Pacers’ O’Brien: Stay in school
Indiana Pacers Coach Jim O’Brien said yesterday during his show on WFNI-1070 AM that he thinks players interested in entering the National Basketball Association draft should be required to wait two years after…
Cory Schouten
Articles
UPDATE: Finish Line to shuffle stores
Finish Line Inc. plans to close as many as 20 of its roughly 700 stores this year, but also hopes to open about 15 stores based on a smaller prototype aimed at generating more sales per square foot. A day after the Indianapolis retailer reported a $38.6 million loss in its fourth quarter, CEO Alan […]
A vote for sidewalks
The city next week will consider an ordinance making sidewalks a requirement for any new project in Marion County. When the ordinance was initially heard last October, officials from several…
Failed merger causes huge Finish Line loss
Indianapolis-based Finish Line Inc. late this afternoon reported a fourth-quarter loss of $38.6 million, thanks in large part to an $81.5-million charge related to its escape from an ill-fated merger agreement with Tennessee-based Genesco. Even without the charge, the quarter was tough for the athletic retailer. Comparable-store sales dropped 6 percent, keeping alive a two-year […]
IRL a step closer to title sponsor
The Indy Racing League late yesterday finalized a deal worth $3 million annually over the next few years that will essentially make DirecTV the series’ presenting sponsor. The California-based satellite television service provider…
Colts ask fans to design team logo
The Indianapolis Colts are inviting fans to create a logo of a horse that is “unique, versatile and fun” for the team’s Design a Horse contest. The Colts will use the winning design…
Indy dodges worst of Regions bank layoffs
Only a few Hoosiers are among the 585 people Regions Financial Corp. laid off yesterday after absorbing rival bank AmSouth. Regions, based in Birmingham, Ala., employed about 33,000 people in 16 states before the cuts. The bank has about 250 employees in Indianapolis, and about 680 statewide. AmSouth also is headquartered in Birmingham. Three positions […]
L’explorateur eyes downtown
More fuel for the local v. chain restaurant discussion: Chef Neal Brown is looking to move his popular L’explorateur restaurant from Ferguson Street in Broad Ripple to a new location near Monument Circle….
IUPUI stuck in hoops purgatory
IUPUI’s basketball program has an interesting problem. Its men’s basketball team needs to strengthen its non-conference schedule so it can make a postseason tournament. Postseason exposure would help it gain a stronger fan-following,…
Pizza chain growing & more
Monical’s Pizza plans to open new restaurants in Carmel, Fishers and Indianapolis later this year. The Illinois-based chain, known for its thin-crust pies, already has six stores in Indiana: in Avon, Lafayette,…
Hoosier hysteria reborn?
Boys high school basketball hasn’t returned to its glory days of the 1960s, but this year’s final between Brownsburg and Marion drew a sell out crowd of 18,305 Saturday. Tournament officials said lots more tickets could have been sold if…
UPDATE: Walsh at Pacers ‘too long’
Indiana Pacers President Donnie Walsh said this afternoon that he’s stepping down after 22 years at the team’s helm. “I think I’ve been here too long,” said Walsh, who arrived at the Pacers in 1984 as an assistant coach. He was elevated to general manager two years later and named president in 1988. “It’s just […]
Does departure help Pacers?
Maybe Donnie Walsh stayed too long with the Pacers, as he said in a news conference this afternoon announcing his departure.
The 67-year-old said the team will benefit from having a single voice, that of Larry Bird, as president…
Roller Girls gain cult following
The Naptown Roller Girls are proving so popular, the locally-based team is looking for a bigger venue. In only its second season playing at the State Fairgrounds’ Toyota Blue Ribbon Pavilion, the team’s…
Struggling Noble Roman’s takes over franchisee’s 6 units
Noble Roman’s Inc. has taken over the operation of six franchised restaurants in Indianapolis in a bid to prove its concept
can be executed profitably. The move–which comes amid a chorus of discontent from franchisees and as the company explores
the possibility of selling itself–could help the 1,000-restaurant chain avoid the embarrassment of store failures in its
own back yard.
Local bankers surprised by Bear bailout: Observers hope firm’s sudden sale signals peak of financial turmoil
The local president of Milwaukee-based M&I Bank, Reagan Rick, got the shocking news while waiting for a plane at Boston Logan International Airport. It came in a text message from Robert Warrington, the former CEO of First Indiana Bank, the Indianapolis bank M&I acquired last year for $529 million. Warrington told him 85-year-old New York-based investment bank Bear Stearns Cos. had been sold to JP Morgan Chase Co.-with backing from the Federal Reserve-for a mere $2 per share. “The degree…
Friday open thread
Besides college basketball, what’s on your mind today? A starting point: What do you think of Simon Property Group’s venture into the condo business with a 47-story tower atop a Nieman Marcus in Boston? (A spokeswoman for the tower’s designer,…
Youth basketball = big business
It seems there are many people and businesses these days fighting to get a piece of youth basketball. Talks between the NCAA and NBA started heating up last month about forming a coalition to launch co-branded youth basketball leagues and…
Dome souvenirs & Babe Denny
This week brought potential resolution for a couple of disputes in the neighborhoods surrounding Lucas Oil Stadium:
Board limits RCA Dome souvenir proceeds to $200K
The Capital Improvement Board today agreed to rework an…
Let the Madness begin
The Madness this March is going to be a little crazier than usual. Due to advances in high-speed wireless technology, more people than ever will spend time at work paying attention to the…