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Crain's • WEEK OF AUG. 12 - 18, 1985 VOLUME 1
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NO. 28
Teamsters' strike hits foreign-car lots hardest BY CHARLES CHILD CRAIN'S DETROIT BUSINESS
The showrooms of Honda, Toyota and other foreign-car dealers in the Detroit area are virtually empty because of the Teamster strike against car haulers. Dealers for General Motors Corp., Ford Motor Co. and Chrysler Corp. entered the strike well stocked and report only minor problems. About 20,000 Teamsters struck the car-hauling industry
July 26, demanding higher wages. For domestic dealers, the Teamsters timed their strike conveniently. The Big Three assembly plants generally stop production in July and August to retool for the new year's models. Anticipating the shutdowns, dealers tend to stock up on cars. Bill Ritchie, president of Crest Lincoln Mercury Inc. of Sterling Heights, said he had 400 cars on hand last week, 100 more than usual. Moreover, he had a good supply of popular cars, such as Mercury Cougars, and has actually
increased advertising during the strike. "If the strike lasts two months, we'll worry about that then," he said. Dealers of the major foreign auto companies, however, are nervous. "I only have three demos left, and I'll probably sell those today and tomorrow," Roy Allen, general manager of Troy Honda Inc., said on Thursday. Demos are new cars used by See STRIKE, PAGE 33
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Warren may buy land for 'downtown' project BY AMY BODWIN and MARY SOLOMON SMYKA CRAIN'S DETROIT BUSINESS
The city of Warren hopes to purchase land around city hall for a $100 million to $150 million development of offices, a hotel and a conference center. The Warren Commerce and Conference Center would be on approximately 20 acres of vacant land east of Van Dyke and north of City Center roads, said Thomas Barwin, executive administrator for the city. Officials hope to close the sale within two months. Plans are for the city to buy the property and a private developer to develop it, Barwin said. The undeveloped land is owned
by the Collavino Brothers Construction Co. of Michigan Inc., a subsidiary of Windsor-based Collavi no Inc. "Warren doesn't have a downtown area," said Warren Mayor James Randlett. "This would give us a centralized downtown area." Barwin said the mixed-use development would meet demand for hotel and office space that has been generated by businesses such as the General Motors Technical Center across Van Dyke and General Dynamics Land Systems on Van Dyke. Gerald Noechel, economic development coordinator for the city, said Warren could use about 900 more hotel rooms. He said local occupancy rates range from 80 per-
cent to 90 percent and even to 100 percent mid-week. There is no hard and fast information on office space, he said, but Warren is "reaching a point of saturation" in small office development. The commerce and conference center would encourage potential office tenants with large space requirements to come to Warren, he said. The land wraps Warren City Hall, at 29500 Van Dyke Road, on the north and east sides, extending behind the Comerica and Campbell-Ewald Co. office buildings. It is next to the proposed site for a performing arts center and library. See WARREN, PAGE 33
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Greetings from the tooth shoppe BY VANESSA WATERS GLENN TRIEST
CRAIN'S DETROIT BUSINESS
Jon Barfield works with senior detailer David White.
Joint venture with big firm means growth for Bartech BY JANE WHITE CRAIN'S DETROIT BUSINESS
Jon Barfield would like other minority-owned companies to heed the lesson he learned handling acquisitions and mergers for a Chicago law firm: The fastest route to growth is to hitch your wagon to a giant. Last November, he steered his Ypsilanti technical services company, Barfield & Associates, into a joint venture with a $500 million engineering, architectural and con-
struction conglomerate, Day & Zimmerman Inc. of Philadelphia. Today, employment at the renamed Bartech Inc. - a job shop for engineers and draftspeople stands at 402, compared with 150 in January. Sales for 1985 are predicted at $15 million - compared to 1984 sales of $6 million - and employment is expected to rise to 750 by the end of the year. "This is a prototype of how a minority business can grow to a major See BARTECH, PAGE 31
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Patients who walk into one of Detroit's two Horizon Dental Centers Inc. clinics enter into a "new world of dentistry," according to the company. A "greeter" offers patients wine, coffee, tea or juice while they're waiting - which the company claims is never more than 15 minutes. Beepers are offered to parents who don't want to wait for their children. One office has a video game room. Horizon Inc. has entered the Detroit market confident that corporate dentistry with a personal touch will give the business a competitive edge. The company is projecting $650,000 in annual sales by the end of 1986 at its larger office, at 19190 Greenfield Road in Detroit. Horizon, which employs five dentists and 14 additional staff, is a four-person , minority-owned limited partnership formed last September. Investors secured $400,000 in private financing to cover equipment, building improvement and operation costs, according to Paul Merritt, administrative director. Two partners live out of state and two in the De-
JOE WILSSENS
Paul Merritt in lobby of Horizon dental clinic. troit area. The investors are not disclosing their identities, said Merritt. The corporation plans to open clinics in three more locations within a year and operate eight in the Detroit area by mid-1987, Merritt said. Horizon plans to open a clinic in Cleveland within two years and is trying to finance a Toledo center. See HORIZON, PAGE 34
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