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Hat World shows sign of recovering from lackluster year

The locally based headwear retailer Hat World made a name for itself by snatching up competitors and opening hundreds of
stores around the country. However, after sluggish sales in the fiscal year that ended Feb. 2, the company–a
unit of Nashville, Tenn.-based Genesco Inc.–says it plans to open fewer stores than usual this year so
officials can put their focus back on existing operations.

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Marsh sues Roche over sublease deal

Two giants of local business are preparing to slug it out in court over a soured sublease deal. Marsh Supermarkets filed
suit in Hamilton County this month to enforce a deal with Swiss pharmaceutical and medical-equipment powerhouse
Roche to sublease the grocer’s entire 148,000-square-foot headquarters in Fishers. The deal, worth more
than $47 million over 18 years, is one of the largest of its kind in central Indiana in years.

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Ailing Steak n Shake rehires ad agency, but will pact stick?

Local advertising powerhouse Young & Laramore signed a new contract with Steak n Shake, one of its flagship clients, just
two weeks ago, but ad industry observers can’t help but wonder if the 18-year-old relationship is about to run its course.
Before the ink on the contract was dry, the struggling hamburger chain had a new board chairman who is likely to shuffle Steak
n Shake’s executive suite and take the company in a new direction.

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HHGregg tuned into growth

Undeterred by a rocky economy, locally based electronics retailer HHGregg is trailblazing into new markets on a quest to quadruple
in size. The firm’s “price and advice” mantra seems to be catching on. That’s no surprise to Jerry Throgmartin, a 33-year
veteran of Gregg who has served as the company’s chairman and CEO since 2003.

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Conseco wins $29M judgment in latest round of legal war

Conseco Inc. has won another round in court against former Merchants National Bank CEO James D. Massey this month, ringing
up a $29 million judgment against him in a court in Illinois. But Massey shows no sign of throwing in the towel in the years-long
litigation over millions he borrowed to buy Conseco stock. Massey was a director of Conseco from 1994 to 2000.

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Emmis does better, sort of

Emmis Communications chief Jeff Smulyan today was more positive about the companyâ??s fiscal fourth-quarter performance
than heâ??s been about an earnings report in a long time.

Revenue at its U.S. radio stations, which have been dogged by an industry…

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Starbucks, piercings and Band-Aids

Some local Starbucks workers are looking like they tangle with cats.

Theyâ??ve taken to putting bandages over piercings to meet the letter of Starbucksâ?? dress code, which minimizes
the number of earrings and other piercings visible to customers.

Band-Aids beat the hassle…

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The next Fortune 500 companies

Conseco has dropped off the Fortune 500, leaving WellPoint, Lilly, Cummins and NiSource as the only Indiana companies remaining. Several Indiana firms are closing in on the elite list, though. One is Steel Dynamics, the Fort Wayne company that recycles scrap metal….

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Texas investor enlists former Steak n Shake exec in quest to revive chain

Two executives with longtime ties to The Steak n Shake Co. have joined a dissident Texas investor in his quest to overhaul
the Indianapolis-based restaurant chain. Shareholders who have agreed to work with Sardar Biglari include a former board member
the company once described as a “modern-day founder” of the restaurant chain, along with a former partner in Kelley & Partners
Ltd., the investment firm led by company patriarch E.W. Kelley before his 2003 death.

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Is Lechleiter the fall guy?

CALPERS, the big pension fund, doesnâ??t want Eli Lilly and Co.â??s new CEO, John Lechleiter, to be voted onto
the board at Lillyâ??s annual meeting on Monday.

Lechleiter was a high-level player within Lilly in recent years while the…

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About that other airline

As postmortems fly on ATAâ??s second, and final, nosedive into bankruptcy, another Indianapolis airline is
doing
a lot better and getting hardly any attention.

Republic Airways Holdings Inc. isnâ??t a household name because it quietly flies regional routes on…

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Would you miss ATA?

Barring a small miracle, ATA Airlines is dead, now that itâ??s lost a major military contract.

The carrier was headquartered in Indianapolis until it moved to the Atlanta area late last year.

How big a blow would ATAâ??s demise be…

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Lechleiter’s reign at Lilly

Tomorrow, John Lechleiter takes over from Sidney Taurel as CEO of Eli Lilly and Co.

A chemist who came up through Lillyâ??s labs, marketing and finally, as president and chief operating officer,
Lechleiter faces major pressure.

Lilly stock has trended…

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Texas investor wins over Steak n Shake shareholders, aims for chairmanship

Texas investor Sardar Biglari rode a wave of shareholder anger to a landslide victory in his quest for Steak n Shake Co. board
seats. Now, the dissident 30-year-old investor who models his approach after Warren Buffett’s is hoping to deliver on his
promise to turn around the Indianapolis-based chain, with or without the chairmanship he covets.

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WellPoint yanks controversial letter

Californians are howling over the recent discovery that one of WellPointâ??s units made a practice of asking
doctors to report conditions that the insurance company could use to cancel medical coverage for new patients.

The letter amounted to asking doctors to…

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