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JSonline: Business Watch
Business Watch: A Weblog of Today's Local Business News

• Case against V. Richards owner to proceed
  A criminal case against V. Richards Market owner John E. Nehring will proceed after Waukesha County Circuit Court Commissioner Martin Binn denied a defense motion today to dismiss the charges. Nehring, 55, of Milwaukee, is charged with receiving stolen property, a felony. Along with his produce manager, Nehring is accused of paying $1,500 to a delivery driver for stolen cases of apples, peaches and pineapple and selling them in his upscale Brookfield store. Nehring's attorney, John S. Schiro, argued that the criminal complaint does not provide any evidence that Nehring knew the fruit was stolen. "Because someone steals produce and sells it to a store does not make the store's owner guilty," Schiro said. Assistant District Attorney Sue Opper said the complaint makes several references that Nehring knew the fruit was stolen, including that he paid cash to the delivery driver and he offered to pay full price for the produce when he was confronted by the owner of the wholesale business from which the fruit was stolen. "Why would he offer to pay full price unless he knew it was an illegitimate transaction?" Opper said. Binn ruled that the issues brought before him should be decided at trial. The produce manager, Angel Vasquez, 28, of Milwaukee, has not made his scheduled appearance in court and a warrant has been issued for his arrest. The criminal complaint says the two men paid $1,500 cash to a delivery driver for 70 cases of pineapples, 102 cases of peaches and 42 boxes of Gala apples during the summer of 2007. The total value of the stolen items is $2,883. The delivery driver, who has not been charged, worked for the Milwaukee-based Tropic Banana Co. An employee of the N. Van Buren St. business confronted Nehring on Aug. 29, 2007 regarding the stolen produce, and Nehring and Vasquez admitted to paying a driver for the stolen produce, the complaint says. The maximum penalty for the Class I felony is 3 1/2 years in prison and a $10,000 fine. A preliminary hearing is scheduled for Nov. 7. Nehring bought V. Richards in 2002. He also owns a Sendik's store in Shorewood and G. Groppi Food Market in Milwaukee's Bay View neighborhood. M&I remains leader in deposits
  Marshall & Ilsley Corp. maintains a solid lead in bank deposit market share in both the Milwaukee area and Wisconsin, a report released today by regulators shows. Milwaukee's M&I, which by assets is the largest bank based in the state, had market share of 28.86% in the area and 19.03% in the state in an annual deposit survey by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. That means $28.86 of every $100 on deposit in banks in the Milwaukee area was with M&I, and $19.03 cents of every $100 in bank deposits statewide was with M&I when the FDIC conducted its survey. The FDIC measures deposits at banks on June 30 of each year and reports the results in October. In all, M&I had $12.9 billion in deposits in metro Milwaukee and almost $21.9 billion in Wisconsin. In the Milwaukee metro area, U.S. Bank was second in deposit market share with 22.91%, and Chase Bank was third at 7.06%. Next were Associated Bank and National City Bank, with 4.82% and 3.06%, respectively. Statewide, U.S. Bank was second with 11.25% of deposits, and Associated Bank was third at 8.22%. Chase Bank was next with 4.64% and AnchorBank followed with 2.97%.
• Are home ownership plans becoming elusive?
  The downturn in the economy continues to hurt the housing market. Are you worried about your ability to buy a first home or move into a larger one? Share your house shopping or selling experiences with Journal Sentinel reporter Paul Gores at Worried about college savings?
  The free-falling stock market is dragging college savings plans down. Do you have kids who are in high school, and are you worried about college expenses? If you have an EdVest account or other 529 college savings plan, the Journal Sentinel would like to talk to you about how you're reacting to the market declines. Please contact reporter Tom Daykin, at Hal Leonard reaches out to China
  Hal Leonard Corp., announced this morning that it had formed a joint venture with one of the largest music publishers in China. The agreement is with Beijing-based People's Music Publishing House. Under the terms of the agreement, the newly formed company will translate Hal Leonard flagship publications into Mandarin, and also create new publications specifically geared to Chinese music makers. Sales, marketing and distribution will be managed by People's Music. People's Music was founded in 1954. The company's publications cover music education, professional titles and mass market periodicals. Keith Mardak, chairman of Hal Leonard, said People's Music was the ideal partner to expand the company's reach. "The company has an outstanding track record in music publishing, and is also forward-thinking, with many fresh ideas about how to best meet the needs of Chinese music makers," Mardak said. Hal Leonard is the world's largest music print publisher.
• Midwest Airlines pilots leaflet businesses
  Midwest Airlines pilots, unhappy about the airline's move to outsource jobs, are conducting informational leafleting and picketing today in front of three of the airline's top corporate clients. The picketing is occurring in front of Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Co., U.S. Bank and MillerCoors LLC. The pilots, represented by the Air Line Pilots Association, have been conducting a public campaign protesting Midwest's recent leasing of jets from Indianapolis-based Republic Airways Holdings. The dozen Embraer 170 jets leased from Republic are being used by Midwest Connect and are replacing some Boeing 717 jets that Midwest Airlines uses - leading to layoffs of 270 Midwest employees. The Midwest pilots union has filed a grievance, claiming the company's hiring of Republic to operate the jets violates their labor contract. Midwest executives say they believe the outsourcing doesn't violate the contract. The company's plan is to rehire the furloughed flight crews and maintenance workers after they're trained on the new jets. That process will likely take eight months to a year. As part of the transaction, Republic agreed to provide up to $25 million in financing for the cash-strapped company.
• Miller Park to get new outfield grass
  In addition to a new scoreboard and audio system for Miller Park in 2010, the Milwaukee Brewers also plan on replacing the outfield grass this off-season. Bob Hallas, director of stadium operations, says team officials were so happy with the kind of infield grass that was put in during the season that they plan to use the same grass for the outfield. With its signature radial roof design, the sun does not shine on all of the field. That has caused problems in the outfield since the park first opened in March 2001. The infield was replaced this season with a different kind of bluegrass, and players raved about the new surface. With that in mind, the same grass will be put in in time for opening day 2009. The new high-definition scoreboard and audio system should be put into place in time for opening day 2010.
• Kohl's reports sales decrease
  Kohl's Corp. Lowest gas in the area: $3.18
  The Hometown station off of Highway 100 in Hales Corners wins the appreciation of economically bashed consumers today with the lowest price per gallon of gas - $3.18 - in the last four hours of price-tracking at milwaukeegasprices.com. If you've had enough of the $4-plus cost of gas in recent months, the good news is you may be saving a few bucks at the pump, with many stations in the Milwaukee metro area hovering around $3.19 per gallon. The average price right now is $3.34. Still need to get rid of that extra change in your pocket? You can find stations selling a gallon for $3.49, or you can seek out the lesser price with this map. Then buy yourself a cup of coffee.