The Miami Herald from Miami, Florida • 27

v7vrrvv ppm? wr rr rr vv rr rv NYSE 2C AMEX 5C NASDAQ 5C SECTION THURSDAY SEPTEMBER 23 1993 I- if Sfciffiami Herald to sell 16 stores to creditor Deal ends lawsuits paves way for refurbishing ILEFTOVERiSTORESI Four stores and five closed locations are not included in the deal They could be reopened as Pantry Pride stores The open stores are: 1 800 185th St North Miami 12255 Bis-cayne Blvd North Miami 1339 Palmetto Park Rd Boca Raton and 3000 Broadway Riviera Beach The closed sites are: 17100 Collins Ave Sunny Isles Beach 10720 SW 72nd St Miami 10400 NW Seventh Ave Miami 3350 NE 33rd Ave Fort Lauderdale and 2421 Federal Hwy Pompano Beach existing debt with Malone Hyde a Fleming unit are very happy that the litigation between us and Fleming is said John Catsimatidis chief executive of Florida Supermarkets are considering keeping the four supermarkets not in the deal open and reopening our five closed locations But we will decide that over the If Florida Supermarkets does decide to run those nine stores it would be under the Pantry Pride name Castimati-dis said Fleming meanwhile plans to refurbish all of its newly acquired stores Earlier this month Malone Hyde a food distribution company based in Memphis Tenn filed a $25 million lawsuit against Florida Supermarkets claiming that owed the company for merchandise Malone Hyde is a Fleming subsidiary After Malone sued Florida Supermarkets filed a $100 million countersuit against Fleming and Malone Hyde Then last week the Third District Court of Appeal ruled that Malone Hyde could clean out all the merchandise and some of the equipment from the 20 South Florida stores as part of the claim Judge withdraws OLD HOME NEW PROBLEM JON KRAL Miami Herald Staff NEW RULES: Carl Shellhorse never had problems getting now in the wake of Hurricane Andrew he must prove at insurance for his 65-year-old house in North Miami But his own expense that worthy of coverage Post -storm insurance By ANNE MONCREIFF ARRARTE Herald Business Writer Florida Supermarkets which owns the 20 South Florida stores has reached a deal with Fleming Co to sell 16 of the stores spokesmen for the two parties confirmed Wednesday The deal also includes the contents of all 20 stores The closing is scheduled for Monday The purchase price for the stores was not released but sources close to the deal said Fleming will pay Florida Supermarkets about $40 million The payments will come in cash including $5 million to creditors Fleming will also pardon Florida Supermar HOMES! 22400 homes were built before 1944 15600 of those homes were occupied by the owner Median assessed value: $56000 10 percent have assessed values greater than $143000 SOURCE: Herald research long gone Shellhorse is in a bind sure to snare many more homeowners in coming months About 22400 homes in Dade County less than 5 percent of all homes are at least 50 years old In Broward there are 5034 homes older than 50 years Residents without proof of upgrades have a choice: forgo insurance or spend a couple hundred dol relocated and grouped together on the first floor for example Menswear also on the first floor has been expanded Ready-to-wear clothing has been moved to the second floor the third floor will house furniture also is expanding its specialty sections like Ralph Lauren Tommy Hilfiger and Chanel accessories and adding a DKNY shop for men the hurricane and all we have been through together with the entire South Florida community we feel more committed to the Miami area than Hearst said employees are studying Spanish and through the concierge program we have identified all our employees that speak second languages We want to be known as the friendly place to I from State Farm case From Herald Staff and Wire Reports I The Dade judge in charge of decid-I ing whether State Farm Insurance Co should pay the full cost of rebuilding storm-damaged homes withdrew unexpectedly from the case Wednes- day I The reason: A member of the family may sue State Farm for rebuilding costs the company has refused to pay Circuit Judge Robert Kaye said he learn about the conflict until after a daylong hearing i on the case Sept 10 Dade County is suing State Farm on behalf of homeowners who bought the replacement-value pol- icies before Hurricane Andrew The case could affect insurance companies and policyholders throughout Florida At issue: whether State Farm is obligated to pay the full cost of rebuilding homes including improvements required by local building codes Assistant County Attorney Tom Goldstein said he expected another judge to be assigned to the case shortly Goldstein and Vincent Rio an attorney for State Farm said it was unclear whether the case will have to be re-argued Burger King opens restaurant in Japan Burger King is hoping the Japanese' will love this place The Miami-based company has Opened its first restaurant in Japan the company announced Wednesday The No 2 hamburger chain in the United States is making a late entiy into the Japanese market which is dominated by and local restaurants The new BK one of three Japanese test restaurants is located in Iruma a Tokyo suburb The chain will open two more restaurants in Yokohama later this year TV station taken off the market Combined Broadcasting said Wednesday that it had taken WBFS-Channel 33 off the market and will continue to operate the station Combined had been trying to sell WBFS along with its Chicago station WGBO Chris-Craft Industries was h' negotiating to buy the two stations for a reported $90 million but the deal recently fell through I In dropping plans to sell the sta-I tion Combined cited recent activity in the media market and the emer- gence of new programming options I -Avanti Press closes Case -Hoyt purchase 1 Avanti Press Inc a Miami-based graphic arts company has closed its previously announced deal to acquire Case-Hoyt Corp of Rochester NY Terms were not disclosed a Both companies specialize in qual- ity corporate printing including cata- logs and annual reports Avanti Chair- man Joe Arriola said the combined clients would include Dil- Exxon General Motors IBM I Kodak Neiman-Marcus Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines and I Walt Disney World Case-Hoyt reported sales of $59 million last year It was a subsidiary of the publicly traded Montreal telecom- munications company BCE Avanti which said it is the largest minority- owned graphic arts concern in the I United States was founded in 1965 It I has 450 employees and sales of $60 million in 1992 Older houses need proof sound Suits target ex-directors Accounting firms officers named By DAVID SATTERFIELD Senior Business Writer The trustee for Southeast Banking Corp unloaded a volley of litigation this week filing separate federal lawsuits against the former directors of Southeast Banking Corp two Big Six accounting firms and the former executives of a Jacksonville savings and loan association acquired by Southeast before its demise Trustee William Brandt expanding on a lawsuit filed a year ago accused former directors of their duties to the bank and its parent company He said the people in charge at Southeast were by their own selfish desires to remain in positions of power prestige and at the expense of shareholders and bondholders Charging that purchase of a Jacksonville in 1989 helped destroy biggest bank Brandt sued the Southeast directors the directors and both accounting firms involved in the deal Brandt the government-appointed trustee for the bankrupt estate is trying to recover money to pay to the bond- PLEASESEE SOUTHEAST 3C Iberia Airlines hub might be closed By TED REED Herald Business Writer Iberia Airlines is thinking about shutting its 1 Miami hub which is losing $77 million a year In Madrid on Wednesday the new managing director told reporters the state-owned airline must evaluate its operations and drop the unprofitable ones Iberia directly employs about 150 people in Miami Subcontractors like Dynair Services and AMR Cargo employ another 1 70 Iberia operates the only foreign airline hub at a US airport Miami hub is obviously a good idea if you can permit the luxury said Juan Saez who was named managing director three weeks ago in the situation we are in I doubt PLEASESEE IBERIA 3C layouts of about 25000 square feet The extra space gives Office Depot the chance to try new directions One option is to build a 25000-square-foot store and rent the remaining space to other retailers Office Depot plans to try this in Tampa The second option is to use the leftover space for storage The third possibility Schweikhart said is to experiment with a 50000-square-foot store He did not say how the megastore might be different The chain now owns 323 stores in the United States and Canada 25 of them in South Florida It opens more than 60 stores a year Office Depot was one of several major retailers that sought to buy the Dadeland-area site after Home Depot bowed out of a sales contract last May said Miami broker Thomas Brymer At one point the building had asbestos but it was removed several years ago lars to get an inspection that certifies the roof and wiring have been improved Some insurance agents think the rule is unfair particularly because most older homes had coverage at least limited coverage before Andrew years old too bad the said insurance agent Martha Stark people were insured before Hurricane Andrew And now unacceptable It make Upset over the tough standards the Independent Insurance Agents of Eade formally asked the JUA board of directors to consider a rule change The agents said the JUA as a should be willing to underwrite older homes But JUA Chairman James Bax and Dade board member Abby McDowell said the underwriting association is PLEASE SEE INSURANCE 3C I3y DAVID SATTERFIELD Benior Business Writer In the past 65 years Carl Shellhorse and his North Miami house have weathered a lot of big storms But after withstanding the biggest of them all Shellhorse get insurance for his simple concrete-block house Not even from the joint underwriting association The problem: The home built in 1928 is more than 50 years old never had any the 77-year-old retiree said even leaks in the insurer Highlands dropped him after Hurricane Andrew When his agent find insurance elsewhere he had to turn to the joint underwriting association But under the strict new rules anyone with a home more than 50 years old cannot get insurance without written proof the home has been upgraded For many that documentation is For $9 million Office Depot has center stage in Dadeland sets a date Redesigned Falls store to open Nov 6 By ANNE MONCREIFF ARRARTE Herald Business Writer Dade County: is finally coming back The New York retailer announced Wednesday that the store at The Falls shopping mall in Kendall will reopen Nov 6 The store suffered $25 million -worth of damage when Hurricane Andrew ripped through South Dade last year It has been closed since store has been redesigned for maximum ease and convenience of our said William Hearst general manager first thing people will notice is the new bright lighting But everything from our new concierge service to the store layout has been accessories including belts handbags shoes hosiery scarves and jewelry have been ByLORECROGHAN Herald Business Writer Office Depot a Delray Beach-based retailer that normally rents or leases space for its stores has taken an unusual step to snare a sought-after Kendall location: It bought the property for $9 million Gary Schweikhart an Office Depot spokesman noted that retail space is hard to come by in the prime area around Dadeland Mall So Office Depot decided to buy a 65-acre site and develop it as well A long-vacant office building on the site was Burger corporate headquarters until five years ago Office Depot will tear it down and build 50000-square-foot store The company plans to open it by end The new building will be twice the size of a typical Office Depot store The firm caters to small businesses with discount-priced goods in warehouse-style INITODAYIS HERALD James column will return in two weeks Proposing a massive makeover of the health care system Presi- dent Clinton says that have a moment in history" to enact a guarantee of lifelong medical care for every Ameri- can Page 1A Hundreds of diners crowd into the newly opened Hard Rock Cafe Page IB The Fifth Street Bridge is struck by a freighter Page IB 1 1.