The Orlando Sentinel from Orlando, Florida • C3

Orlando Sentinel: PRODUCT: OS DESK: BIZ DATE: 04-30-2005 EDITION: FLA ZONE: FLA PAGE: C3.0 DEADLINE: 20.45 OP: eedwards COMPOSETIME: 22.03 CMYK Orlando Sentinel SATURDAY, APRIL 30, 2005 C3 INSIDE MONEY Osceola Tenants say they Square Mall sold are optimistic about future of center Briefcase I News of note cSoup Nazi5 will launch takeout chain Wal-Mart Canada shuts unionized store Wal-Mart Stores Inc. closed its first unionized outlet in North America, eliminating almost 200 jobs in Jonquiere, Quebec. The store shut at noon Friday rather than the planned date of May 6 because it no longer had any merchandise, said Wal-Mart Canada spokesman Kevin Groh. Workers were given pay for next week and two weeks severance for every year of employment. Wal-Mart, the world's largest retailer, said in February it would shut the store after failing to sign a contract with the United Food Commercial Workers Canada.

The discounter said the union's demands would raise costs at a store that was unprofitable. Wal-Mart faces union drives in at least 25 stores across Canada. Workers at the Jonquiere store received union certification in August after a majority signed membership cards. A store in St. Hya-cinthe, Quebec, is the only unionized Wal-Mart left in North America.

Employees at that store do not have a contract. BLOOMBERG NEWS By SUSAN JAC0BS0N SENTINEL STAFF WRITER KISSIMMEE Tenants at the Osceola Square Mall were cautiously optimistic Friday after learning that the 18-year-old center has been sold to a Minnesota company that specializes in sprucing up distressed shopping plazas. GrootwassinkHotzler Real Estate of Eden Prairie sealed the deal late Thursday, said Robert Grootwassink, owner of the firm. The company has nixed a plan by a previous developer, The Goodman Co. of West Palm Beach, to tear down the enclosed peach-and-aqua mall and replace it with a an L-shaped open-air shopping center.

The Goodman Co. abandoned its proposal in November 2003. Instead, GrootwassinkHotzler plans to bring in more retail stores and a restaurant and eliminate or relocate nonretail tenants such as the Salvation Army and the Veterans Tribute and Museum of Osceola County, Grootwassink said. He declined to divulge the purchase price for the mall but said it was low enough that he could offer rents of $6 to $12 per square foot, a price shopping-center consultant Karen Scott of Oviedo called an "extremely competitive, aggressive rate." "We can get a tenant who would take a chance on our center because we're offering them a really reasonable rate on their business," Grootwassink said. Calls to previous mall owner Steven D.

Bell Co. of Greensboro, N.C., were not returned Friday. Brian Jones, owner of Riley's Gourmet Coffee, said he is hopeful about the change in ownership. "All it needs is a shot in the arm, the food court built up, and we're in business," said Jones, whose kiosk has operated at the mall for eight years. "I don't think the local people want to see any drastic changes, really." Ross Dress for Less and Bealls department store anchor the SENTINEL ARCHIVE GrootwassinkHotzler, the new owner of the Osceola Square Mall, says it plans to bring in more stores and a restaurant and eliminate or relocate nonretail tenants.

tion and partly from the demise of several of its chains, including Service Merchandise, Piccadilly Cafeteria and Uptons (formerly Byrons) The mall could see some competition from The Loop, a open-air center under construction on John Young Parkway in north Osceola County. Its tenants are expected to include a 16-screen Regal Cinemas theater; Old Navy; Bed, Bath Beyond; Pier 1 Imports; Petco; T.J. Maxx; Ann Taylor Loft; The Sports Authority and several restaurants. Grootwassink said he isn't worried. "I think we're on a nice, busy street, and I can offer affordable rents," he said.

Susan Jacobson can be reached at sjacobsonorlandosentinel.com or The brusque New York chef who was lampooned on Seinfeld as the "Soup Nazi" plans to open a chain of takeout soup stands across North America. But don't expect the authentically rude New York treatment. Signs will be posted in each of "The Original Soup Man" franchises bearing chef Al Yeganeh's strict rules for ordering, such as "Have your money ready!" and "Move to the extreme left after ordering!" But a company spokesman said workers will be prohibited from shouting, "No soup for you!" at customers who disobey. Yeganeh and his partners have signed deals for 123 outlets, with the first slated to open in Ridge-wood, N.J., this summer. The group hopes to have 1,000 franchises at shopping-mall food courts and airports in the United States and Canada within seven years.

The partners also plan to sell refrigerated soup in markets. LOCAL Leesburg thrift axes 54 jobs FFLC Bancorp of Leesburg has cut 54 jobs at its Lake County headquarters as part of its pending merger with Alabama-based Colonial Bank, the thrift said Friday. Positions were eliminated in accounting, finance, information technology and other administrative or back-office areas, CEO Stephen Kurtz said. The cost-cutting move affected jobs that overlapped in Colonial's organization, he said. In January, Montgomery-based Colonial said it would acquire FFLC and its subsidiary First Federal Savings Bank of Lake County for $232 million.

The deal is expected to close in late May. 9-acre parcel goes for $5 million Reflecting soaring land values in one of Orlando's hottest growth areas, a nine-acre parcel on the east side of Narcoossee Road, south of Moss Park Road, sold for $5 million or more than $555,000 an acre. The buyer was Moss Pare Commercial LLC. The seller was Daryl M. Carter, as trustee for Carter-Lake Hart Land Trust.

Carter of Maury Carter Associates Inc. represented the seller in the transaction. NATION Airlines match fare increase A fare increase launched by American Airlines appeared to stick on Friday, as Northwest Airlines Delta Air Lines Inc. and Continental Airlines Inc. said they, too, would raise fares in most U.S.

cities. American blamed fuel prices when it announced fare increases of $5 oneway and $10 round-trip on most domestic and U.S. -Canada flights on Thursday. It was the latest among several fare increases by U.S. airlines in recent months.

Some stuck when competitors matched them; others were abandoned. Sun denies takeover report Sun Microsystems Inc. Chief Executive Officer Scott McNealy said Friday that a BusinessWeek report that the company is in talks to be acquired is a "totally unsubstantiated rumor." Shares of Sun, the world's third-largest server maker, rose after Business Week reported Sun may be taken over by buyout firm Silver Lake Partners. The magazine's Inside Wall Street column cited an unidentified hedge-fund manager. "Why would a supposedly credible rag like BusinessWeek quote an anonymous hedge fund guy on a totally unsubstantiated rumor designed to spike the stock price?" McNealy wrote in an e-mail sent to CNET Networks Sun shares rose 18 cents, or 5.2 percent, to $3.62 on the Nasdaq Stock Market.

A spokesman for Silver Lake didn't return a telephone message left at his office. dUbett Scott Adams square-foot mall on Vine Street in Kissimmee. The mall is home to many smaller shops, including hip-hop clothing, sportswear and women's boutiques, a small furniture store and a dollar store. Grootwassink said Bealls Clearance Center would move next to the regular Bealls in a space being vacated by A Party Zone. A gym, Maximum Fitness Center, plans to expand to about 17,000 square feet, owner Maximillian Rube-ra said.

He said he is pleased by the change in mall ownership. "I think it's great," Rubera said. "I'm sure they're going to bring in more traffic." During its lowest period a few years ago, mall occupancy was at about one-third, mall manager Vic Hill said. The mall suffered partly from poor marketing and competi same quarter in 2004. The per-share income in the latest quarter was 9 cents, down from 19 cents a year earlier.

The latest results were below the estimate of 13 cents per share from analysts polled by Thomson Financial. President Mark Mays said the spin-off of Clear Channel Entertainment, one of the nation's top concert producers, and the IPO are intended to pump capital into both sectors and boost returns for investors. Lee Westerfield, a media analyst at Harris Nesbitt in New York, said shedding the entertainment division makes sense for Clear Channel shareholders. "The live unit operates at lower margins 5 to 6 percent versus the high-profit radio and outdoor units at 30 percent," Westerfield said. "The spin-off deal will unteth- Clear Channel profit falls by 59 Group buys stake in Wendy's An investment company that tried unsuccessfully to acquire Circuit City Stores Inc.

says it has purchased shares giving it a 6.1 percent stake in Wendy's International Inc. It's the second time this week an investor has disclosed buying a large amount of Wendy's shares. High-fields Capital Management LP said in a federal regulatory filing Thursday that it bought 6.9 million shares of the hamburger chain in March. On Tuesday, Pershing Square Capital Management LP in New York said in a Securities and Exchange Commission filing that it had acquired stock and options that could give it a 9.3 percent stake in Wendy's. Wendy's shares rose 23 cents to close at $42.93 in trading Friday on the New York Stock Exchange.

GM's CEO receives $10 million General Motors Corp. chairman and chief executive Rick Wagoner received a compensation package valued at roughly $10 million for 2004, about 22 percent lower than 2003, the company reported Friday. Wagoner's cash compensation of $4.8 million last year was 43 percent lower than the $8.5 million the world's largest automaker paid him in 2003. In addition, overall cash compensation for the company's top five executives fell 37 percent versus 2003, GM said. GM earned $2.8 billion in 2004, down from $3.8 billion a year earlier.

EARNINGS US Airways Group Inc. said Friday that its first-quarter loss widened to $191 million on increased spending for fuel and lower fares. The loss of $3.48 a share expanded from $177 million, or $3.28 a share, in the same period a year ago. Sales fell 4.3 billion. Toys Us Inc.

on Friday released its delayed fourth-quarter results. Earnings for the three months ended Jan. 29 were $259 million, or $1.18 a share, compared with $155 million, or 72 cents a share, for the same period a year earlier. Sales were $4.81 billion, slightly less than a year earlier. For the year, profit was $252 million, or $1.16 a share, on sales of 1 1 1 6 billion.

ChevronTexaco first-quarter profit edged up by 4 percent, but didn't live up to analysts' expectations because oilrefinery outages prevented it from taking full advantage of the high gasoline prices. The second-largest U.S. oil company said Friday it earned $2.67 billion, or 1 .28 per share. That compared with net income of $2.56 billion, or $1.20 per share, in the same period last year. Revenue was $41.61 billion, up from $33.57 billion.

Information from Bloomberg News, Dow Jones News and The Associated Press was used in this report. Richard Burnett and Jack Snyder of the Sentinel staff also contributed. NOW WOULD BE A GOOD TIME FOR YOU TO SAY SOMETHING INSPIRATIONAL. Proffitfs, McRae's stores er the higher-margin media." Clear Channel's revenue in the latest quarter totaled $1.9 billion, down 4 percent from $2 billion a year earlier. Clear Channel management said during a conference call Friday that it was pleased with the first full quarter of its so-called "Less is More" strategy, in which the company is emphasizing 15-second and 30-sec-ond radio ads and shorter commercial breaks as a benefit both to advertisers and listeners.

Mays said Clear Channel is committed to the strategy even though it means lower revenue in the short term. Clear Channel owns about 1,200 radio stations. Its shares fell 6 cents to close at $31.94 in trading Friday on the New York Stock Exchange. Avenue has a store at Florida Mall. The deal is a step toward paring down Saks to a core luxury business, said Michael Appel, a retail expert at corporate-restructuring specialist Quest Turnaround Advisors.

"Saks Fifth Avenue will have more value as a separate entity" than when it was affiliated with the midpriced department-store group, whose performance was dragging down the company, Appel said. He added that for Belk, the acquisition gives it "more penetration in a market place," and could enable it to compete better with a much more powerful Federated Department Stores whose $11 billion play for St. Louis-based rival May Department Stores Co. will be consummated later this year. For the year ended Jan.

29, Saks earned $60.9 million, or 42 cents per share, compared with $80 million, or 56 cents per share, the year before. The Saks Fifth Avenue Enterprise division, which consists of 57 Saks Fifth Avenue stores, 52 Saks Off 5th stores and Saks.com, has fared much better than the midpriced department-store group but still trails Neiman Marcus. THE ASSOCIATED PRESS SAN ANTONIO Clear Channel Communications the nation's largest radio broadcaster, on Friday reported a 59 percent drop in earnings in the first quarter while also announcing it will split up its media empire by spinning off its live-entertainment division. The San Antonio-based company also said it plans to launch an initial public offering for 10 percent of its outdoor advertising division, which saw a sales increase in the first quarter ended March 3 1 And the company will issue a special $3 dividend after the spin-offs and increase its recurring quarterly dividend by 50 percent to about 19 cents. Clear Channel reported a $47.9 million profit in the first quarter, down from $116.5 million in the Saks to sell SAKS FROM CI or 2.63 percent, to close at $17.04 on the New York Stock Exchange.

The Saks deal comes as bids were due Friday for Neiman Marcus Group which announced last month it was considering putting its business on the block. Published reports have identified potential bidders as several teams of private-equity firms including Kohl-berg Kravis Roberts Co. and partner Bain Capital; Thomas H. Lee Partners with The Blackstone Group; and Texas Pacific Group and Warburg Pincus. Belk's acquisition which includes 22 Proffitfs stores and 25 McRae's stores is expected to solidify the regional chain's strength in the Southeast, where it already operates 228 units in 14 states, including Florida.

The deal is set to be completed in the second quarter. For Saks, the move unravels a 1998 merger of Saks Fifth Avenue with Proffitfs a combination that hasn't helped create big cost savings, resulting in disappointing earnings. By selling its store divisions in two geographic clusters, it seeks to create better shareholder value while allowing the company to focus more closely on its remaining businesses. Saks said it is exploring strategic options for its northern midpriced department-store division which consists of 143 stores under the names of Carson Pirie Scott, Bergner's, Boston Store, Younkers and Herberger's as well as its Club Libby Lu division, which operates 43 specialty stores aimed at the preteen customer. It said it could sell one or both divisions.

The northern store group generated revenues of $2.2 billion last year. Libby Lu locations include a store at Florida Mall in Orlando. The 47 Proffitfs and McRae's stores being sold are located throughout 1 1 Southeastern states, including Florida, and generated revenues of approximately $700 million in 2004. The deal also includes the assumption of approximately $1 million in lease obligations and the assumption of certain other ordinary course liabilities. Belk will also assume operating leases on leased-store locations.

In Central Florida, McRae's stores are located at West Oaks Mall and Seminole Towne Center. Saks Fifth ONCE AGAIN YOU HAVE FAILED TO MOTIVATE tAE. I I DON'T WANT TO BECOME LIKE KY COWORKERS, ALWAYS PLOTTING WAYS TO SABOTAGE YOUR CAREER. 7.