Corpus Christi Caller-Times from Corpus Christi, Texas • 48

I1 'rf 'ir V- i ies from RTC purchase hard-to-sell package Patriot American Investors agrees to nounced in about two weeks They hope by the end of March to arrange for $8 bil-: The agency has about lUlonn from feiled thrifts $20 billion of it real estate WASHINGTON A New York investment group is buying a package of hotels and office buildings in the first of a new kind of deal federal regulators hope will relieve taxpayers of the wont properties inherited from failed savings and loans Patriot American Investors has agreed to buy between $300 million and $500 million in properties from the Resolution Trust Corp agency officials announced Wednesday All have been offered for sate with no takers for at least six months some for as long as two years In the new type of transaction which the agency calls a portfolio sate Patriot American has selected 100 properties it ther of two mechanisms: A traditional 12-year mortgage or a cash-flow participation agreement Under the cash-flow agreement the loan from the RTC is paid by the revenue generated from the properties over 12 years The agency also receives 30 percent of the increase in value less the expenses of the purchasers of the office buildings nd 25 percent of the increase of the hotels get to participate in market recovery when it occurs not locked into distressed said Amy Her-h senior marketing specialist for the agency RTC officials said two more portfolio sales are pending with the next to be an The partners in Patriot American are John Daniels a real estate executive from Toronto William Mack a developer of i offices in New York and New Jersey George Mann a Cndan real ette investor and Paul A Nussbaum a New York real estate attorney and developer RTC officials said an international bank based in Europe is tending Patriot American a portion of its $100 million to $150 million down payment but declined to identify the institution rn A Mti fflj (i 41 I8M i Kmart store is being expanded in Portland Welders work on the roof while a beck hoe smooths the ground as part of a 15000-square-foot addition to the Kmart Store closure irks customers Business in Brief Publishing Buyer sought for magazines NEW YORK Family Media Inc which publishes Discover Health and several other magazines said Wednesday it is discontinuing operations while the owner seeks a buyer for the magazines Robert Riordan who owns the publishing company told staffers the weak advertising market forced the move The shutdown provides an example of the impact on the magazine industry where ad volume has plunged in the past two years and forced the closings of several publications Bankruptcies Newest Braniff files NEW YORK Living up to one of most troubled names the latest airline flying as Braniff landed in bankruptcy court Wednesday barely a month alter its rebirth The carrier Braniff International Airlines filed for protection from creditors under Chapter 11 in US Bankruptcy Court in Hauppauge NY Braniff said it committed to providing service on its various including flights serving Newark NJ Dallas Orlando and Ft Lauderdale Fla and Islip NY It blamed the trouble on business disputes that it plans to sue over The new Braniff based in Dallas had been in business only since July 1 before entering bankruptcy court where two former incarnations of Braniff had stopped flying Automotive Ford-Mazda project TRAVERSE CITY Mich The long-standing relationship between Ford Motor Co and Mazda Motors Corp deepened with the announcement Wednesday that the US automaker will make a small pickup for the Japanese company Ford Chairman Harold Poling said his company would build the new truck at its Edison NJ factory in two years The new truck for Mazda will be based on the Ford Ranger pickup now made at Edison Energy Tenneco names chief HOUSTON Tenneco Inc said Wednesday that Union Pacific Railroad Co chairman Michael Walsh will become the energy president effective Oct 1 and take over as chief executive offjT on Jan 1 Walsh also will be named chairman of the board after current Chief Executive Officer and Quitman James Ketelson retires May 12 1992 Tenneco said in a sutement ftnmCaSsc Tins Wire SuHcm Indicators Index: Airlines Avg price 3 major stocks Previous 6 mo 6500 4663 7275 5863 075 038 Graphics: The Meyers Report-Chicago wants to acquire Over the next three weeks the agency will make up a portfolio of between 50 and all of the properties using an agreed-upon formula One-third will be hotels 20 percent of them losing money The rest will be office buildings a quarter of them losing money The average occupancy rate of the buildings will be only 50 percent are the heart of our toughest in ventory to said William Sei-dman outgoing chairman of the RTC Patriot American has agreed to put up 15 percent of the appraised value of the properties part as a down payment and the rest into an escrow fond to improve the properties It then may choose to have the RTC finance the balance through ei store at 1400 Wildcat Lane in Portland The expansion expected to be completed in November will increase the vanished are said to paid for it have no intention of ripping anybody Chulew said She said that no money will be returned for those who made partial payment of the furniture Chulew said that she moved to Kenosha items put on layaway at the New Image store here Chulew a longtime Corpus Christi for- niture store operator formerly ran Fine 'r Furniture in No 10 Parkdale Plaza That store closed about a year and a half ago Fine Furniture was the subject of a law-- suit filed in July 1988 by the Texas attor- ney office for alleged deceptive trade practices The state alleged that Fine Furniture engaged in false advertising and that the store violated state law by not ob- taining a county permit a liquidation isate In May 1984 Chulew and her husband at the time Bernard individually and as operators of Decorators Gallery in Park-dale Plaza were named in another suit' filed by the state Blunt NEW YORK Here is a list of the world's 25 largest diversified service companies as ranked by Fortune magazine on the basis of 1990 sales Each entry includes rank name of company headquarters type of business and the 1990 sales figure 1 Sumitomo Japan trading $158139 bil- Non 2 Itoh Coi: Japan trading $149013 bilNon 3 Mitsui Co Japan trading $138552 billion 4 Marubeni Japan trading $133335 bilNon 5 Mitsubishi Japan trading $132482 billion 6 Nissho Iwai Japan trading $109447 billion 7 Tomen Japan trading $49976 bilNon 1 a store size to 80000 square feet It will provide more selling space and house a restaurant said Chris Powell manager be in Wisconsin That lawsuit was settled in 1985 when the Chutews agreed to refrain from misrepresenting the quality of goods offered sale and to stop offering a bonus package or give a free item as part of any sates transaction unless the gift is given to the consumer at the time of sale The Chulews are now divorced Thatcher said the bureau is turning over complaints and other information to the attorney office in McAllen Tom Bernstein an assistant attorney general in McAllen said that he is awaiting the arrival of information from the bureau before deciding how to resolve die matter Since the departure of New Image the 0000-square-foot space has been teased to Baum Furniture which has no connection to New Image Owner Bill Baum said he plans to relocate from 4938 Staples to Parkdale Plaza at the end of the month The new store will be called Baum Furniture Express The Parkdale building is owned by New York investor of us French company will stop building cars for America By Jim Mateja CHCAGOTHBUNE Peugeot has bid the United States au revbir The French automaker which has been selling cars in the United States since 1958 said Tuesday that it no longer will build cars for this market effective immediately US is an important market and we might make a comeback someday1 with a product more suited to this mar- ket but we going to be doing that in the next couple of said Kim Derderian spokeswoman for Peugeot' Motors of America Inc the US distribu- -tor headquartered in Lyndhurst Derderifcn said Peugeot has about 1000 Model 405 sedans and wagons and Model 505 wagons still in inventory' among its 151 dealers nationwide In 1 990 Peugeot sold only 4261 can in the United States and the outlook for any better only 2223 can were sold through the first seven months of this year going to cease manufacturing cars for the US market but we will con- tinue to remain an independent distribu-' tor for Peugeot and continue to provide-parts and service fix' our customers'-through our she said have about 120000 of our can still on the history of Alining sales this move surprise said Cynthia Certo analyst with Integrated Automotive Resources in Wayne Pa I certainly think this may signal -that one or two other small-volume producers like Sterling may leave this mar ket too had much of a presence in the US and with so many models to choose from in the market today Peugeot hasn't offered much in terms of price styling or tedhnology for she said 17 Fleming United States wholesaled Cl 1 OM Killing 1 $11933 billion VI 41 i 5 18 Taisei Japan construction $1 1 818 Non 4 19 Time Warner United States entertain-merit $11517 billion 20 Kawasho Japan trading $11366 bilNon 21 Kajima Japan engineering and construction $11 247 billion 22 Super Valu Stores United States wholesale $11160 billion 23 Shimizu Japan engineering and construction $10945 billion j-f- Takenaka Japan construction $10770 billion 25 Bouygues France engineering and construction $10418 bNKon Layaway items that By John MacDouqaB BUSNE8SWRriER The sudden closure of a Corpus Christi furniture store has some former customers wondering where their money went When New Image Furniture in Parkdale Pteza dosed earlier this month some customers who paid in advance for furniture were unable to find the owners to get their money back according to officials at the Better Business Bureau in The bureau has received about 30 complaints in recent days from former New Image customers said Jeanne Thatcher president Alan Herrmann is listed as die owner of New Image in the files -A New Image Chulew said she and the owner' closed New Image and moved to Wisconsin due to a sickness in family Reached by telephone in Kenosha Wis Chulew described Herrmann as her boyfriend She said they intend to deliver furniture to customers who already have US dominates top 500 service firms umammmmipiws NEW YORK The United States dominated the largest service companies in 1990 in a new Fortune mag azine ranking that reflects the effects of recession and the Persian Gulf War Snagging the top three retail spots were US giants Sears Roebuck and Cb first with $56 billion in sales followed by Wal-Mart Stores Inc with $316 billion Kmart Corp with $3108 billion At together 19 of the 50 hugest retail companies are American Leading the list of 100 diversified ser- -vice companies was Japan's Sumitomo international trading giant with to uries The subsequent eight firms were also Japanese trading companies The top-ranking US diversified service firm was American Telephone Telegraph which came in 10th with sales of $375 billion Travel and related sectors were hit hard 7 MnnllM Smlci Cnpaitos Lists! 8 Nichimen Japan trading $43737 bH- Hon 9 Kanematsu Japan trading $39578 billion 10 American Telephone Telegraph United States telecommunications $37479 billion 11 Veba Germany trading $32881 billion 11 RWE Group Germany energy $21330 bilNon 1 13 Oe International des Wagon sUits France leisure $18172 bilNon 14 BCE Canada telecommunications $15760 billion 15 Toyota Tsusho Japan trading $13461 billion 16 Enron United States liquid fuels $13202 billion SOURCE: Fortune magazine Please see FortuneD12 1 1.