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Homearama grew from shaky beginnings
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PAGE 26 ~Cable
TV woos local retail ads PAGE 3
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Metro Airport commuter service grows PAGE 7
WEEK OF SEPT. 30 - OCT. 6,1985 VOLUME 1 0 NO. 35
Brown plans $10 million hotel in Birmingham BY AMY BODWIN CRAIN'S DETROIT BUSINESS
Anthony S. Brown Development Co. Inc. plans to build a $10 million, all-suite luxllry hotel in downtown Birmingham. The company has received preliminary site plan approval from the city of Birmingham to build the proposed, four-story Townsend Hotel on the corner of Pierce and Townsend streets. Anthony S. Brown Development, based in
Birmingham, has 16 employees and is one of the North Woodward area's largest development firms. It currently has more than $100 million in projects it has acquired or is developing in Southeast Michigan. Past developments include the Barclay Inn in Birmingham, the 608-unit Eastland Village Apartments in Harper Woods, and the 103,OOO-square-foot Evergreen Plaza shopping center in Southfield. The proposed hotel will "have a European feel," and will feature 87 suites, a 50-seat
restaurant, outdoor pool, concierge service, and a 55-space underground parking lot, said Geoffrey Hockman, vice president and treasurer for Anthony S. Brown Development. Suites will range in size from 400 to 900 square feet. Each will feature separate living and sleeping areas, a wet bar, refrigerator, two television sets, and three telephones - including one in the bathroom. The Townsend will provide bathrobes, hair dryers, clock radios, bathroom scales
Shareholder questions Allied head's stock buy BY AMY BODWIN
See ALUED, PAGE 29
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Motor Cityor Robot City? The Motor City Is fast becoming the Robot City. Major robotics firms are located here and the pioneering work In using robots In manufacturing Is being done In the automobile Industry. A special report on robotics begins on Page 11.
See HOTEL, PAGE 30
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Chatham shifts food purchases out of state
CRAIN'S DETROIT BUSINESS
A shareholder in Allied Supermarkets Inc. is asking the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to investigate whether a top executive of the supermarket chain exercised a stock option on the basis of inside information. William McMaster, president of McMaster Communications Inc. in Birmingham and public relations counsel to Allied for 17 years, has asked the SEC to determine whether the February purchase of 16,667 shares of Allied stock by Lon Makanoff was in violation of SEC rules. Makanoff, president and COO of Allied, said his purchase of the stock - two days before an announcement that caused shares to rise from $3 per share to $4 per share - was "coincidental." He said the timing of the purchase was due to tax considerations and tardiness in completing paperwork. Makanoff purchased the shares of Allied stock at $3 a share on Wednesday, Feb. 27 - two days
and cosmetic items. Average cost of the suites will be about $125 a night; large suites with balconies will cost more. Hockman said the approximately 69,000square-foot hotel will have four conference rooms. Three rooms will have videoteleconference equipment and will accommodate 10 to 20 people each, and the fourth room will seat 50 to 75.
BY AMY BODWIN CRAIN'S DETROIT BUSINESS
GLENN TRIEST
The race to implement computer aided design (CAD) may be critical to the survival of companies that design automotive parts and machinery. Above, a CAD image is superimposed over Efficient Engineering Co. computer group manager Jerry McKee.
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Kelsey-Hayes rolls to top of aluminum wheel makers BY JANE WHITE CRAIN'S DETROIT BUSINESS
To become dominant in the booming business of making aluminum wheels, KelseyHayes Co. in Romulus has completed investments in Europe that make it the undisputed world leader in that industry. On Sept. 10, the company completed the acquisition of a 100,000-square-foot plant in Barcelona, Spain - its third major investment in Europe in the past eight months. As a result, Kelsey-Hayes is increasing its sales in aluminum wheel manufacturing by about $40 million, to a projected $178 million in 1985. With its new operations in Italy, Spain and France, Kelsey-Hayes has unseated Superior Industries International Inc. of Van Nuys, Calif., which expects to sell about
$91 million worth of aluminum wheels in 1985. A subsidiary of Fruehauf Corp. of Detroit, Kelsey-Hayes expects to ship products by the first quarter of 1986 from the plant purchased from Soler Almirall, S.A., based in Barcelona. Kelsey-Hayes this year also purchased part ownership in two European wheel manufacturers: 50 percent of Fonderie Pedrini S.p.a. (F.P.s. Italy) on June 6, and 49 percent of Foundries et Ateliers de St. Satur, S.A. (F .A.S.S.) on Jan. 1. F.A.S.S. is jointly owned with Regie Nationale des Usines Renault, the car company, and the FPS venture is with a private family. See KELSEY-HAYES, PAGE 29
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Detroit-area food brokers are feeling the crunch of Chatham Super Markets Inc.'s decision to close its warehouse and use an out-of-state grocery wholesaler and broker network to supply its stores. Brokers are tightening their belts in the wake of an estimated $10 million loss in commissions that has resulted from Chatham taking its shopping list to Certified Grocers of Illinois Inc., a Chicago-based cooperative grocery wholesaler. Food brokers are manufacturers' representatives who receive a commission from a manufacturer based on what they supply to a store. They are responsible for providing stores with such services as picking up damaged goods, positioning stock on shelves, and arranging promotional displays. About 50 percent of the food sold in Detroit supermarkets is procured through brokers, said Edward Willenborg, president of Acme Food Brokerage Inc. in Oak Park. Acme, which represents products from such manufacturers as Noxell Corp. , Land 0 Lakes Inc., and Alberto Culver Co., laid off four employees as a result of Chatham taking its food business out of Detroit. At McMahon & McDonald food brokers in Farmington, the loss of Chatham's business has meant cutting expenses, said John Kimball, executive vice president. "We have analyzed our whole operation and are watching expenses closely," Kimball said. "Entertainment expenses and functions within the company have been eliminated." . The brokerage firm has experienced a "substantial" loss of business because Chatham represented 10 percent to 12 percent of its sales, Kimball said. McMahon & McDonald represents manufacturers including Lender's Bagel Bakery Inc., The Kingsford Co., and Pet Inc. When Wendell Smith and Keith Alessi became Chatham's new owners in May, one of their early moves was to close the company's warehouse and shop See CHATHAM, PAGE 30
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