superstores as possibilities for the development of new buildings on the property, Spigel said.

Spigel and CenterMark began discussions on this sale late last year. A source close to the deal said that other parties were also interested in Northland but that none was ready to move as quickly as Spigel. "Spigel got a good buy," the source said. "But it wasn't a steal. The value is in what he does with it." By Babette Morgan and Fred Faust Of the Post-Dispatch Staff A retail redeveloper from Texas has bought Northland Shopping Center in Jennings with plans to convert the property into a discount center.

The buyer, Spigel Properties of San Antonio, closed the deal late Wednesday with CenterMark Properties of St. Louis. Terms were not disclosed. The deal with Centermark includes the purchase of Northland Office Building, which sits on the grounds of the shopping center at Lucas Hunt Road and West Florissant Avenue. Separately, Spigel has an option, to buy the Famous-Barr store at Northland from its owner, May Department Stores Co.

of St. Louis. Spigel Properties President Stanley Spigel said he will exercise that option. But Jim Abrams, a spokesman for May added Wednesday that the Famous at Northland will remain open until October 1993, when a new Famous is set to open at Jamestown Mall in far north St. Louis County.

The Northland Famous building covers 257,383 square feet. The shopping center is made up of 235,400 T. Sam LeonePost-Dispatch The Famous-Barr store at Northland Shopping Center in Jennings. the potential to be a vibrant center again. It is situated in a high-traffic, value-oriented location that is ideal for a discount concept, he said.

Spigel said that his company was "going to be very aggressive in leasing" and that three brokers Leo Eisenberg Midland Group and CB Commercial were working on bringing in new tenants. Coming soon are a Footlocker store, due to open next month, and Dollar At the time of the sale, Northland had an occupancy rate of about 70 percent, and sales at its specialty stores last year totaled about $14.9 million, said Randy Smith, Center-Mark's vice president of corporate marketing and public relations. Sales have been declining there for five years, Smith said. But Spigel said he thought that Northland, which opened in 1955 as a major regional shopping center, had square feet of space for specialty stores. The office building has 34,000 square feet.

Spigel said that he has been redeveloping shopping centers for 12 years and that he's "in it for the long term." His company owns and operates 15 to 20 large centers, all in Texas and all with a focus on discount retailers. The space owned by his company more than 4 million square feet is more than 90 percent occupied, he said. Jet-Sale Critics Say rVSc-: 'v-iv z- r5J -i i cDonnell Inflates ft 7 Job-Loss Estimates tfl 1 ST. LOUIS MOBUCKS $1.25 Million To Aid Engineered Products The state of Missouri has approved a deposit of $1.25 million with Commerce Bank of St. Louis to help Engineered Products Inc.

of Hazelwood with an expansion that will generate 50 jobs, officials said Wednesday. The deposit, made under the MoBucks for More Jobs program, will allow Engineered Products to get a below-rate loan in return for forming jobs. This is the second deposit for the company, which makes injection-molded plastic products. In the past year, it has used $1 million from the program to generate 40 jobs. COMMUNICATIONS 5 Computer Hackers Indicted In Scam A Manhattan grand jury has indicted five computer hackers accused of using computers to tamper with credit information and make free long-distance calls.

Their scheme was detected early last year. St. Louis-based Southwestern Bell Telephone Co. says it spent more than $370,000 to assist investigators and to upgrade security systems to protect its phone network from hackers. NATIONAL AIRCRAFT Two Big Customers May Let Boeing Down Reports Wednesday said two of Boeing largest customers could take steps that would substantially reduce the company's present and expected business.

One of Boeing's largest foreign customers, GPA Ltd. of Ireland, will delay or drop plans to buy up to 129 Boeing jets, the trade publication Aviation Daily reported. And United Airlines, Boeing's largest customer, said it will lease 50 Airbus Industrie A320s instead of buying Boeing 737-400s. Boeing's stock price fell 87 'j cents a share to $40.37 on the New York Stock Exchange. Seattle Times AIRLINES Continental To Cut Half Its Fares 25 Continental Airlines said Wednesday that it would cut fares an average of 25 percent on about half its flights Thursday, bucking a price increase expected from other major airlines on Friday.

The Houston-based carrier said it could afford the sale, which is aimed at leisure travelers, because it avoided "broad participation" in the industry's 50 percent discount promotion in May and early June. The sale ends July 17 and is good for travel between July 16 and Sept. 15. The lower prices apply only to round-trip tickets and travelers staying over a Saturday night. They also must be purchased at least seven days in advance of travel.

AP BROADCASTING CBS Profits Jump 39 Pet. In Quarter CBS Inc. posted a 39 percent increase in second-quarter Si -L-t i tion appears to be strong on Capitol Hill. Critics of the Saudi arms sale acknowledged Wednesday that several thousand jobs most of them in St. Louis would be lost if the Eagle production line shuts down.

But they accused McDonnell of exaggerating the related job losses at Eagle suppliers and at businesses that provide services for those workers. Rep. Howard L. Berman, alleged that the lobbying and public-relations effort by McDonnell and its Eagle subcontractors in favor of the Saudi deal "is an outrageous campaign to portray arms sales as a jobs program." Berman endorsed the calculations of Greg Bischak, an arms-control advocate, who contended that the collapse of the proposed Saudi deal would cost less than half of the 40,000 aerospace jobs that McDonnell claims in its lobbying campaign. Bischak is executive director of the National Commission for Economic Conversion and Disarmament.

Berman said he planned to introduce a bill to require McDonnell and other arms manufacturers to disclose how much money they spend to lobby government officials to support arms sales to foreign nations. Berman also listed 30 arms-control and international development groups that criticize the Eagle lobbying campaign. Jim Caldwell, who is McDonnell's point man in St. Louis for the proposed Eagle sale, declined to say how much McDonnell and its subcontractors have spent on the lobbying campaign, which includes videotapes and brochures sent to members of Congress. Caldwell defended McDonnell's estimate of potential job losses if the Eagle production line shuts down.

He said the estimate of 40,000 aero- By Robert L. Koenig Post-Dispatch Washington Bureau WASHINGTON A House member and several arms-control groups on Wednesday accused McDonnell Douglas Corp. of waging a "misleading scare campaign" that exaggerates potential U.S. job losses if Saudi Arabia is not allowed to buy 72 F-15 Eagle fighters. But McDonnell officials in St.

Louis vigorously defended their estimates that 40,000 aerospace jobs would be lost. And McDonnell Chairman John F. McDonnell raised the ante, by sending a new letter to President George Bush warning of thousands of layoffs by next year if the proposed Saudi deal does not go through. "If the sale of F-15s to Saudi Arabia is not approved this summer, half of the 40,000 aerospace workers who build F-15s will be laid off by early next year, and an equal number of service-related jobs across the country will be at risk," McDonnell warned. "Also, nearly 60 percent of the more than 2,000 F-15 subcontractors and suppliers will no longer have sustained production." McDonnell closed the letter by urging Bush "in the strongest terms to notify Congress of the sale." McDonnell officials said the expected job losses in the first quarter of 1993 would include more than 3,000 workers at McDonnell headquarters in St.

Louis, where the Eagle is assembled. In all, the Eagle program employs about 7,000 workers at McDonnell plants in St. Louis and Tulsa, Okla. Saudi officials have asked for approval from the U.S. government to buy 72 Eagles for about $5 billion.

But Bush's administration has not yet notified Congress of a proposed sale, and opposi i i 1 1 'F fl 1 "lALll Scon DinePost-Dispatch F-15 Eagle production line at McDonnell Douglas plant north of Lambert Field. space jobs was reached using "average employ- Rep. Joan Kelly Horn, D-Ladue, said she ment figures" at McDonnell and its suppliers, thought McDonnell's estimates were generally "You can't measure it in precise nose counts," he on target. "If we lose several thousand aero-said, because not all of those employees work space jobs in St. Louis, it would have a devastat-full-time on producing the Eagle or its ing ripple effect on the local economy," Horn components.

said. Sears Auto Still Paying Fee Here Six of the 14 stores are in St. Louis; one is in Fairview Heights, and the rest are in Canoga Park, Hayward, San Bruno and Westminster, Calif; Middleburg Heights, Ohio; Maplewood, and Lansing, Mich. Sears announced June 22 it was abolishing sales commissions for service advisers because they created an environment in which "mistakes did occur." Sears made the change after California's consumer affairs agency said an undercover investigation found a pattern of unnecessary repairs and overcharging by Sears auto shops. auto shops nationwide, display signs saying sales commissions have been eliminated, Rossiter said.

"That can be construed as false advertising," said Allen Wood, an enforcement official with the California Bureau of Automotive Repair, who is heading an investigation of Sears' auto repair practices in that state. But Rossiter said Sears had no plans to remove the signs in stores where the policy is not in force. "It's a store policy, a position we've gone to. In those stores, we are working to correct that situation as soon as possible," he said. CHICAGO (AP) Service advisers at 14 Sears auto shops seven in the St.

Louis area are still being paid on a commission basis despite Sears' pledge to abolish the policy amid allegations of overcharg-ing and fraud, the company said Wednesday. The service advisers at the 14 shops are represented by labor unions, requiring the company to negotiate any changes in work rules and wages, said Greg Rossiter, a spokesman for Sears, Roebuck and Co. He said Sears was negotiating with the unions to make the change. The affected shops, like all 850 Sears earnings Wednesday, credited to increased advertising demand and the television net- 7 Mrr I work's surge to Doe Run Would Keep Operating Despite Strike By Robert Manor Of the Post-Dispatch Staff Doe Run Co. said Wednesday that if its workers strike, management employees will keep the Herculaneum lead smelter in operation at least temporarily.

Teamsters Local 688, which represents more than 300 workers at the smelter, voted Tuesday to reject Doe Run's contract offer and authorized the union to call a strike. No strike deadline was set. Doe Run said a strike would not immediately close the smelter, the second-largest in the United States. "If there were to be a strike, I am sure we would operate the smelter with salaried staff for some time and see how things develop," said Jim Stack, vice president of human resources for Doe Run. Stack said the company's last strike occurred about 20 years ago and lasted a few days.

Salaried personnel kept the smelter in operation then, he said. The company has about 90 salaried employees. Stack declined to say whether the company was preparing to hire replacement workers if the Teamsters walk out. The union and company are to meet with a federal mediator Friday. The old contract expired April 30.

Rich Schildknecht, president of Local 688, said negotiations have stalled over wages and seniority. He said Doe Run's contract offer would freeze wages for three years, eliminate a bonus system, and would give the company the right to reduce wages by 25 percent at will. Workers currently earn between $10 and $15 an hour, Schildknecht said. Doe Run said the contract proposal included raises of between 2 cents and $1.05 an hour for many employees over the life of the contract. The company said a few workers would see their pay drop, and acknowledged that the contract proposal would allow the company to reduce all wages by 25 percent under some circumstances.

iirst piace in tne prime-time ratings. Des Peres Square To Be Auctioned Off CBS said it i it 1 urn earned $70.1 million in the second quarter, compared with $50.6 million a year Tisch ban buildings at that time, Linclay contracted with Equitable to have Equitable's pension funds buy Linclay's buildings upon completion. Kroger Co. originally anchored the shopping center. That grocery chain left St.

Louis late in 1986, and now subleases its space to Burlington. Doug Harms, city administrator for Des Peres, said sales tax revenue from the center has declined sharply since Kroger left. He thinks that the center never hit the sales volume that was expected, but that the office building has done better than anticipated. Access to the center will be changed when the state highway department makes major alterations to Manchester Road. The street will be divided, with traffic only going east immediately in front of Des Peres Square.

Gallardo restaurant occupies an outlot that is not owned by the shopping center. Southwestern Bell Telecom leases nearly all the office building, which has 69,500 rentable square feet on 6 acres. According to data in the auction book, the Des Peres Square Office Building projects a net operating income this year of $458,000. The estimate for the shopping center is $814,000 in operating income. "This property no longer fits with the Prime fund's investment interests," said Jerome W.

Fruin, senior vice president of the Equitable subsidiary here. The fund owns malls and downtown office buildings, and has lost interest in smaller suburban real estate. The office building and shopping center were built in 1979 and 1980 by the now-defunct Linclay Corp. As with many subur By Fred Faust Of the Post-Dispatch Staff The Des Peres Square Shopping Center and adjoining office building will be included in an international auction in Los Angeles on Aug. 13.

A minimum price of $7.5 million has been set for the shopping center. The office building carries a minimum of $4.5 million. The property is at the southwest corner of Manchester Road and Interstate 270. The real estate is owned by the Prime Property a $3.8 billion pool of pension fund money managed by Equitable Real Estate Investment Management Inc. The shopping center has 122,600 rentable square feet on 12 acres, with 92 percent occupancy.

Burlington Coat Factory, the anchor tenant, has nearly half the space. A Casa earlier. Revenues in the quarter rose to $780.6 million from $710 million. "Demand for network television advertising, in particular, improved in the second quarter of 1992 and produced higher scatter pricing vs. a year ago," said Laurence Tisch, CBS chairman and chief executive.

Reuters THE ECONOMY Cautious Consumers Keep Cutting Debt Consumers reduced their debt sharply in May, the government said Wednesday in a report showing that Americans remain cautious about spending. It was the fourth monthly decline in a row. Outstanding consumer debt fell at a 4 percent seasonally adjusted annual rate to $721.4 billion after an even steeper 5.9 percent drop in April, the Fed-' eral Reserve said. It was the 10th decline in 13 months. AP Amoco, Unocal To Eliminate Nearly 10,000 Jobs nually, the company said.

The Amoco cuts, representing 15.7 percent of its year-end 1991 work force of 54,120, are part of a "strategic reassessment" to make the company more competitive, Amoco Chairman H. Laurance Fuller said in a statement. The news pushed Amoco's stock up 87 y2 cents to $48.75 on the New York Stock Exchange. Robert Manor of the Post-Dispatch staff contributed information foflthis story. partly as a result of overseas expansion, according to a recent study by Arthur Andersen Co.

"You've got to respond to the environment," said Eugene Nowak, an analyst with Dean Witter Reynolds Inc. Chicago-based Amoco, the fifth-largest U.S. oil company, said it will take an $800 million aftertax charge in the second quarter to cover costs of a restructuring that includes the latest job cuts. The program will save Amoco (')0 million an affect company employees in the St. Louis area.

"We don't expect there to be any impact on the Wood River Terminal or the Amoco Petroleum Additives Co." in Wood River, said spokesman David Polk. Polk said Amoco has about 400 employees in the St. Louis area, most of them at the Wood River facilities. The U.S. petroleum industry has dropped about 40,000 jobs already this year, partly to compensate for lower oil prices and demaij and CHICAGO (AP) Amoco Corp.

said Wednesday that it will slash 8,500 jobs by the end of 1993 as the recession-battered oil industry continues to hack away at costs. Also on Wednesday, Unocal Corp. announced it will eliminate 1,100 jobs as part of a plan to reduce its debt by $1.5 billion. On Tuesday, Mobil Corp. said it had cut 2,000 white-collar jobs over the past year.

An Anfrco spokesman said the layoffs will not.