Reebok cutting 120 employees in Massachusetts
STOUGHTON – Citing its restructuring plans, Reebok, Inc. announced that it had laid off 120 employees in Massachusetts and that additional layoffs are planned worldwide. Before the layoffs Reebok employed 1,200 in Massachusetts and 6,600 worldwide. The company said the layoffs in Massachusetts were across the board, “from vice president down through the workforce.” Like most manufacturers of recreational shoes, Reebok has been experiencing lower sales in young men’s sneakers as interest in that kind of shoe has been replaced by a more general purpose recreational shoe.
Sundance cinema fades to black
BOSTON – Plans for a Sundance cinema complex near Fenway Park have been scrapped after negotiations among the promoters, including Robert Redford, and the developer broke down. The original proposal by Redford and the General Cinema Co. called for an eight-story building containing 11 cinema screens, a film library, a restaurant, two bars, an auditorium for community use, and parking beneath the building. The plan, which called for development of several such facilities across the country, was inspired by Redford’s annual Sundance Film Festival in Utah for independently made films. The developer, John Rosenthal of Newton, proposed that the cinema center be located on property he owns on Lansdowne Street behind Fenway Park and adjacent to nightclubs. General Cinema spokespersons said that despite the disagreement with Rosenthal the company had not abandoned the idea of placing a cinema complex in Boston and was interested in finding another location in the city.
Seifert Systems Invests in Energy Efficiency to Strengthen Operations
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SmarterKids.com files for IPO
NEEDHAM – SmarterKids.com, Inc. has filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission for an initial public offering of $60 million to finance general purposes, including advertising, marketing and other expenses to promote and enhance its Web site, purchase inventory, upgrade its computer systems and possibly make acquisitions. SmarterKids is an online retailer concentrating on children’s educational books, toys, games and software.
Optimum Health closes; 700 jobs lost
BOSTON – Optimum Health Care, a subsidiary of Frontier Group Inc., has closed, eliminating 700 jobs and leaving 1,700 aged at risk temporarily until home health care agencies could find substitute care for them. The Boston Globe reported that the agencies had found substitute care for a large majority of the aged by nightfall of the first night of the crisis, September 10. For a small minority care was delayed until at least the following week. Frontier Group, a nursing home company, sought Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in July.
IKEA furniture coming to Somerville
SOMERVILLE – IKEA, a Swedish furniture manufacturer and retailer is reported by the Boston Globe to be coming to Massachusetts to build and open a store here near the Assembly Square Mall. The Globe quoted the president of the Somerville Chamber of Commerce as saying it was “a done deal.”
Boston Bank of Commerce buys Miami bank
BOSTON – the city’s only black-owned bank, the Boston Bank of Commerce has acquired Peoples National Bank of Commerce of Miami, Florida, also a black-owned bank, which had been shut by federal regulators because of financial problems. The Boston Globe reported that the bank would be reopened last Monday under the new name of the Peoples Bank of Commerce. A spokesman for Boston Bank of Commerce hailed the acquisition which, he said, made the bank “America’s first interstate African-American owned bank. The acquisition would give the Boston Bank assets of $150 million, an increase from it previous $37.6 million.
Cambridge firm to help expand energy system
CAMBRIDGE – Excelergy, based here has reached an agreement with Southern California Gas Co. to introduce an energy buying service throughout the nation. Excelergy, which develops systems to sell competitive energy through the World Wide Web, will assume national marketing responsibility for Energymarketplace.com, now available to California homeowners, businesses and consumer groups to use for getting information about energy suppliers and making deals with gas and electrical suppliers. The Web site was established in California in 1997 and has 16 participating providers. Excelergy, which the Boston Globe reported hopes to increase the number of participating providers across the country, plans to expand from the 15 employees it had at the start of the year to about 150 by the end of the year.
Boston Life Sciences technology licensed
BOSTON – Boston Life Sciences Inc. reported that its screening technology used in the search for new allergy and asthma drugs had been licensed by Pfizer Inc. Financial terms of the licensing agreement were not disclosed. Boston Life Sciences is a biotechnology company still working to bring its first product to the market. It will receive an initial payment from Pfizer and royalties from any future sales of drugs obtained through use of the technology, the company reported.
Videoserver changes name to Ezenia
BURLINGTON – Videoserver, shifting from traditional vidoeconferencing products to devices for communicating over the World Wide Web, has also changed its name to Ezenia, Inc. The company, which employs about 300 persons, reported that it will introduce new computer programs aimed at helping corporate customers to provide video and voice communications services through their internal networks.
