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The workforce reduction was less than 3 percent, said CEO Glenn McMahon, during a phone interview from his companys headquarters in Irvine.
St. John has about 3,500 employees in Irvine and Tijuana, Mexico. McMahon would not be more specific and it was not clear how many Irvine employees are losing their jobs.
The layoffs were a direct response to the countrys current economic state.
s very tough out there. Business all across the country in different types of product categories are looking to make prudent decisions to muddle through this difficult economic time, McMahon said.
re like every other company. Were making intelligent and prudent decisions to maintain the viability of St. John. We dont have the opportunity to go to Congress to ask for a bailout.
The company is pursuing other cost-saving measures including monitoring expenses, trying to renegotiate leases and reconsidering freight and shipping costs.
St. John has 28 retail stores, including one at South Coast Plaza, and 14 outlets across the country. The newest one opened last week in Houston. A 2,300-square-foot shop-within-a-shop is opening today in Harrods department store in London.
Its new SoCa line - a younger, more casual resort collection - launched in October. SoCa is sold through its new boutique at South Coast Plaza and in Neiman Marcus, Nordstrom and Saks Fifth Avenue.
We think its important to make these investments. When the economy turns around, and it will, well be in a good position, McMahon said.
St.
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One thing that has changed is the amount of information available in advance in the Internet about the Black Friday deals.
It used to circulate in badly formatted Word documents Excel spreadsheets. Now, there are whole sites dedicated to it and they are doing a fabulous job at it.
I have come across a few nice sites and resources that I wanted to round up and share it with you.
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Selling products and/or services through the mail is one of the fastest growing methods of doing business in the world today. It's estimated that sales for 1991 will top the 100 billion dollar mark!
Millions of people from all walks of life, and in all parts of the world are "into" mail order, with more coming in every day. Some of them are grossing in the millions, others are chalking up sales figures of several hundred per month, and there are others who only give it a quick try, make a few dollars and drop out.
Mail order selling appeals to almost everybody with a desire to get rich. Generally, it doesn't require complicated equipment, a lot of start-up capital, or an expensive office. Mail order is a kind of business that can be run by anyone from the comfort of his or her own home.
About all that's required for success in mail order selling is an understanding of what you're doing - it's not a game or a kind of thing you want to just give a quick try. It's a way of doing business, and requires a good understanding of what people buy, why the buy, and an operational plan that will lead you to success.
In order to make it big in mail order, you must understand that it's a selling business. Thus, you've got to decide on what you want to sell - who your buyers will be - and know why they buy and the, program your selling efforts in such a way that these people will buy from you.
The best, and the easiest selling product or service - because it has the greatest appeal to the most number of people - is information that gives people knowledge or instructions that will enable then to get rich. The bottom line is simply that everybody in the world wants to know how they can get rich - without putting forth too much of an investment in either money, time or effort.
So, the first thing that you should do is some marketing research: Look in all the publications running mail order advertisements and opportunities - get a good understanding of why they are doing - how they are doing ti - and then formulate a business plan of your own that will allow you to duplicate what they're doing.
With get rich information or instructions - and knowing that to make the really big money you have to be the author or a prime distributor - there are two ways to go. You can become the author with all the involved headaches and demands upon your time, or you can buy the reproduction rights and re-sell or distribute them as your own.
As the author, you'll have to do the research, the writing, the printing, advertising, and order fulfillment.
As a prime source distributor, you can pay a one-time fee for the reproduction rights - then spend your time and money on selling efforts. You still have to handle the printing, the advertising, and order fulfillments - but you have the advantage of -choosing and picking" only what you feel will make money for you. With most writers, only about 10% of what they spend hours, weeks, even months researching and writing, ever sells for them. Writers are just not geared to the profitable marketing or their materials.
Your initial marketing research should give you a good idea of what is selling - what the people are buying - and which titles of any particular author you want to promote, and sell for your own profits.
The next thing is to look through all the publications you can find that carry mail order ads - those that run issue after issue (but not those run as fillers by the publisher) are usually the ones that are making money for the people selling them (or you can bet they wouldn't keep running them)!
Decide which kind of program you want to run, and how you want to make money. The best ad to run is one that offers a free report relative to a money making plan. Your ad might read: FREE REPORT! Insider's Secrets To Your Own Million Dollar Multi-Level Empire. Send SASE to (your name and address).
In reply to each of the responses you get to this ad, you send them a one page report that briefly explains your multi-level secrets, with an invitation at the bottom for those really interested in multi-level marketing, to send in another $15 or $20 for your complete multi-level marketing "how-to" manual. You can then fill up their SASE with other offers, such as the availability of mailing lists for rent, a multi-level program of your own, and a listing of other business success reports you're offering.
At the same time, you compile the names and addresses of all the people sending for either your free report of their own materials, and you have the beginnings of a mailing list of your own that you can rent out over and over again at huge profits to yourself.
Clip the stamps off the envelopes as you receive them, and save them in an old shoe box. When you have a box full, you can sell them to any number of stamp collectors, and pocket an easy $10 or $15.
Save all the envelopes with return address, and when you've accumulated a thousand or two of these, you can send them in to list compilers and pocket another $50 to $100.
The other way of advertising is the offering of your report or book for sale from the ad. Such an ad would read about like this: Insider's Secrets To Your Own Million Dollar Multi-Level Empire. Dynamic new report shows the easy way. Send $3 to (your name address).
It's very difficult to sell anything directly from a classified ad because there just isn't space enough in which to do a complete job of selling. Thus, if you do try to sell from a classified ad, be sure to keep your selling price under $5.
A $3 item should pull well with a classified ad - A $5 item will take a least a one inch display ad - A $20 item will take a well written full page ad, and anything more than $40 will require a professionally written sales letter.
When you're just getting started in mail order selling, stick to small classified ads - test the pulling power of your ad, and your product, as well as the publication you ad runs in.
Analyze and practice rewriting some of the ads other people are running - experiment, and run a few ads in only one or two publications - and then build upon your success. In other words, if your first ad costs you $30, and you take in $90 - take that $90 and run the same ad again, not only in the same publication, but in a couple of other publications as well. Use your profits to expand the exposure of your offer - let as many people as possible see it.
It's important to note that you cannot expect to "live off" the income from your beginning business efforts. You have to have "other" money to pay your lights, water, and gas bills.
Mail order success is built upon the wise investment of your advertising dollars. Take $100 and run a classified ad for your reports in one of the big national publications. Figuring that from that first $100, you take in $300, run the same ad again in that publication, and at the same time in two other publications. Thus, your real profits should triple - and if you keep on reinvesting your profits in additional advertising exposure - conceivably within six months or less you should be hauling in several thousand dollars per month in profits.
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2008 Absolute Multimedia, Inc., October 2008. The Absolute Sound
(ISSN#0097-1138) is published ten times per year, $42 per year for U.S. residents.
NextScreen, LLC, 4544 S. Lamar, Bldg G300, Austin, Texas 78745. Periodical Postage
paid at Austin, Texas and additional mailing offices. Canadian publication mail account
#1551566. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to The Absolute Sound, Subscription
Services, PO Box 629, Mt Morris, IL 61054. Printed in the USA.
8 Letters
14
From the Editor
16
Future TAS
New products on the horizon.
20
Industry News
Loudspeaker-maker Bowers Wilkins
(BW) launches an on-line music
subscription service; Chesky Records
makes available high-resolution downloads;
a Ferarri-branded single-speaker
stereo system.
147
Manufacturer Comments
MUSIC
174 RECORDING OF THE
ISSUE
Paul Bley: About Time.
150
Rock
A blowout piece on Continuums 33
1/3 book seriesinsightful music
literature thats as addictive as the
records it celebrates. We also review
new music from Giant Sand, Calexico,
Tindersticks, Randy Newman, Rodney
Crowell, Michael Franti Spearhead,
and Sigur Ros. Plus, audiophile vinyl
from Metallica and Marc Cohn.
166
Classical
We evaluate a Blu-ray disc and SACD
of Divertimenti, Andreas Scholls Crystal
Tears, Gloria Chengs Piano Music of
Salonen, Stucky, and Lutoslawski, and
a Stravinsky LP box set from Speakers
Corner. And add another installment of
Multichannel Marvels.
174
Jazz
The lowdown on new discs from
Patricia Barber, David Murray and Max
Waldron, Roy Hargrove Quartet, and
Kenny Wheeler. And another Music
Matters audiophile LPthis time, from
Jackie McLean.
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The fact is that I can teach anyone to learn the amazing power of Mental Imagery in One Email Lesson.
I have been an award winning teacher for over 35 years.
Testimonials pepper my blog (see John in August and Monica in September and Alfredo in October), but I have thousands of students worldwide who have changed their lives through mental imagery.
I charge $99 and deliver a 15,000 word book on Mental Imagery and a free email lesson as my starting point.
Students order through my account at paypal.com
In that single lesson, I will teach you the power of Mental Imagery.
If you apply it to your life, it will change your life.
If you decide to promote it worldwide with me, you will change the lives of others and you will make a great deal of money as well.
How much you say?
Well, attracting just a handful of students a month can be worth a few hundred dollars each and every month wired to you.
Working side by side with me, can be worth...well, let's just say, I am used to making a great deal of money and my lifestyle has reflected that.
Yours will as well.
I don't care how poorly my students' mental powers are today how difficult it is for them to concentrate...how bad their memory is....how much a prisoner they are of crippling mental habits...how long it takes them each morning to get their mind going.
I believe that today your mind works at only 5%-10% of its true power!
Simply because most people don't have any idea the right way to feed it directions.
I teach a Mental Imaging formula. so potent that facts, ideas, numbers, words, performance, romance etc. anything you want to program your brain with. will burn themselves into your mind in such picture like focus that you will remember them forever.
My formula changes lives!
If you want to become part of a teaching program that can change lives while it changes yours, email me today at stevetarde@yahoo.
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Wheee, damn damn damn excited!! This musical by London's West End is apparently the best rendition of the musical, so we really can't wait! :P
Anyway, back to the Mama Mia the Movie. Before I watched the movie-- based on the boyfriend's feedback, and all the reviews I read online-- I gathered it was a happy-clappy, feel good movie. And hey, I am always up for movies which put a smile on your face, and set your feet tapping halfway through the movie!
But why I cried during the movie wan. T T
In fact, I cried a few times. T T
The boyfriend was just laughing his head off when he saw me cry (repeatedly wtf). And then I would be crying and laughing and slapping his shoulder to stop him from choking on laughter.
But really! There were a few parts in the movie which was damn sad ok! :(
Like the part where Amanda Seyfried (playing Meryl Streep's daugghter) was going to be married away, and Meryl Streep was reminising on how fast time flies, and how her daughter is slipping through her fingers. T_T
Damn sad ok. Will my mom be equally emotional when I marry off wtf. When I have a daughter, and I need to give her away on her wedding day (not literally giving her away on the aisle, but just figuratively speaking), I will definitely weep like a baby.
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When Fatin first asked me to blog about my novel, Just the Sexiest Man Alive, I panicked. (“What? Blog? Me? But what will I say?) This is my first time blogging, so, well, apologies in advance if it stinks. I guess I’ll start by telling you a little bit about the book. Wait, maybe I should talk about me first. Boy, I’m screwing this up already
So the scoop on me is that I’m a former trial lawyer. I worked with a large law firm in Chicago and specialized in employment discrimination cases. While practicing law, I began writing screenplays—romantic comedies and thrillers— and after Hollywood producers optioned two of my scripts, I decided to leave my firm and start writing full-time. (Okay, there was a LOT more angst involved in that decision than I just made it sound, but in the interest of brevity I’m sparing you the gory details.) After finishing my fifth screenplay I was trying to decide what I wanted to write about next and my film agent suggested that I turn my first script into a book. That script, titled The Andrews Project, is what became my debut novel, Just the Sexiest Man Alive.
Now what’s the book about, you say? (Or maybe you don’t say. Maybe you’ve already stopped reading or maybe you’re skimming ahead to the part about free books. Or maybe the only reason you started reading this blog is because you’re a big Diana Holquist fan and you could care less about this Julie James person who wants to talk to you about her book, blah, blah, blah.)
So for the two of you still reading, here’s the deal: Just the Sexiest Man Alive is about a lawyer from Chicago named Taylor Donovan who is sent by her firm out to Los Angeles for a sexual harassment trial against the EEOC. While she’s out there, her firm asks her to coach the biggest movie star in Hollywood who’s about to play a trial lawyer in an upcoming legal thriller. The problem is that the movie star, Jason Andrews, is a little arrogant. Okay, maybe a lot arrogant. He blows off his first two appointments with Taylor and gets caught on camera gallivanting in Las Vegas, and when he finally does show up he just can’t understand why Taylor isn’t falling for his undeniable charms. (He is People’s only three-time Sexiest Man Alive after all.
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The development in the British parliament, during the latter half of the nineteenth century, of highly cohesive legislative parties is a leading thread in the complex of events marking Britain's passage from an aristocratic to a democratic politics. Since the 1870s, journalists and scholars have attempted to account for the marked increase in the frequency with which MPs voted with their parties, and a number of plausible hypothesis have been advanced. There has not, however, been a systematic exposition of the kinds of factors which might, in theory, have been responsible for the change, nor much in the way of testing those ideas which have been suggested.
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Both the elder Riklis and his son Ira flew to Washington on Riklis private jet numerous times for private with Biden. The Riklis family continues to contribute to Biden as can be seen in public records.
If any of you snoops wants to check this out, just start in Delaware and follow the money.
NOTE: SEE KEATING 5, KEATING FIVE
AM REPOSTING A SNYOPSIS OF THE RIKLIS FAMILY COMPANY HERE:
Company History:
Riklis Family Corp. is a privately-held conglomerate of variety retail businesses that have included Rapid-American Corporation, McCrory Stores, Faberge/Elizabeth Arden, Samsonite luggage, Collagen, Schenley Industries Inc., and E-II Holdings Inc. The company is almost wholly owned by the Riklis family, including Meshulam Riklis and his second wife, singer Pia Zadora, as well as his three children and six grandchildren from a previous marriage. Besides closed ownership, Riklis Family Corp. is private in another fundamental way: Mr. Riklis's deals have been so labyrinthine and secretive that few Wall Street firms or investors have been able to follow them. Fulfilling his reputation as a financial wizard, Riklis combined a penchant for complex financial transactions with $750,000 borrowed in the 1950s to create a multibillion dollar empire. By the 1990s, with substantial losses in McCrory Stores and numerous legal and financial setbacks, some analysts questioned whether the debt that had fostered the company's growth would prove too heavy to bear.
The history of Riklis Family Corp. reflects the unconventional profile of its founder. Meshulam Riklis was born in Turkey in 1923, while his parents were en route from Russia to Israel. He grew up in Tel Aviv, where he graduated from the Herzliya Gymnasia. In 1947, he traveled to Columbus, Ohio, and enrolled in Ohio State University. After receiving a B.A. degree in mathematics in 1950, he taught Hebrew in the Talmud Torah School in Minneapolis. A year later, he joined the investment firm of Piper, Jaffray and Hopwood in Minneapolis as a junior stock analyst.
Riklis quickly demonstrated his insight, talent, and ambition. As a stockbroker, he developed his conglomerate philosophy of paying with debentures and selling for cash. After talking several clients into creating a pool of $750,000, he began a spree of acquisitions that would culminate in the formation of Riklis Family Corp. and would situate him on the Forbes list of the 400 wealthiest people in the United States by the 1980s.
By 1956, Riklis had advanced from stockbroker to chairperson and CEO of Rapid Electrotype Company and American Colortype Company. In 1957 he merged the companies and became president of Rapid-American Corp., an office machine, printing, and Christmas-card company. Largely through high-yield debt and stock swaps, he began buying merchandising, tire, apparel, and packaging companies.
In 1960, Riklis acquired 38, and later 50 percent of the stock of United Stores Corporation, a subsidiary of H. L. Green Company, Inc., which had merged McCrory Stores, McLellan Stores, and H. L. Green Stores in 1959. The McCrory-McLellan-Green (M-M-G) relationship resulted in approximately 850 stores with an estimated annual volume of more than $310 million. Within 15 years, M-M-G, renamed McCrory Stores (a subsidiary of McCrory Corporation), would represent the keystone of Riklis Family Corp's variety store business.
The McCrory acquisition brought to Riklis a legacy extending back to 1882, when John G. McCrorey joined the country's earliest variety retailers by opening his first five-and-ten store in Scottdale, Pennsylvania (the 'e' was later removed from his name, allegedly to save costs on the growing number of store signs). The stores offered wide varieties of items at bargain prices, including brooms for ten cents and Boss handsaws at 24 cents each. In 1901, with 20 stores grossing roughly $498,000 a year, McCrory established a New York City headquarters. Operations quickly expanded to 69 stores in 1911 and 128 stores in 1915, when McCrory was incorporated under the laws of Delaware.
In 1922, McCrory Corporation opened one of the world's largest variety stores--two floors with 2,500 lineal feet of counter space--in Brooklyn, New York. The company had expanded to 159 stores with annual sales of $14,400,000.
The 1930s marked significant changes in management and planning. In 1931, John G. McCrory vacated the president's office after nearly 50 years of service and was succeeded by C. T. Green, who had been with S. H. Kress Company for 30 years. Green, and his successors, R. F. Coppedge and R. W. Paul, moved to modernize operations through construction of new stores, personnel training programs, and extended price ranges and merchandise assortments. However, McCrory Corporation and its 203 stores slipped into bankruptcy in 1933.
In 1936 the Morrow Brothers bought the debentures and preferred stock of both McCrory and its competitor, McLellan Stores, which was founded in 1916 and had also declared bankruptcy in 1933. Working through their United Stores Corporation, they negotiated a reorganization wherein they received about 37 percent of the new common stock. Under the direction of R. F. Coppedge, the "dime store" image was elevated with improved facilities and presentation, including more accessible window displays and consumer-friendly color schemes for store interiors. The June 1950 issue of Chain Store Age reported that "McCrory had become one of the leaders in the chain variety store field in fashion and ready-to-wear assortments." By 1957, sales reached approximately $112 million and net profit after tax totaled $3.5 million.
In 1958, Albert M. Greenfield, chairperson at Bankers Securities Corporation and Variety Stores Corporation, acquired a large percentage of United Stores Corporation stock. In January 1959, McCory and McLellan, 37 percent owned by United, effected a merger. Then on February 18, 1959, H. L. Green Company, Inc. acquired Greenfield's equity in United Stores Corp. H. L. Green Co. dated back to 1932, when Harold L. Green acquired five retail companies in the limited price field. With its 1959 McCrory-McLellan-Green acquisition, United had control over 850 stores.
Meshulam Riklis appeared on the scene in 1960, when he acquired a significant amount of the stock of United Stores. In 1961, the financier bought full control of the H. L. Green Company, Inc., temporarily taking over as president of McCrory Corp. but soon passing on responsibility to a line of carefully chosen managers. The new officers upgraded existing stores while expanding to new locations. They decentralized and realigned field management and appointed regional and district managers to better control sales and profits. Despite such efforts, M-M-G experienced several difficulties. Profits during the 1962-63 fiscal year were negligible. Declining earnings at McCrory Stores forced Riklis to liquidate all Rapid holdings except 51 percent of McCrory. From 1960 to 1964, the company had gone through four presidents and one acting president, contributing to general malaise and low morale.
This downswing was in part reversed by Samuel Neaman, who assumed the presidency of M-M-G in 1964. In addition to streamlining operations, Neaman focused on incentive plans, increasing salaries across the board and tripling bonuses over 1963. In a 1966 plan to increase efficiency, the company headquarters were moved from New York City to York, Pennsylvania, home of M-M-G's distribution center. The company experienced a dramatic upturn in profits.
Also in 1966 Riklis completed his master's degree in finance at Ohio State University. In an MBA thesis examining the early years of his career, he outlined his strategies for buying companies with borrowed cash. In the thesis, Riklis lauded "the effective use, or rather non-use, of cash." This strategy governed his dealings with McCrory and with the rapidly growing Riklis Family Corp. in general.
M-M-G continued to grow into the 1970s. In 1969 the company purchased 22 superstores in the south. In order to better service small variety chains and independent variety stores, M-M-G established the York Distribution Company (YDC) in 1970. Two years later, Rapid-American Corp. acquired the J. J. Newberry Company and merged it with McCrory Corporation, joining 650 M-M-G stores with 439 Newberry units, including select William Tally House Cafeterias. Renamed G. McNew, the resulting chain was decentralized and broken into six separate subdivisions, referred to as MAC companies.
After severe losses in 1973 and the 1974 resignations of McCrory Corporation's chairperson as well as the G. McNew division's president, the company again moved to stimulate growth. Emphasis was shifted from decentralization to strong central control from the Pennsylvania headquarters. On February 1, 1975, the chain's name was changed from G. McNew to McCrory Stores. In addition, measures were taken to close unprofitable stores, to rehabilitate low budget stores, to monitor and tighten overall efficiency, to launch an aggressive sales program, and to tailor cost-effective distribution in face of escalating transportation costs.
These measures paid off, increasing chain performance and spurring a new round of Riklis acquisitions. Rapid-American Corp., which already held 62.5 percent interest in McCrory Corporation, acquired full control on March 12, 1976. Through the acquisition, Rapid-American operated a total of over 2,000 stores, including 883 McCrory Stores. Later that year, McCrory further expanded by taking over the leases on 15 locations of the beleaguered W. T. Grant Company. Continued expansion included the takeover of eight variety stores from Neisner Brothers in 1980 and the acquisition of 46 S. H. Kress and V. J. Elmore stores from the S. H. Kress Company in 1981.
By the late 1980s, McCrory Stores was again experiencing heavy losses. To address the problem, Riklis retained an elite group of managers, whom he retrained in management, marketing, and sales skills, dubbing them the company's "green berets." From this group Riklis chose 30 members to serve as a squad of shock troops, dubbed "unit 101" after Israeli Industry and Trade minister Ariel Sharon's anti-terrorist unit. These special trainees were sent to McCrory's top 100 stores equipped, among other things, with a powerful incentive plan shared on all company levels: if the company's pre-tax profits were 10.4 per cent, all employees would receive a bonus of seven days pay; 11.4 per cent on sales would yield a bonus of 10 days pay. In June 1989, Riklis rewarded 2,000 McCrory employees and their spouses with a company-paid, two-week tour of Israel, Greece, and Egypt.
Other moves to improve McCrory business included streamlining and consolidating operations. In June 1990, the company's Bargain Time Inc. affiliate moved its main buying office to the McCrory headquarters in Pennsylvania and closed its buying office in Newark, New Jersey.
The 1980s were also marked by a series of new and convoluted financial feats at Riklis Family Corp. Riklis bought out Rapid-American's public stockholders in 1985 but left its debt in public hands. In doing so, he owned 100 percent of the equity in a debt-ridden but cash-generating conglomerate. By 1988, Rapid and McCrory held 23 debt issues totaling $750 million. Though the company's bond rating hovered at CCC, Riklis had little trouble raising approximately $150 million per year to service the debt. Even if McCrory's earnings plunged, as in 1987, other subsidiaries--such as Schenley Industries, Faberge toiletries, and McGregor apparelovided necessary cash.
Keen on making further acquisitions but short on the necessary assets, Riklis engineered yet another ingenious solution in 1986. In May, he transferred the cash-generating Schenley and Faberge/McGregor assets from Rapid/McCrory to his Riklis Family Corp., paying for them largely in paper: nonvoting, cumulative preferred stock issued by the new Schenley company and the newly merged Faberge/McGregor.
In possession of the Schenley and Faberge/McGregor assets, Riklis was ready to conduct new deals. In 1987, Riklis Family Corp. sold Schenley to the United Distillers plc division of Britain's Guinness plc for $480 million. Schenley Industries Inc., was the sixth largest distributor of spirits in the United States and included in its portfolio Dewar's White Label, the country's leading scotch whiskey.
Like many of Riklis' deals, the Schenley sale did not pass without controversy. The press issued reports that the sale was a result of Riklis' entanglement in Guinness' scandal-ridden 1986 takeover of United Distillers Co. According to a June 19, 1989, Business Week article, among other sources, Riklis feared that Guinness would endanger his U.S. distribution of Dewar's whisky. Riklis and Guinness allegedly worked out a deal: Riklis purchased more than five percent of Guinness to help boost the price of stock with which Guinness was acquiring Distillers. In return, Riklis earned an indefinite extension of his Dewar's distribution contract, as well as the U.S. trademark for the whiskey, for a small fee. When Guinness' top managers resigned after the scandal came to light, new executives threatened Riklis with legal action. Even though the subsequent sale of Schenley incurred a pre-tax loss of $46 million, it enabled Riklis to wash his hands of the deal, according to Business Week.
In July 1988, an affiliate of the Riklis Family Corporation again attracted media attention with the acquisition of E-II Holdings Inc., a subsidiary of American Brands, Inc. The sale included Culligan International, Samsonite, Samsonite Furniture, Home Fashions, Beatrice Food Ingredients, Frozen Specialties, Lowrey's Meat Specialties, Martha White Foods, and Pet Specialties. Even before Riklis entered the picture, E-II had a turbulent history. In 1987, Chicago entrepreneur Donald P. Kelly launched the company by patching together a group of strong brands including Samsonite. After trying to use E-II to take over American Brands Inc., however, he lost his fledgling company to American Brands. Eager to bail out of E-II's massive debt, American Brands sold the company to Riklis in 1987 for $1.2 billion and assumption of $1.5 billion in debt. Riklis installed his long-time friend Steven Green as CEO of E-II and began a pattern of lopping off debt by selling assets.
E-II bondholders resisted the sale to Riklis, whom they feared was using E-II coffers to prop up ailing Riklis Family Corp. enterprises. They also were wary of Riklis' relatively low credit rating and feared that E-II's rating would sink to the level of its new parent. John Canella, a federal district court judge, ruled their complaint a "moot point," and denied an order barring the transaction. Yet E-II's fears were partly justified. E-II bonds which had sold at 110 percent of their face value fell to about 80 percent after the sale. In addition, many Riklis deals proved less than favorable to E-II interests: in December of 1989, Riklis sold E-II the money-losing Bargain Time Inc. retail chain from McCrory for $170 million plus preferred stock; six months later Bargain Time shut down and dumped its $221 million loss onto E-II's books; and in August of 1990, E-II paid $16 million for a group of California television stations owned by another Riklis affiliate.
The problems intensified, and, outraged by Riklis' alleged use of E-II funds for other interest, bondholders ousted him in 1990. In July 1992, financier Carl Icahn scuttled Green's restructuring plans for the ailing company, arguing that Green was continuing to serve Riklis' interests. After filing for Chapter 11 in July, E-II announced a plan to sue Riklis for roughly $500 million siphoned out of the company. By April 1993, court rulings were still pending regarding Green's plans for overcoming bankruptcy and legally pursuing Riklis.
During this time, Riklis continued to work deals on other fronts. In October 1988 Riklis entered another segment of retailing with the purchase of Odd Lot Trading, Inc. by OLT-I Corp. and OLT-W Corp., subsidiaries of Riklis Family Corp., for approximately $37.1 million. Odd Lot was a 103-store chain specializing primarily in discounted merchandise.
After several years of negotiating a deal with Unilever PLC, Riklis finally sold its Elizabeth Arden cosmetics company to the consumer products titan in August 1992. With the introduction of Red Door, its first new fragrance since 1930, total retail sales jumped 29 percent, sending Arden in a positive direction under its new parent.
By the early 1990s, the highly leveraged debts supporting Riklis Family Corp. were in danger of losing much of their leverage, ensnaring Riklis enterprises in more setbacks. In 1992, Riklis' Las Vegas casino, the Riviera Hotel, filed for bankruptcy protection after some of its creditors refused to accept a restructuring plan. Riklis was still fighting the bondholder suit filed by E-II Holding Inc. Furthermore, in December of that year, McCrory Corp. announced it would close nearly one-quarter of its 1,000 stores. In February 1992, McCrory missed a payment of $3.37 million in debt securities and hinted that it might file for bankruptcy court protection. "Let's just say that I'm not eating any milk and honey," said Meshulam Riklis in a January 13, 1992, Business Week article.
Nevertheless, the story of Riklis Family Corp. was far from over. Known for his resilience and resourcefulness, Riklis would likely find a way to shore up losses, even if it incurred more debt. Principal Subsidiaries: E-II Holding Corp.; Riklis Holding Corp.; McCrory Stores; Rapid-American Corp.
Similar posts: free penthouse letter
- Mood:smile
- Music:Crazy Town
Artist: VA
Album: Clubbers Hit Mix Vol.4
Release Date: 2008
Genre: Techno
Tracks: 25
Quality: mp3/128 kbps
Total Size: 68.7 mb
Tracklist:
01. Intro by Clubbers Sounds
02. Manian - Hold Me Tonight (Rob Mayth Remix)
03. Dj Pema vs. Dirty Rockerz - Beat is Droppin 2008
04. Sample Rippers - Hardcore Vibez 2008
05. Discotronic - The Masterplan (Club Mix)
06. Dj pema sanders pres.smoothies - Make Some Noize
07. Alex Megane - Something (Rave Allstars Remix)
08. Liquid Tuner - Trip to Rio
09. Unisex - Pio Time (Extended Edit)
10. v1r00z - Funeral Song 2008
11. Klimazz ft Paul C. - All You Have
12. Arctic - Another Game (Dirty Rockerz Remix)
13. Baby Directz - Keep Pushin (Club Mix)
14. Malec - Sex Bomb
15. Jakarta - One Desire (Mondo Remix)
16. Dj Cargo - Once Again (Mallancia Remix)
17. Alex C ft Yaas - Du Bist So Porno (2-4 Grooves Remix)
18. Taito vs Michael Fox - Disco Freak
19. Escoo - Don`t Wanna Be (Polish Rumble Remix)
20. G G - My My My (Mondo Remix)
21. Tribal King vs.3rd Face-Il Canto Della Liberta (Vandalism Remix)
22. Dj Kid - Boogie Time (Extended Mix)
23. Club Revolt - You Drive Me Crazy (Club Mix)
24. Laurent Wolf - No Stress (Extended Mix)
25. House Of Glass - Disco Down 2008 (Alex Gaudino Jason Rooney Remix)
Download:
http://w17.easy-share.com/1702232890.htm
Mirror:
http://www.filefactory.com/file/8d9f2c/n/C
.....read more on "VA - Clubbers Hit Mix Vol.4 (2008)".
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- Mood:Good
- Music:Backstreet Boys
By: Maria Davies
Gerald R. Ford said "If I went back to college again, I'd concentrate on two areas: learning to write and learning to speak before an audience. Nothing in life is more important than the ability to communicate effectively."Public speaking is the number one skill that's guaranteed to position you head and shoulders above the competition, yet it's frequently overlooked, according to female speaker, Patricia Fripp.My own take on having the ability to give presentations is that it's probably the single most powerful thing you can learn to do that gives you the ammunition to say "If I can do that, I can do anything".If you've ever marvelled at the abilities of a great presenter, the clever use of words to draw pictures, the confidence and charisma that exudes from the platform and the awe in which they are held, you'll agree with the above statements.So why is it that when it comes to attending training courses, presentation skills are not the automatic first port of call? Could it be to do with that oft quoted (probably misquoted) statistic that speaking in public is feared more than death? Let's not go into an examination of quite how ridiculous that would be if it were true. After all, how many of you would really swap places with the guy in the coffin if you were asked to speak at a funeral?There's no doubt that public presenting can get the old palms sweating, but given the benefits you'll get when you know you can do it well, it really shouldn't stop you. Let's examine the causes of nerves so you lay your fears to rest and get this most important of abilities added to your arsenal of talents, shall we?First, examine why you're nervous. There's always a reason for nerves so examine what the reasons are so you can deal with the cause and go a long way to eliminating the symptom. Note that I say "go a long way to eliminating", the chances are that you'll always feel some nervousness which is when you need to remember that nerves are your friends because they keep your senses sharp show that you want to do well. Even seasoned performers suffer from stage fright, some had it so bad they could barely perform. Fortunately, the thought is usually worse than the task. Once you get started, you'll often find that your nervousness will disappear. I liken it to knowing that you're about to tackle a drive round London's Hyde Park Corner or Paris's Arc de Triomphe in rush hour. Thinking about it really freaks you out but when you're in the middle of it, you're too busy concentrating on not hitting anyone that it's only afterwards you get to think "Wow, I made it in one piece."Some of the most common reasons I've found for people suffering from nerves are these:
Worry about forgetting what you're going to say
Worry that the audience will think you're a fraud
Worry about saying the wrong thing and offending somebody
Worry that someone will ask a question to which you don't know the answer
Worry that you'll get a dry mouth or get tongue tied
Worry that you'll finish too soon or run long
Some of the less common ones I've heard were "I'm worried in case there's a fire alarm halfway through my talk" and "I'm worried that the hem on my trousers will unravel in front of everyone whilst I'm speaking."I could dismiss all these are "silly" or "invalid" and tell you that none of them will ever happen, but the fact is that they often will. (Yes, even the trouser hem thing's happened to me!). Looking down the list, you can see that there's a lot you can do to avoid these situations occurring: being well prepared, stating your qualifications in your introduction, knowing your subject matter inside and out, timing yourself several times during rehearsals, and so on (sorry, I don't have a magic bean to disable fire bells during speeches).But so what if any of them still come to pass? What's the worst that can happen? Well it's not life or death, you know. You have to learn to keep your fears in perspective. And remember, the audience wants you to succeed. Nobody enjoys a bad speech.Do what you can to be prepared and don't let fear of speaking stop you from gaining that most revered of all skills, the one that will impact every area of your personal and business life. Give yourself the very best opportunity of succeeding and you'll find the rewards are massive.
Author BioMaria Davies is the UK's most successful female sales presenter who trains others to overcome their public speaking fears and use presentation skills to increase the audience share for their product or service by around 91%. Find out more about forthcoming seminars, worldwide e-trainings or speaker bookings at www.laddersofsuccess.com
Article Source: http://www.ArticleGeek.
Similar posts: free penthouse letter
- Mood:smile
- Music:Timbaland
HOT97 THE HIP HEALTHY TEAM WILL SCARE THE FLU OUTTA YOU
OCTOBER 29TH 2008, 4PM-8PM!
Come hang out with HOT 97 and the Hip Healthy team on Wednesday, October 29th from 4-8pm at the Haunted House!
The Haunted House is located at the CSV Cultural Center - 107 Suffolk Street, at Rivington Street on the Lower East Side.
Enjoy refreshments, get a free flu shot for you, your family friends, and win tickets to enjoy the hottest Halloween experience along with other HOT 97 prizes!
HOT97s Hip Healthy Team is taking over the entrance room of the Haunted House, getting you equipped for Halloween and the rest of the flu season. Two Thousand, Five Hundred people died from the flu in NYC last year. If you have an ongoing medical condition like Diabetes, Asthma or Kidney Disease, the flu can threaten your life. A dose of the flu vaccine every year can help ensure that you never have to face potentially dangerous diseases. Protect you and your loved ones....The Hip Healthy team got you!!!
The first 200 people to come through the HIP HEALTHY room will receive a free flu shot and tickets to the scariest haunted rooms, and other HOT 97 prizes!
Moms Dads bring your kids! Aunties Uncles, bring your Nieces Nephews! Grandma Grandpa bring the grand-kids! This will be the Biggest Halloween treat of the season - PLUS - we're keeping you HIP HEALTHY!
Some restrictions may apply so come early! And you must be 18 to get a flu shot!
For free info about your health and to find out where to get a free flu shot in New York City - Call 311 or log on to: www.nyc.
Similar posts: free penthouse letter
- Mood:smile
- Music:Backstreet Boys
HOT97 THE HIP HEALTHY TEAM WILL SCARE THE FLU OUTTA YOU
OCTOBER 29TH 2008, 4PM-8PM!
Come hang out with HOT 97 and the Hip Healthy team on Wednesday, October 29th from 4-8pm at the Haunted House!
The Haunted House is located at the CSV Cultural Center - 107 Suffolk Street, at Rivington Street on the Lower East Side.
Enjoy refreshments, get a free flu shot for you, your family friends, and win tickets to enjoy the hottest Halloween experience along with other HOT 97 prizes!
HOT97s Hip Healthy Team is taking over the entrance room of the Haunted House, getting you equipped for Halloween and the rest of the flu season. Two Thousand, Five Hundred people died from the flu in NYC last year. If you have an ongoing medical condition like Diabetes, Asthma or Kidney Disease, the flu can threaten your life. A dose of the flu vaccine every year can help ensure that you never have to face potentially dangerous diseases. Protect you and your loved ones....The Hip Healthy team got you!!!
The first 200 people to come through the HIP HEALTHY room will receive a free flu shot and tickets to the scariest haunted rooms, and other HOT 97 prizes!
Moms Dads bring your kids! Aunties Uncles, bring your Nieces Nephews! Grandma Grandpa bring the grand-kids! This will be the Biggest Halloween treat of the season - PLUS - we're keeping you HIP HEALTHY!
Some restrictions may apply so come early! And you must be 18 to get a flu shot!
For free info about your health and to find out where to get a free flu shot in New York City - Call 311 or log on to: www.nyc.
Similar posts: free penthouse letter
- Mood:Good
- Music:Nickelback
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- Mood:Good
- Music:One Republic
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- Mood:hangry
- Music:Black Eyed Peas
Install Notes:
1. Unpack release
2. Mount image or bunr it
3. Install game
4. Copy the crxcked content ffrom SKIDROW directory, to your
distination directory
5. Play the game
Download:
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Password:
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OR
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OR
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OR
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OR
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Similar posts: free penthouse letter
- Mood:lol
- Music:Linkin Park
For the unaquainted, ebay is an site where you can buy and sell pretty much everything you can possibly think of, from computer games to cars and kitchen suites and all the way back again. The site is immaculately presented with clear and concise screens and categories, and youll never spend longer than a few seconds looking for what youre trying to find. Whilst you can browse everything on the site without having to register your personal details, you will need to do so to bid, buy and sell products. Registration however is quick and simple and wont inconvenience you.
Its also great, great fun though and comes highly recommended if youre looking for that certain something that you cant find anywhere else - chances are itll be on offer here!
I have left some auction prices below for Skullcandy FMJ Earbuds Headset Black and other items you may be interested in.
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- Mood:More emotions
- Music:Justin Timberlake
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