Albuquerque Journal from Albuquerque, New Mexico • Page 27

Week of December 3, 1990 Albuquerque Journal MS ,1 I' A 111 i -v If I I If i 'T I II wsci -A 4 lfeX 7 A I Jf 5 1 1 1 IBMIMiW I Group Sounds Bond Warning Bond Investors Association, a non-profit group which tracks bond defaults, predicts trouble ahead and offers some advice to investors in junk bond mutual funds get out before it's too late. Page 5 Use Care In Layoffs In these tough economic times, many managers are facing the highly stressful and unpleasant task of laying off workers, but consultants say you can ease the delivery of the bad news with some careful and thorough planning. Page 7 Guerrilla War And Business ROSE PALMISANO OUTLOOK Maloof Companies president Joe Maloof and chairman of the board Colleen Maloof look over an architect's rendering of the hotel division's multimillion-dollar Fiesta Casino Hotel Recreational Vehicle Park in North Las Vegas, Nev. Th 10 Years Later Malools: Family Holdings Expand in Decade Since Death of George Sr. By Paul Logan JOURNAL STAFF WRITER alliance, the Maloofs, through a promotion, are letting Birmingham fans name the team.

Also next spring, the family will begin building the Fiesta, a casino hotel recreational vehicle park on 17 acres in North Las Vegas, Nev. Joe said the project will cost "in the neighborhood of $15 million," about the same as the Classic. Last June, the family sold its largest hotel property, the 500-room Sheraton Anaheim, next to Disneyland, for "a very substantial amount," which was several times what George Sr. paid for it in 1976, Joe said. "Normally, we don't get into a business to sell it," said Joe.

"We look at the long term. But you can't fall in love with a hotel property if it makes sense to move it." Part of the hotel money from the cash deal with a Japanese executive was reinvested in the pro football franchise, Joe said. Adrienne Maloof, 29, played a key role in the Sheraton sale. Besides being the Maloof Companies' assistant treasurer and assistant secretary, the Maloofs' only daughter handles sales and marketing work for the hotel chain. She also attends Orange Coast College in Orange County, Calif.

"There are a lot of tire kickers," said Joe, referring to the people who approach the Maloof Companies with a myriad of potential deals. "But very few people come up with a person interested in buying. Adrienne found someone MORE: See MALOOFS on PAGE 2 For the past decade, Maloof's widow, Colleen, 57, and her adult children have shared the responsibilities of the banking, hotel, beer, liquor and sports businesses. The multimillion-dollar empire, a vast family-owned conglomerate by New Mexico standards, was once almost singlehandedly managed by the Maloof patriarch. Two of his last major deals were the acquisition of the Houston Rockets, a professional basketball team, for about $9 million in 1979, and the construction of his showpiece hotel, the $15 million Classic, which opened just before his death.

The family sold the Rockets for about $11 million in 1982. The Maloofs now say they probably should have kept the team a while longer. But Joe's younger brother, Gavin, who had been commuting between Albuquerque and Houston as the National Basketball Association's youngest president, returned home to oversee the Quality Import liquor operation. "After my father's passing, we had so much to do," he said. "It was very hectic.

didn't have time to devote to that team." This fall, the family returned to the pro sports business when they purchased the major ownership of the Birmingham, franchise in the World League of American Football. Again, Gavin, 34, will run the operation with help from his youngest brother, Phil, 23. Both Maloofs will live in Alabama as they prepare the franchise for league play next spring. Always looking for a strong community TEN YEARS AGO, during a trip to Milwaukee, George Maloof Sr. kept track of how everyone from maids to maitre d's-treated him.

Of the 57 but now, authors Jay service people Maloof came in contact with, Pnnrarl I evirKnn anH Rarrv onlv one waitress went out of her way to make unraa Levinson ana barry sue Maloof was a happy customei. he later told Harnn Show hOW SUCh company employees. tactiCS apply to Survival in "If we can out-service the competition," Maloof reminded them in his gravelly voice, "we the competitive world of can stay ahead in the gamei modern business and Joe Maloof, George oldest son and inrtnitrv Maloof Companies president, recently recalled the story on the 10th anniversary of his father's Pages 14-15 deatn- Tne businesses George Sr. started have continued to grow because the family and its employees still follow his two Your Taxes. 4 commandments cater to the customer and Convention Calendar 5 take care of the company's employees.

Business Briefs 6 j0e, 35, said his dad showed his concern for Small Business 8 employees right up until his death. Following a Computer Scene 10 heart attack at his newly built Classic Hotel in Incorporations 12 Albuquerque, George and his wife, Colleen, Meetings, Seminars 16 waited as a valet rushed the family car to the Bankruptcies 18 note entrance- Colleen jumped behind the William Donoghue WS' t0 ru? her husbandt0 the hospital. MonPvRfltM 99 Mv dad was busv 8om8 trough all his SlVSSi: pockets," Joe said. "He was trying to find a tip Stock Choices 24 for the valet." Investors Guide 26 a few hours later, on Nov. 29, 1980, Maloof, 57, The Week Ahead 27 died of a second heart attack..