Mike Armstrong, Inquirer Columnist
I could start Monday worrying about what looks like a triple-digit decline in the Dow when the market opens.
Once again, Europe and its sovereign debt crisis have investors depressing the "sell" button.
But I'd rather marvel at Philadelphia-based retail chain Destination Maternity, which said it is opening its first stores in South Korea. Freestanding stores will open in Koyang and DaeJeon, while "shop-in-shops" will open in two Seoul locations of Nextmom, a chain operated by a Korean baby apparel company.
Mike Armstrong, Inquirer Columnist
On a great day to be in the mop business, start-up accelerator DreamIt Ventures has announced via a post on TechCrunch the 15 firms that will spend fall in Philadelphia.
Seven are from the Philadelphia region, and five of the 15 are minority-owned, part of a new effort funded by Comcast's venture capital arm to boost mentorship and funding for minority-led start-ups.
Starting Monday, the DreamIt companies will gather for 13 intense weeks of battle-testing their business plans and beta sites in their temporary home at the University City Science Center.
Mike Armstrong, Inquirer Columnist
Sunoco's not the only oil company shedding refineries. ConocoPhillips has previously stated that it would sell some of its refineries.
Now Simmons & Co., an investment bank that focuses on the energy business, says the company's refineries in Linden, N.J., and Trainer, Pa. may be put up for sale. (Trainer hugs Marcus Hook, where Sunoco has a refinery, in Delaware County.) A ConocoPhillips spokesman tells Reuters that the company has not specified what its plans are.
Campbell Soup said executives of its Pepperidge Farm unit will gather with Connecticut state officials to celebrate the start of construction of a 34,000-square-foot "innovation center" in Norwalk, Conn., Sept. 12. Camden-based Campbell intends to ladle $30M into the project, which also involves the renovation of Pepperidge Farms' headquarters.
Mike Armstrong, Inquirer Columnist
Sunoco Inc. made it official Tuesday: It is getting out of refining.
The 126-year-old oil refiner and marketer said it has begun the process of selling its Marcus Hook and Philadelphia refineries. If it can't find a buyer, Sunoco intends to idle them in July 2012.
In a statement, Sunoco said it is also conducting a "strategic review" of the company and retained Credit Suisse Securities (USA) LLC for that process.
Mike Armstrong, Inquirer Columnist
Bucking a down start to trading on the U.S. equity markets, shares of Campbell Soup Co. were higher after reporting adjusted results that exceeded analyst expectations.
In fact, the Camden-based food processor was one of just four companies in the Standard & Poor's 500 Index whose shares were rising in trading early Friday. Campbell Soup shares were up 21 cents, or 0.7 percent, to $32.07. The S&P 500 was down 1.6 percent following the release of a weak employment report for August.
Sales for the three months ended July 31 were $1.61 billion, up 6 percent from $1.52 billion for the fourth-quarter a year ago. Net income of $100 million, or 31 cents per share, was down 12 percent to $113 million, or 33 cents per share.
Mike Armstrong, Inquirer Columnist
NuPathe Inc. revealed the bad news before the stock market opened Tuesday: The launch of its migraine drug Zelrix will be delayed.
The Food and Drug Administration has issued a complete-response letter in connection with the Conshohocken company's first product, Zelrix. The letter means regulators have completed their review of NuPathe's new-drug application, but won't allow the FDA to approve the drug until certain questions are answered.
In a statement, NuPathe said the move means it won't launch Zelrix in the first half of 2012, as it had previously announced.
Mike Armstrong, Inquirer Columnist
Airgas Inc., the Radnor distributor of industrial and medical gases, will increase its quarterly cash dividend by 10 percent.
A statement on the board of directors' move to raise the dividend from 29 cents per share to 32 cents per share indicated the company continues to see record earnings and strong cash flow. Here's what Airgas founder and CEO Peter McCausland had to say:
Our continued confidence in Airgas’ long-term prospects and financial stability allows us to grow our dividend commensurate with earnings and cash flow while still funding our growth strategies.
Mike Armstrong, Inquirer Columnist
Aramark Corp. is buying the Filterfresh office-coffee business of Green Mountain Coffee Roasters Inc., of Waterbury, Vt., for about $145 million in cash.
Technically, what Aramark is buying is called Van Houtte USA Holdings Inc. The Philadelphia-based Aramark has long had a coffee business through its Aramark Refreshment Services L.L.C. unit.
Green Mountain, which has annual sales of about $1.4 billion, had acquired Van Houtte as part of a Dec. 17 purchase of LJVH Holdings Inc. for $905 million. At the time, the publicly traded Green Mountain said it intended to sell the U.S. coffee-service business known as Filterfresh.
Mike Armstrong, Inquirer Columnist
Hurricane Irene has already slammed Philadelphia's tourism industry.
The National Association of Insurance Commissioners said Thursday that it was canceling its summer national meeting at the Philadelphia Marriott Downtown scheduled for Aug. 29-Sept. 1.
NAIC president Susan E. Voss said in an interview posted on the group's website that members were concerned about safety of people traveling as well as the safety of people in states that could be affected by what would be the first major hurricane to hit the United States in 2011.
Mike Armstrong, Inquirer Columnist
It's all over now, but the recent strike by union workers at Verizon had an impact on the weekly initial jobless claims report.
Claims were up by 5,000 to 417,000 last week, according to the Department of Labor. The four-week moving average also bumped higher by 4,000 claims to 407,500.
The agency said that the labor dispute that saw 45,000 members of the Communiciations Workers of America go on strike against Verizon produced at least 12,500 initial claims for unemployment insurance in the week ending Aug. 13 and at least 8,500 the following week.
Mike Armstrong blogs about Philadelphia corporations and business-related topics. Contact him at 215-854-2980.
Reach Mike at marmstrong@phillynews.com.
