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Lance plans
to purchase
2 struggling cookie companies
Lance Inc., the Charlotte-based snack company, plans to buy two ailing cookie companies for $30 million, it announced Tuesday.
Company officials say Lance has obtained approval from the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Delaware to be the “stalking horse” bidder for the assets of Archway Cookies LLC and Mother's Cake and Cookie Co.
Archway, founded in the 1930s, is one of the nation's top producers of branded cookies, with brands such as Archway found in grocery stores nationwide, according to a Lance news release Tuesday. The company operates one bakery in Ashland, Ohio.
Mother's Cake and Cookie owns a number of cookie brands that are sold primarily in the western U.S.
Lance bid $30 million for the companies' combined assets. It plans to use available liquidity under its current credit facilities to pay for the acquisition, the company news release said. Company officials could not immediately be reached for comment Tuesday evening.
The bankruptcy court is still accepting other bids through the end of the month. Kirsten Valle
The Charlotte Business Journal has named a replacement for longtime publisher Jeannie Falknor, who is retiring at the end of the year.
Kevin Pitts, vice president for advertising and circulation at the Philadelphia Business Journal, will take over Jan. 1, Falknor announced in an e-mail Tuesday.
Pitts, 42, joined American City Business Journals Inc. in 2000 as ad director of the Philadelphia Business Journal, according to the Charlotte Business Journal. He has also served as publisher of the East Bay Business Times.
Falknor, 58, who announced plans to retire last month, has served as the paper's publisher for 10 years. Kirsten Valle
Harland Clarke plans to close its check-manufacturing plant in north Charlotte, where about 100 people work.
The San Antonio-based company said the move was not because of the economic downturn.
“It's really just part of the normal process of running the business, evaluating the efficiencies of each plant, looking at the bigger picture like we always do,” said spokeswoman Donna Hinkelman. She noted that the Greensboro plant, with about 200 employees, will continue to operate. Harland Clarke has call centers and plants where checks are personalized across the country, and Charlotte employees will be encouraged to apply for internal job openings. The company has severance packages for other employees.
Its Charlotte plant is on David Taylor Drive, off Mallard Creek Church Road. It will close in April. Christina Rexrode
The national Your Money Bus Tour will bring free one-on-one financial advice and seminars on debt and savings to Goodwill Industries of the Southern Piedmont headquarters, 2122 Freedom Drive, Charlotte, on Friday.
Sponsored by the National Association of Personal Finance Advisors Consumer Education Foundation, TD Ameritrade Institutional and Kiplinger's Personal Finance, the tour is intended to promote financial literacy and educate people on the need to save money.
It will offer 45-minute seminars – with question-and-answer sessions – on “Understanding Debt and Savings” at 12, 1:30 and 3 p.m. In addition, registered financial advisors will answer finance questions during one-on-one, 15- to 20-minute sessions from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Advanced registration is recommended.
Details: 704-916-1684 or www.goodwillsp.org/events. Jen Aronoff
Moore & Van Allen, one of the city's biggest law firms, has laid off three attorneys in its Charlotte office, firm officials confirmed Tuesday.
“Given the current economy, we are being thoughtful about improving efficiencies whenever possible to protect the interests of our clients and our firm,” firm spokeswoman Jill Huse said in an e-mailed statement.
The firm laid off the attorneys, all associates, on Nov. 10, it said.
The layoffs are the latest to hit Charlotte's legal community, which has been hit by slowdowns in finance and real estate. Kirsten Valle
Despite the epic housing downturn, UNC Charlotte's Center for Real Estate has surpassed its fundraising goal by 10 percent. The total of $4.4 million raised includes funds for added scholarships and fellowships, creating programs for industry professionals and expanding the real state curriculum at the Belk College of Business.
Donors at the $500,000 level include Bank of America Charitable Foundation, Wachovia Foundation, Bissell, Childress Klein, Crosland and American Asset. Batson-Cook, the general contractor for the new Wachovia tower, gave $250,000. Stella M. Hopkins
