The Orlando Sentinel from Orlando, Florida • A10

A10 News Orlando Sentinel Thursday, December 6, 2012 RC Citigroup's massive layoffs will include 100 in Florida Citigroup will lay off about 100 people in Florida next year as part of a restructuring that will cut more than 11,000 employees worldwide, the financial giant said Wednesday. The layoffs in Florida represent about 1 percent of Citigroup's roughly 9,500 employees in the state. Most cuts will come in back-office operations, such as technology, said spokesman David Ros-kin. The group also will shut one Citibank branch in Florida of 52 now in the state, Rosldn said. Starbucks plans to grow by 3,000 in Americas Starbucks plans to open 3,000 shops in the next four years in its Americas region, half of them in the U.S.

That's two a day, a trememdously aggressive expansion plan by any Thousands more will be freshly renovated, executives said at the company's investor conference Wednesday. The already-massive company intends to have more than 20,000 shops on six continents by 2014. By then, China will be Starbucks' second-largest market, with 1,000 shops. Business briefing Canaveral is 2nd-busiest cruise port Port Canaveral has surpassed Port Everglades as the world's second-busiest cruise port, according to figures released Wednesday. The Canaveral Port Authority said for the fiscal year that ended Sept.

30, Canaveral had 3.76 million revenue passengers; Port Everglades in South Florida had 3.69 million. Revenue passenger figures count people on a home-port ship twice when they board at the start of a cruise and when they get off at the end. Passengers making a port-of-call stop only are counted once. So actual passenger counts are closer to 2 million. The Port of Miami is still No.

Florida Today Local park ticketing firm sold for $22M Foreclosure sales skyrocket locally (47) in 3rd quarter owned homes in Metro Orlando, compared with all resales, widened in the third quarter to 23 percent In the second quarter and in the third quarter of 201L foreclosure-sale prices were 18 percent less than the overall average price during those periods. That's good news for area homeowners, because it indicates bank-owned properties are not dragging down neighborhood values when they hit the market as much as they did in the past, Blomquist said. But it is an indication that the backlogged properties are being flushed out of the system by the banks that were stuck with them, he added. "That discount rising indicates to me that the seller is more motivated to sell the property," Blomquist said. mshanklintribune.com or 407-420-5538 "In Florida and in the Orlando market, we saw a big increase in these foreclosure sales," said Daren Blomquist, a spokesman for RealtyTrac.

"When you include the short sales, which are happening outside of the realm of foreclosures, over half of the sales happening in Metro Orlando are distress." At a time when hedge funds, equity firms and institutional buyers have entered Orlando's market and pushed up demand for distress deals, the prices of foreclosures actually appear to be softening: The average price paid for one of the metro area's 3,353 bank-owned sales during the third quarter was $121,632, down from $127,490 during the previous quarter. Florida and U.S. foreclosures similarly had a downturn during that time, though their drops were not quite as steep as Orlando's. Also, the average discount on bank- By Mary Shanklin Staff writer Florida's and Orlando's 'shadow inventory' of unlisted, bank-owned homes taken in foreclosure appears to be emerging from the darkness. The number of foreclosure sales jumped 47 percent from the second quarter to the third both statewide and in Metro Orlando more than double the increase for the nation as a whole, according to a report released today by the California real estate research company RealtyTrac Inc.

Foreclosure sales increasingly define the market in Orlando's four-county metro area: A year ago, they made up 24 percent of local existing-home sales; in this year's second quarter, they made up 27 percent; and by the third quarter, they constituted 31 percent of the market By Jason Garcia Staff writer Lo-Q PLC, a British virtual-queue company, said Wednesday it has acquired Lake Mary-based online-ticketing firm Accesso LLC in a cash-and-stock deal valued at $22 million. The deal combines two of the leading technology companies in the theme-park industry. Lo-Q develops ride-reservation systems for amusement parks, water parks and other attractions; it has worked with Universal Orlando, Six Flags, Parques Reu-nidos and Merlin Entertainments Group, whose properties include Legoland Florida Accesso specializes in online- and mobile-commerce software and runs the online ticket stores for North American amusement-park chains Six Flags and Cedar Fair, as well as CoCo Key Water Resorts and other clients. "Accesso's customer base complements our own, and our products and technologies will be hugely synergistic," Lo-Q Chief Executive Officer Tom Burnet said. Developing new technologies for everything from crowd-flow control to mobile sales has become a priority across the theme-park business, as companies try to make themselves more relevant to tech-sawy travelers and to wring more attendance and sales out of their existing infrastructure.

For instance, the Walt Disney theme-park division is spending $1 billion to develop a suite of technologies it has dubbed Next Generation Experience, or "NextGen." A cornerstone of that project, which is expected to begin rolling out in earnest next year, is an advance-reservations system that will allow travelers to book ride and show times before they leave home on vacation. "Everyone is looking for ways to reduce hassles, because their guests will then have a better experience," Accesso CEO and owner Steve Brown said. "It's about guest convenience, it's about revenue and it's about providing guests what they want. Guests want to be able to buy their ticket on their phone. Guests want to be able to find ways to avoid waiting in line." The company's sale caps a remarkable comeback for 12-year-old Accesso, which rebounded from bankruptcy five years ago.

The firm now employs 44 people and last year generated $840,000 in earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization a common measure of profitability on nearly $5.7 million in sales. Brown, a former top ticketing executive for Disney, will become chief operating officer of the merged North American businesses of Accesso and Lo- Q. Brown, 44, will also join Lo- Q's board of directors. "We truly see this as a game-changer," Brown said of the merger. jrgarciatribune.com or 407-420-5414 RICARDO RAMIREZ BUXEDA STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER Thriving Dick's Sporting Goods recently opened two new stores, at Seminole Towne Center and Waterford Lakes.

Dick's makes a move into Central Florida market Fla. workplace fatalities near record low in Goods, said Florida is a natural market for expansion because of its warm weather and proximity to water. In 2012, she said, Dick's planned to build 40 stores nationwide. Dick's carries gear for team sports, fishing, camping and running, with brand names ranging from Under Armour to Nike, as well as its own private brands. It also carries an assortment of professional sports team apparel.

"They usually have lots of good deals, markdowns and clearance," said Rob Pugh of Deltona, who said he likes to buy Jacksonville Jaguars merchandise there. Both new Orlando-area stores are close to locations of Sports Authority, a chain that for years has been dominant in Central Florida It has eight stores in the region. "They will sharpen the competition in the Orlando market, and it may not be a terrible thing for Sports Authority," Kirn said. "Sometimes that competition, the entry of a new player, really makes you tighten up and take a fresh look at what you're doing, and say, How are we going to But Sam Poser, an analyst with Sterne, Agee Leach, isn't so sure. Sports Authority has been struggling, he wrote in a recent research note, and Dick's Sporting Goods is poised to steal market share.

He would not elaborate. Sports Authority, a privately owned company, did not return calls seeking comment. It has remodeled some stores, including one on Sand Lake Road in Orlando. Christopher Svezia, a New York-based retail analyst at Susquehanna International Group, said Dick's does a better job in its stores than Sports Authority "in terms of the fixturing, how things are assorted, the neatness, the quality of the product." Dick's said in its most recent report for investors that it tries to hire salespeople who are sports enthusiasts with knowledge of the product, something that Svezia agrees with. "You do get a sense the sales staff at Dick's is a little bit more refined, understands the product a little bit more," he said.

The company, which started in 1948 as a bait-and-tackle shop, has turned in strong financial performance. When the company reported third-quarter earnings earlier this month, profit rose 21 percent to $50.1 million because of stronger-than expected revenue growth. Net sales for the third quarter of 2012 increased by 1L2 percent to $L3 billion. While the company also has the smaller Golf Galaxy chain, its flagship store is the one primarily driving growth. In general, Svezia said, "Dick's has got probably the best big-box sporting goods concept out there." spedicinitribune.com or 407-420-5240 By Sandra Pedicini Orlando Sentinel Dick's Sporting Goods is shaking up Central Florida's athletic-retail scene with expansion in the region.

Already the nation's largest sporting goods retailing company with more than $5 billion in annual sales and 500 stores Dick's eventually plans to have 900 outlets throughout the United States. In Central Florida, Dick's opened two more stores last month, in Sanford and Waterford Lakes. They had already been operating a store near Mall at Millenia "They have some pretty ambitious plans," said Steve Kirn, executive director of the David F. Miller Retailing Education and Research Center. The time is right for the chain's expansion, retail experts say.

Total sales of sports equipment and apparel in the U.S. jumped 4 percent last year to $75 billion, according to SportsOneSource, a research and analysis firm. Several things are driving the trend, said Matt Powell, an analyst with SportsOneSource. Those include a growing interest in outdoor activities, fueled in part by the green movement; more innovative products, especially apparel; and growth in exercise classes such as Zumba and CrossFit Lauren DeLaney, a senior community marketing manager for Dick's Sporting Workplace fatalities in Florida remained near a record low in 201L with construction once again accounting for the highest number of deaths, according to a government report released this week. Fatal work injuries statewide totaled 227, up two from the total in 2010 and the second-lowest count since the U.S.

Bureau of Labor Statistics began tracking fatalities in 1992. During the past three years, the total has been trending down and is far below the peak of 422 fatalities in 2004. Construction workers accounted for 41 of the fatalities in 201L followed by the trans-portation-and-warehousing industry (36). Three categories accounted for 75 percent of the total: 90 deaths from transportation incidents; 44 from violence and other injuries by persons or animals; and 36 from falls, slips and trips. Nationally, there were 4,609 fatal work injuries in 201L down from 4,690 in 2010.

The recession may have played a role in reducing workplace deaths. When unemployment is higher, workplace fatalities have trended down overall. Tampa Bay Times DILBERT BY SCOTT ADAMS MICE, DO YOU HAVE ANY VALUABLE CAREER ADVICE? WOULDN'T YOU DIDNT THAT tAAKE ASK FOR tAE. HAPPINESS UNHAPPY? ADVICE. WORK SO HARD THAT IT DESTROYS YOUR HEALTH AND CROWDS OUT ANY CHANCE OF HAVING A PERSONAL LIFE.

4 words rarely merged: Pizza Hut, the perfume It began as a gag, but now it's a reality: Pizza Hut perfume, featuring subtle "notes of freshly baked, hand-tossed dough." Pizza Hut Canada's marketing firm had asked on Facebook what people would call a perfume that captured the enticing aroma of a Pizza Hut pizza It was a joke. But thousands responded, asking where they could find such a scent So Pizza Hut obliged..