OCTOBER 27-NOVEMBER 2, 2014
Herff Jones is a quiet company, turning the academic merchandise market into a $700 million business with little fanfare. So quiet that it was able to change its name to Varsity Brands Inc. and move its headquarters from Indianapolis to Memphis with few realizing it. This week, IBJ sheds light on the transition and reports that the employee-owned company is for sale. In Focus, Scott Olson spotlights the palatial white elephants in Indy's real estate market. And in A&E Etc., Lou Harry reviews Milktooth in Fletcher Place.
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Maker of class rings may fetch $1 billion
Herff Jones might be on the verge of a sale for as much as $1 billion. The 94-year-old maker of class rings and yearbooks, quietly renamed Varsity Brands Inc. in June, has hired the investment banking firm Jefferies to explore a sale, unidentified sources told Reuters.
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Hendricks Regional Health dangling 15-percent discounts
Hendricks Regional Health is taking a revolutionary step—at least for the health care industry—by applying the retailer’s playbook. Health care executives say more hospital systems are likely to follow suit in the future.
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TripAdvisor is new powerhouse in hospitality industry
The travel website TripAdvisor has seen such an explosion of consumer-generated reviews and page views in the last two years that local hoteliers now monitor it continually.
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Circle Centre bulking up street-side dining
Two more restaurants are set to join Yard House in vacant Circle Centre mall space along Maryland Street.
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Feds’ ruling could spur electricity rate cuts
In an Oct. 16 decision affecting Indiana and 14 other states, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission said the utilities must negotiate with six customer groups that brought a complaint last year.
Read MoreAfter attack from Christ Church, JPMorgan fires back
JPMorgan Chase argues it did a "solid" job managing trust accounts endowed by Eli Lilly Jr. The banking giant says the church's lawsuit cherry-picks facts and paints a "grossly inaccurate picture."
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Museum keeps historic trains rolling through central Indiana
Founded in 1960, the Indiana Transportation Museum has been working for decades to preserve the Nickel Plate Railroad’s legacy by offering guests what it calls “moving experiences”—literally.
Read MoreThere’s an app for booze delivery coming to Indy
Retailer Big Red Liquors is expected to announce a partnership Thurday with Boston-based mobile-software startup Drizly to offer alcohol delivery service to consumers in the area.
Read MoreLauth planning 900,000-square-foot distribution center in Brownsburg
The local developer hopes to lure a tenant for the massive warehouse in its Eaglepoint Business Park while the project is underway.
Read MoreNew shoe pays homage to Hoosier icon’s birthplace
Before gaining fame through athletic footwear, Chuck Taylor graduated from Columbus High School in 1919. About 800 million pairs of "Chucks" have been sold worldwide.
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Simon estate is the latest challenging home listed for sale
If prior sales of expensive one-of-a-kind homes are any guide, the Carmel estate owned by Bren Simon will be difficult to sell for anything near its asking price of $25 million.
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Home once occupied by Army brass now houses local movers, shakers
Former officers quarters at Fort Benjamin Harrison transformed into home for Pence lieutenant, CIB chief
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EDITORIAL: Library did its homework
Capital projects plan makes sense, and should be approved by the City-County Council.
Read MoreMAURER: This is the time to defeat Mike Delph
Voters in the state’s 29th Senate District should look beyond the party label.
Read MoreRUSTHOVEN: The Ebola crisis gets an operative
The developing Ebola situation now has a Hoosier link, with the president’s appointment of Indianapolis native and North Central High School grad Ron Klain as Ebola response coordinator (in media parlance, Ebola czar).
Read MoreFELDMANN: A call to deny our upbringings
Are your personal beliefs on mass transit getting in the way of Indianapolis’ future? As soon as I told my parents that I got a job downtown, they mildly panicked.
Read MoreKim: Tune out the media hysteria and stick to investing plan
I’ve written a number of columns with advice for when the talking heads are screaming about the coming apocalypse, so I thought it might be useful to review some of those concepts.
Read MoreHicks: The links among Ebola, soda, school lunches
The U.S. government’s response to the Ebola virus is a case study on some of the central problems of our times.
Read MoreDon’t overlook Sports City, USA
In the Oct. 6 IBJ, Greg Morris extolled the virtues of Nashville, Tennessee, and the city’s thorough Music City branding effort. Morris encouraged Indy to develop our brand by focusing on who and what we already are.
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Key taps veteran Indy banker to oversee 3-state region
KeyCorp said Leo G. “Skip” Watson will be its regional sales executive for the Great Lakes, overseeing operations in Indiana, Ohio and Michigan.
Read MoreRuth Lilly Health Education Center to move to Marian campus
The Ruth Lilly Health Education Center has hosted countless school field trips and more than 2 million visitors since it opened in 1989. But it has struggled financially in recent years.
Read MoreFishers tech startup lands $1 million in seed capital
A Fishers-based tech startup in the home-services industry said Tuesday that it has raised $1.03 million in venture capital, including seed funding from a pair of well-known Indiana investment groups.
Read MorePROXY CORNER: Emmis Communications Corp.
Indianapolis-based Emmis Communications Corp. is a media company that owns radio stations and magazines.
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