Courier-Post from Camden, New Jersey • Page 44

Money Courier-Post Saturday, September 10, 1994 Business Desk 486-2476 Recipe for success pays off DOW JONES INDUSTRIALS LHIGH: 3902.06 LOW: 3844.20 CLOSE: 3874.81 CHANGE: 4r Price hikes fael worries qe inflation ProduceTlx price index For inished goods Lj. S5 Seasonally adjusted change from prior month 0.7 0.6 0.5 0.4 0.3 i 0.2 I 1L By Al Schell, Courier-Post Growing: Richard Wessel checks blueprints for expanding Richard's Natural Foods restaurant in Voorhees. Customers are helping him finance the expansion by purchasing meals in advance. By BERNIE WEISENFELD Courier-Post Staff Outcome: Interest rates are expected to increase again later this year. By JAMES H.

RUBIN Associated Press WASHINGTON Inflation at the wholesale level is on the rise, the government said Friday, touching off waves of selling on Wall Street and making another round of interest rate increases more likely this year. The Labor Department said wholesale prices in August rose more rapidly than they have in four years, as higher commodity prices pushed their way through the economic pipeline. Analysts said while consumers are likely to feel the pinch soon, there is no reason to fear a return to 1970s-style runaway inflation. The Producer Price Index, measuring inflation pressures before they reach the consumer, shot up 0.6 percent last month. The rise, exceeding analysts' predictions, was the largest since 1.1 percent in October 1990.

It also is on top of a 0.5 percent advance in July that ended a string of benign wholesale reports. "It looks pretty awful, at least on the surface," said economist Sung Won Sohn of Norwest Corp. in Minneapolis. "But it is contained, especially because the ost restaurant patrons reward good cooking with repeat visits. At Richard's Natural Foods in Voorhees, they've found other ways.

Diners $250 meal ticket. The customer pays us $250, we give them $263 worth of future meals. We do the same for $500 and $1,000." The $1,000 ticket is worth $1,150 in food. Purchasers must hold the tickets for 90 days to give Richard's time to finance the kitchen upgrades, Wessel said. About $20,000 has been raised with meal tickets so far, he said.

There's little doubt the prepaid meals of fish, grains and vegetables will be eaten. "Most customers who have done this spend between $1,000 and $2,000 per year in the restaurant," Wessel said. "Some of my customers have been eating here almost every day for eight or 10 years," Wessel said. "What they're doing (with meal ticket purchases) is buying better service." Richard's has attracted a loyal following with a large, varied menu and moderate prices in the 50-seat eatery, Wessel said. "We're not turning big profits and our customers know that," he said.

Please see RESTAURANT, Page 7D NYSE: 2.44 at 258.38 AMEX: 0.97 at 454.54 NASDAQ: 5.57 at 763.73 at 468.1 8 Stocks fall on inflation news Associated Press NEW YORK Inflation snuck up from behind and took a bite out of the stock market Friday, stalling a late summer rally that had prompted predictions of new records by year's end. The Labor Department reported wholesale prices jumped 0.6 percent during August, an increase well above economists' predictions. The news prompted piles of sell orders on Wall Street and sent the Dow Jones industrial average down 33.65 points to close at 3,874.81. NYSE volume was 293.34 million shares, down slightly from Thursday's 294.02 million. Do-it-yourself market Home Depot is the leading warehouse operator selling building supplies and home-improvement products to the rapidly growing do-it-yourself market as well as to home remodeling professionals.

A strong cash position should enable new-store expansion to continue at a 23 to 25 percent rate through the year 2000. The stock closed at $44 Friday, down The 12-month target price is $58 to $60. Mark Fendrick, Dean Witter Magnetic strip Traveling on Credit? Consumer Reports Travel Letter urges travelers to make sure credit cards have a magnetic strip that is readable. Ask your card issuer for a new one before traveling. "A reader's charge card was refused twice in Italy this summer because it could not be read; clerks refused to enter the card number by hand," the magazine reported.

AMERICAN STOCKS 8 MARKET SUMMARY 7 NASDAQ STOCKS 9 NEW YORK STOCKS 7 Mutual funds listings appear Wednesday and Sunday. are showing their taste for meatless cuisine by paying up to $1,000 in advance for meals to help expand the restaurant kitchen. Others have volunteered professional expertise or will pitch in on construction work. "This is their place," said cook-owner Richard Wessel, who has operated the White Horse Road restaurantfood store for 15 years. A planned $90,000 kitchen expansion, including a new walk-in refrigerator and new stoves, will help cut meal service time, Wessel said.

"What we've been doing is pre-selling meals. We put out what we call a meal ticket." And the tickets come with a bonus. "We've devised a number of plans. We have a It's CoreStates Spectrum now Help for job seekers Wr Named: The $40 million deal covers the existing arena and Spectrum II. 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 Source: U.S.

Dept. of Labor Associated Press Federal Reserve acted ahead of. the curve." Also, he said, there may be a silver lining since labor costs by far the largest component of consumer price rises are still under control. The Federal Reserve, anticipating inflation as the economic recovery headed into its fourth year, has boosted short-term interest rates five times since February. Analysts said a sixth rise before the end of the year now looks inevitable.

for the right to call the Boston Celtics' new arena Shawmut Center. "We felt it was a very good investment for the amount of name recognition," said Shawmut spokesman Vincent Loporchio. In Chicago Friday night, Michael Jordan and other players played an unofficial final game in the aging Chicago Stadium. Next season, the Bulls and Black Hawks will play in the United Arena. Football bowl game titles often include corporate names.

memorabilia to attenders. The cornerstone of the NBA Jam Session Mall Tour presented by Fleer is a interactive exhibition area that will be set up in 14 high-traffic malls around the country. Southwest raises fares DALLAS In a move matched by most other airlines, Southwest Airlines Co. has raised fares up to $5 one-way in more than half its markets. Spokeswoman Ginger Hardage characterized the small changes as a routine review and fine-tuning of Southwest's fare structures.

The increases were implemented last Saturday in about 400 of Southwest's 725 markets. About 80 percent of the increases came on longer routes, and the average price hike was some 1.5 percent to 2 percent. Courier-Post and wire services. SONDJFMAMJJA 1993 1994 Aug. '93 July '94 Aug.

'94 10.5 10.6 By Al Schell, Courier-Post Hopeful: Debbie Mann, assistant employment specialist for Martin Marietta, checks a job resume submitted by Gary Czornyek of Mount Laurel at a Job Fair sponsored by the Family 'Y' of Burlington County Friday. Forty area companies, including schools, banks, and service firms, were represented. Trader makes computer error; wrong Nasdaq prices reported By BERNIE WEISENFELD Courier-Post Staff CoreStates Financial following a corporate trend, said Friday it will pay $40 million to add its name to the Spectrum arena in South Philadelphia. As part of a 29-year agreement, the existing arena will be renamed the CoreStates Spectrum. It is home to the 76ers basketball team and Flyers hockey club.

And what was to be Spectrum II the $200 million arena now under construction next to the Spectrum will be named the CoreStates Center. "In securing the naming rights, we are making a long-term commitment of a small percentage of our annual company-wide advertising budget," said CoreStates bulk foods. Giant plans 10 to 12 stores across South Jersey, northern Delaware and Philadelphia's northern and western suburbs. Giant's entrance into this region will likely result in price and advertising wars with the region's established supermarkets particularly market leader Acme Markets Inc. Acme has 139 Philadelphia area stores, and annual sales of $2.6 billion, according to Food Trade News.

Giant and the Short Hills Market Center will largely serve eastern Cherry Hill and bordering Voorhees, said Cherry Hill Mayor Susan Bass Levin. No other retailers have been named for the shopping center, she said. Firm floats job offers NEW GRETNA- The Viking Yacht recovering from recession and a now-repealed federal tax on big pleasure boats, is holding a job fair to chairman Terrence A. Larsen, who announced the deal along with Spectacor, owner of the Spectrum and the Flyers. As.de from the CoreStates logo, the arenas will also have a financial services center and a number of ATM machines.

Core-States will have exclusive rights to such services. The name change has a precedent: The Washington Bullets and Capitals now play in the USAir Arena the Landover, arena once known as the Cap Center. In Boston, Shawmut National Corp. paid $30 million interview candidates for at least 50 new production openings. The job fair will be from 9 a.m.

to 1 p.m., Saturday, Sept. 16 at Viking's Route 9 plant in southern Burlington County. To schedule an appointment, phone Sandy Greene at 296-4898. Job openings are available for carpenterwoodworkers, engineair conditioning mechanics, electricians, warehouse workers, weldersfabricators. Experience is preferred, but Viking is also seeking candidates who may qualify for training programs.

Viking builds yachts 38- to 68-feet long costing $500,000 to $2 million. Fleer backs NBA tour MOUNT LAUREL Fleer Corp. is sponsoring the first-ever NBA Jam Session Mall Tour-a basketball fan event that will travel to 14 cities in 10 states between September 1994 and February 1995. They will offer sports Giant comes to area Giant Food a Washington-area supermarket chain, said Friday it will open a Cherry Hill store as part of a move into the Delaware Valley. The firm plans to be the anchor store in the Short Hills Market Center, which is just starting to be developed on Evesham Road near Springdale.

The store will open late next year, said spokesman Barry Scher. "We're looking to expand within three hours of our Jessup and Landover (Md.) distribution centers, and Philadelphia fits right in that corridor," said Scher. "We're looking at a lot of sites in New Jersey." The chain plans to directly compete with not only supermarkets but club and discount stores. The stores are typically and feature pharmacy, gourmet-food center and Super Deals, an in-store section that features discounted By ROB WELLS Associated Press WASHINGTON A stock trader's error on part of the Nasdaq computer system Friday led to reporting of incorrect prices on at least 30 stocks, including such major companies as IBM and Exxon, Nasdaq said. The error marks the latest in a series of technical flubs that have plagued the Nasdaq market this summer, ranging from software glitches to an errant squirrel that chewed through a Nasdaq computer system power cable.

The problem Friday involved a trader's misuse of the Automated Confirmation Transaction (ACT) system, a price reporting service of the Nasdaq Stock Market, said Richard G. Ketchum, executive vice president and chief operating officer of the National Association of Securities Dealers, an industry group that runs the Nasdaq stock market. The trader, who wasn't identified, incorrectly reported prices in trades in a number of major stocks. The trades, which took place away from the New York Stock Exchange and the Nasdaq market, are displayed on the ACT system to fulfill reporting requirements under securities laws. The trader's error came after the 4 p.m.

closing of the financial markets, and affected the last sale prices of heavyweight companies such as IBM and Exxon, Ketchum said. The error was discovered about 5 p.m. Friday. The trader's error led to the transmission of bad prices to a centralized price reporting computer system that distributes price data to vendors, such as The Associated Press. The AP provides stock price data to the Courier-Post as well as other newspapers and broadcasters.

The error affects stock listings in today's paper as well as the Sunday stock tables. Nasdaq's market surveillance office in Rockville, subsequently corrected the last-sale prices in the stocks. But the Please see NASDAQ, Page 7D.