An acquisition that looked daring and bold when it was announced quickly blew up on Finish Line Inc. The Indianapolis retailer
agreed in June to buy Tennessee-based Genesco Inc.–parent of Journeys, Hat World and other mall chains–for $1.5 billion
in
cash.
Local-toy-store veteran Natalie Canull is now operating a bustling store on Massachusetts Avenue that’s narrowly focused on
upscale toys–a niche that keeps her out of the path of mass-market heavyweights like Toys “R” Us and Wal-Mart.
Neighborhood Pizza, which operates out of the back of a souped-up box truck equipped with a pizza oven and other necessities,
is among a growing number of startups that are hitting the road–literally.
Thrifty Threads store manager Tim Waldrip can hardly keep up when he puts stylish used clothes on the thrift store’s mannequins.
Customers snag them so quickly he has to change the outfits three to four times a day. Regardless of what its mannequins are
wearing, the not-forprofit shop on West 86th Street is flourishing. Sales in 2006 reached $336,000-a 24-percent increase from
the previous year. Now the Julian Center, the Indianapolis shelter for abused women that runs Thrifty Threads, is…
HH Gregg–under increasing market pressure–has put its multimillion-dollar advertising account up for bid, and Pearson McMahon
Fletcher England this month decided not to pursue the contract it has held for an unprecedented 24 years.
Each week at David Alan Chocolatier in Lebanon, three employees make a different variety of chocolate truffles, nut clusters
and other chocolate-laden delights. Alan uses 7,000 pounds of chocolate a year to make his products out of the renovated gas
station he has operated at since 1984.
Randy Ibey, owner of Randy’s Toy Shop in Noblesville, is legendary among antique toy collectors and dealers worldwide. Ibey
can fix more kinds of toys than an elf in Santa's workshop–from a German tin soldier created in the 1850s to a remote-control
Pluto made a century later.
Locally based Gregg Appliances Inc. found itself flat-footed last holiday season when consumers demanded flat-panel TVs. The
popular televisions were in short supply at H.H. Gregg stores. This year, Gregg has bet on a huge selection of flat-panel
TVs to buoy sales.
Over the last seven years, Starbucks has inundated virtually every corner of the Hoosier landscape. And the company has no
plans to slow down. Several Indiana towns–from Gas City to Angola, Batesville to Bluffton–will get their first Starbucks
in 2007.
Music CD sales are falling–down 8 percent so far in 2005–while digital downloading of music jumped 163 percent. And nearly one-third of the nation’s record stores have closed in the past three years. Even so, Indianapolis record-store owners say they’ve been reasonably successful adapting to a changing marketplace.
Walk through the Kipp Brothers showroom and you’ll find the makings of one heck of a birthday celebration: gag gifts galore, endless sugary treats and headgear that puts the traditional party hat to shame.
