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Bureau sells Detroit as convention site
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GMI survives after GM's exit
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Fiero joins forces with Hall and Oates
PAGE 4 WEEK OF APRIL 8 - 14, 1985 VOLUME 1 0 NO. 10
Crowley eyes downtown BY KATHY JACKSON CRAIN'S DETROIT BUSINESS
Crowley, Milner & Co. says it misses doing business in the heart of Detroit. After being away for eight years, company vice president J. Stephen Kennedy says, "We want to be back downtown. Everyone else has abandoned it. There's a $60 million market down there." Kennedy, vice president of operations and stores, said the company is searching for up to 70,000 square feet of space for a new store downtown, somewhere in the vicinity of its former downtown store near the Kern block. Company President Robert Carlson said Crowley did take a look at the Hughes & Hatcher building on
Woodward Avenue recently, but found it unacceptable for its purposes. "Of all the buildings downtown, that's the newest, but it just isn't big enough," he said. "The floors aren't big enough - we just can't use that building." Carlson said it appeared there was nothing else acceptable at the present time. A Detroit official said the city was currently working with Crowley to help it find a suitable downtown location. As to whether it would construct a new building, Carlson said Crowley's would not take that route unless it had "considerable help." "It's a big project," he said. "The cost of construction and the cost of land - we would need a whole See CROWLEY, PAGE 23 ..
Employees wield clout in Comerica bid BY CHARLES CHILD CRAIN'S DETROIT BUSINESS
DWIGHT CENDROWSKI
Neil Heffernan, manager of Sportsland USA, is cleaning up on Tiger memorabilia - although he himself is a Boston Red Sox fan.
If Comerica Inc., the state's second largest bank holding company, attempts a hostile takeover of Michigan National Corp., the balance of power would not be held by anonymous stockholders scattered about the United States. Rather, the employees of Michigan National would be in the driver's seat. In fact, the takeover attempt could boil down to a battle for the hearts and minds and pocketbooks - of Michigan National's employees. The workers control about 28 percent of the stock as members of the company's various profit-sharing and pension trusts. Of this 28 percent, most is held by See COMERICA, PAGE 22 ..
GLENN TRIEST
Murray Shields, vice preSident, says ADM Technology Inc. of Troy sales of audio consoles have increased substantially by tapping into overseas markets. Story, Page 3 ~
Dealers hit home runs State insurers' taxes with Tiger souvenirs BY BRADFORD WERNLE CRAIN'S DETROIT BUSINESS
Thom Hay of Wauldron Corp. admits you have to be a diehard Tiger fan to spend $25 for a toilet seat with "Bless You Boys" on it. But the Tigers' 1984 World Series victory means a lot more diehard fans are willing to part with their hard-earned cash for any kind of souvenir of their beloved team. When you're winning, the whole world wants a piece of the action, and the Tigers' 1984 success story means there are also more people out there making and selling Tiger souvenirs. For the,Baseball Diamond Inc., a Madison Heights souvenir retail shop, the Tiger boom meant the
company could afford to open a new store in Chicago. For All-Star Marketing Inc. of Novi, a sports memorabilia wholesaler, championship sales meant enough cash flow to move into a new 4,000square-foot warehouse. For others too numerous to mention, it means the Tigers have become more than a baseball team to love - they've become a business. Wauldron, a Canton-based souvenir manufacturer, has cranked up a small industry around the famed "Bless You Boys" slogan, coined a couple of years ago by WDIV sportscaster Al Ackerman and licensed by the station. See SOUVENIRS, PAGE 22 ..
may rise $40 million BY CHARLES CHILD CRAIN'S DETROIT BUSINESS
A ruling two weeks ago by the U.S. Supreme Court has Michigan insurance companies braced for higher tax bills. The court's decision in an Alabama case weakened the power of states to place extra taxes on companies headquartered out-of-state. In Michigan, out-of-state insurance companies pay a 2 percent or 3 percent tax on premiums. The extra tax yielded about $100 million in fiscal 1984. The ruling, although not the final word on the legalities of preferential tax systems, reinforces a
proposal by Gov. James Blanchard to tax premiums paid to Michiganbased insurance companies as well, said one state legislator. That move could raise state insurance companies' taxes by $40 million annually. The court ruled that extra taxes on out-of-state companies are discriminatory if they're levied to promote local firms and to encourage local investment. The case was brought to the court by more than a dozen national insurance companies challenging Alabama's tax on firms based out-of-state. See TAX, PAGE 23 ..
Proxy battle shaping up for Armada? BY JANE WHITE CRAIN'S DETROIT BUSINESS
A former director of Armada Corp. of Detroit appears to be gearing up for a proxy battle at the company's May 16 annual meeting to sell all or a "significant portion" of the corporation's assets. Leonard Freidman, who says he owns about 11.8 percent of Armada's common stock, wants Armada's management to provide a list of all its shareholders so they can be sent resolutions for consideration at the annual meeting. See ARMADA, PAGE 22 ..