Detroit Free Press from Detroit, Michigan • Page 32

Tuesday, December 17, 1996 Call Business, 1-313-222-8765 Section HTEEIWAEKETS Prices buckled under heavy Pj- nv:" ri rza 5 To read more about the lis i fulfil ivAiiztrv hio nn tn The Auto Authority site nroociifo tvm year-end profit-takers. on the World Wide Web, www.auto.com Detroit JTree Press million tn anK-you donates to U-M i jji 3 Grateful alumnus By Mike Brennan Free Press Business Writer A Dallas entrepreneur on Monday gave $10 million to the University of Michigan Business School to expand its Executive Education Center. The gift came from Michigan alumnus Sam Wyly, who graduated with a master's of business administration degree in 1957 and then founded a series of businesses that includes Sterling Software and the Michaels Stores chain. U-M Business School Dean Joseph White called it the largest-ever gift toward a dedicated building at the school. Wyly called it payback to Michigan" for getting him started in an entrepreneurial career.

"It's an expression of thanks to Michigan for giving me an education," Wyly said in a telephone interview Monday. "I've been thinking about it for a long time.I always wanted to help those who have helped me to put something back." Wyly's $10-million donation is a huge down payment on an addition to if Sam Wyly is i I 14 1 Owner Ted Gatzaros talks with right, at the new Fishbone's Rhythm entrepreneurs Calling all stock pickers Don't miss your chance for fun and cash. It's time to sign up for our annual Free PressRoney Co. entertainment complex Risk a few minutes and a postage stamp on your best guesses as to which stocks will climb the highest in 1997. If you're the best picker in the pack, we'll guarantee you cash and at least a moment of fame.

Rules and an entry blank are on Page 2E. i KIRTHMON F. DOZIERDetroit Free Press Kitchen Cafe in Southfield. gamble story, glittering casino in Greek-town. A Greektown casino could generate $400 million or more in revenues for Gatzaros, Papas and the tbe.

They insist that the money and business opportunities would spill over into the community. Mayor Dennis Archer has said he favors large, self-contained casinos that feature entertainment and restaurants, but the partnership wants to build a free-standing casino that would encourage others to develop there. Recently the group has shown some flexibility, saying it would Please see GREEK, Page 6E ly in three popular lines Tommy Hilfiger, Nautica and Polo. "I'd generally characterize the season so far as solid, not spectacular," said Robert Burton, a spokesman for Kmart Corp. "We've hit our plan for the season, and it was a demanding plan.

It required sales to pick up after Thanksgiving and they did." From here on out, every day counts, because there are five fewer shopping days between Thanksgiving and Christmas this year. Please see SALES, Page 6E U-M's Executive Education Center. This week, the school also will ask U-M regents, at their regular meeting, to name the building in his honor. The new building will include classrooms and faculty office space. It will also serve as home for the William Davidson Institute, named for Guardian Industries founder and Detroit Pistons owner William Davidson, who donated $30 million to the school to help the nations of Eastern Europe understand and develop free market economies.

Before ground is broken on Sam Wyly Hall, school officials must raise an additional $10 million for the balance of construction costs. Wyly, a native of Louisiana, was recruited to Michigan by legendary accounting professor William Paton, who also has a building at the school named after him. Paton taught at Michigan from 1917-1959. He selected Wyly to receive the first Paton Scholarship after the two met at a lecture at Louisiana Tech, where Wyly was an undergraduate. "I was introduced to him by my accounting head at Tech and he told him about my interest in getting a master's degree," Wyly said.

"Paton said 'You must come to Michigan. We're just starting a scholarship and we're naming it for me. You're the first winner' bag GmbH. TRW and Magna also plan to build a technical center near Stuttgart Germany, "What's attractive here is TRW is an electronic and mechanical company," said auto analyst David Andrea of Roney Co. in Detroit.

"Magna brings with it the interior systems and the like that TRW doesn't have. With Temic, you get a lot of manufacturing capacity in Europe for (air -bag) inflators." Magna rivals Lear Corp. and Johnson Controls lack such capabilities, he said. TRW President Peter Hellman said, although the deal is centered in Europe, its effects will be felt by TRW's operations everywhere, including southeast Michigan, where the company employs 2,000. "Our people in southeast Michigan in the occupant-restraint business will have a larger worldwide product line than before," he said.

"But, other than that, there will be little day-to-day impact on their employment." Magna officials could not be reached. sandwiches. Thomas suffered chest pains on Saturday and will undergo coronary bypass surgery this week, although the date had not been determined. The surgery is done to reroute blood around blocked heart arteries. Wendy's Mario Brown, left, and William Johnson, Greek served 580,000 people in 1995, and a second Fishbone's just opened in Southfield.

The hotel also has done well with an average occupancy rate above 90 percent Now the duo wants to take Greektown's transformation a step further. With the help of the Sault Ste. Marie Chippewa tribe, the partners hope same period last year in the company's Steinbach chain, Callahan said, and 26 percent ahead of last year at Crowley's. "We have to maintain this momentum for another week to have a terrific month," he said. So far, ladies sportswear, cosmetics and fragrances have been driving the sales increases at Crowley's.

Rick Valade, retail partner at the accounting firm of Arthur Andersen in said he thought sales results this Christmas season were mixed. The discount and lower end i Li Jim Papa9 OA? TRW to join Magna for a global parts market Greektown's familiar cries of "Opal" soon will be accompanied by gleeful squeals of lucky jackpot winners. The group hopes to build a $200-million, casino, entertainment and office complex loaded with 2,000 slot machines, 100 gaming tables and a state-of-the-art security system. For 11 years, the Chippewa tribe has been operating successful casinos in upper Michigan, but its members have longed to expand into Detroit. About eight years ago, the tribe joined forces with 400 Monroe Associates, a company run by Gatzaros and Papas, in an attempt to build a multi by Deborah Solomon Free Press Business Writer It wasn't Mt.

Olympus, but from the top of the Pickle Barrel Deli two Greek immigrants spied fortune and riches just a few blocks away. When Ted Gatzaros and Jim Papas opened their first restaurant in Cadillac Square almost two decades ago, they set in motion a transformation of downtown Detroit. They bought property Greektown and helped the area evolve with the opening of Fishbone's Rhythm Kitchen Cafe and the Atheneum Suite Hotel. The restaurant is one of the state's highest-grossing eateries, having So far, so good, merchants say; the week before Christmas is crucial By mike Brennan Free Press Automotive Writer Another major alliance has been struck in the global auto supplier industry, this time between major southeast Michigan employers TRW and Magna International. Officials for both corporations announced Monday they plan to form a joint venture tt design, develop and manufacture auto parts for customers worldwide.

The long-rumored deal should close in a month if it wins European regulatory approval. Under this proposed alliance, TRW would lead development in air bags, seat belts, steering wheels and associated electronic components, while Magna would incorporate these occupant-restraint systems into vehicle interior and body systems. Most of the initial effort would be focused in Europe, where TRW plans to buy 80 percent of two occupant-restraint companies owned by Magna. Those are MST Automotive GmbH Automobil-Sicherheitstech-nik, and Temic Bayern-Chemie Air- are doing pretty well," he said, but it gets a little tougher whei you move up to department stores. A spokesman for Jacobson's declined to comment on overall sales trends but did say that luxury goods St John Knits and Ralph Lauren in women's apparel and formal wear in men's were selling well.

At Hudson's, where sales are "on plan," a spokesperson said bread-and-butter goods like synthetic fleece, hats, gloves, mufflers and pullovers, are the steady sellers. Men's sportswear has also been strong, particular BY MOLLY BRAUER Free Press Business Writer This is the time of year when retailers start biting their nails. Even if sales for the first few weeks of the holiday season are running well above expectations, the last weekend before Christmas is crucial. "Business is good, but it's too early to tell you that it's great," Dennis Callahan, president and CEO of Crowley Milner and said Monday. Sales from Thanksgiving to Dec.

15 were running 30 percent above the BYPASS FOR THOMAS Dave Thomas, founder of Wendy's fast-food hamburger chain, has been hospitalized and will undergo heart surgery. Most Americans know the senior chairman of Wendy's International from his television commercials for bacon cheeseburgers and other TT TT FINANCIAL Industrial output gains speed Automakers resumed churning out new cars and trucks at a rapid pace in November, powering the nation's industrial output ahead at the fastest rate in nine months. Total output by the nation's factories, mines and utilities increased a sharper-than-expected 0.9 percent the largest monthly rise since a 1.3-percent gain in February. Industrial production fell a revised 0.2 percent in October because strikes against General Motors Corp. forced some U.S.

auto plants to close briefly. Supercomputer is fastest ever Intel has developed the world's fastest supercomputer, capable of doing a trillion operations a second, for the U.S. Department of Energy. That speed comes close to tripling the previous record achieved by Hitachi in 1995 with a supercomputer capable of doing 368 billion operations a second. The Intel supercomputer will be used to simulate nuclear explosions, replacing live weapons testing.

U.S. Treasuries up and down The Treasury Department sold $13 billion in three-month bills at an average discpunt rate of 4.76 percent down from 4.83 percent last week. Another $13 billion in six-month bills fetched 4.99 percent up from 4.97 percent last week. Unauthorized trader gets four years Toshihide Iguchi, a former Daiwa Bank bond trader, was sentenced to four years in prison, fined $2 million and ordered to pay $570,000 in restitution for hiding losses of $1.1 billion in unauthorized trades and conspiring with managers to conceal one of the greatest financial losses ever. Surge to challenge Mountain Dew Coca-Cola introduced a new citrus drink called Surge that's green, high in calories and loaded with caffeine.

It's targeted at young consumers who have made Pepsi's Mountain Dew one of the hottest-selling soft drinks in America. Million-dollar paychecks for women Working Woman magazine says the top 20 female executives in corporate America are now earning more than $1 million. That's a first But women still earn 71 cents for every dollar earned by a man. A general survey of pay by work found only three jobs that paid women more than men. 7 would not identify the hospital where Thomas is staying, but said he is in stable condition and had not previously suffered heart problems.

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