SATURDAY MAGAZINE

  The
  Saturday
  Magazine
  
  12 NOVEMBER 2012
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MIDTOWN GROCERY STORE SHAKE-UP
SUPERVALU CLOSES FOR RENOVATIONS ON MADISON, WILL OPEN NEW LOCATION IN LUDLOW; PARENT COMPANY ALSO OWNS SAV-A-LOT ACROSS STREET

Signs read Closed For Remodeling
at Covington SuperValu

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Only one large grocer remains in Covington's midtown, the Kroger on Madison. According to a sign posted on its door, SuperValu has closed for renovations. It is also constructing a similarly-sized location in Ludlow (The Ludlow Community Connection reports that that location will open in January). The gas station and tobacco outlet at Covington's SuperValu remain open. The large national chain lost $1.5 billion last year according to the company's annual report. SuperValu also owns the Sav-A-Lot chain of discount grocers which has a location on Madison as well.

Sign at bottom says tobacco outlet and gas
station are still open

Construction of grocery store in Ludlow

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DUKE ENERGY PAYMENT CENTER NOW
       AT FASHION STORE         

Image via

Covington's only Duke Energy payment center was inside the SuperValu store that is now closed for remodeling. According to Duke's 
website, the new location is A&E's Fashion & Beauty Supplies at 812 Madison Avenue (the company's Facebook page says that 
it sells clothes, hair, and cigarettes). This marks the fifth different payment center since 2005 for Duke's customers in Covington. The old center was on 4th Street but was torn down where the newer 5/3 Bank branch now stands. When that one closed,
Duke customers had to go to the Newport Shopping Center and when that one closed, Covingtonians had to cross the Clay Wade Bailey Bridge and pay in Queensgate. When that one closed, we were back to paying in Covington at the SuperValu, which is now closed (at least temporarily). Of course, if you pay your bill by mail, this is irrelevant. 
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BUSINESS COURIER: 
MADISON PLACE FACES FORECLOSURE, 
CORPOREX COUNTERSUES; OMNICARE FACES CLASS-ACTION LAWSUIT
The stories are only available to Business Courier subscribers or to customers who pick up the print edition, unless you sing up for a FREE subscription that is good until tomorrow (find that option at the links).
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BUTLER BLAMES BANK FOR NIELSEN'S DEPARTURE
Covington's Madison Place, a 290,000 square foot office tower with multiplie million-dollar penthouses on top, faces foreclosure along with two other Corporex properties in Erlanger and Tampa. Corporex Chairman Bill Butler blames Bank of America for the loss of The Nielsen Company which will reportedly move from Madison Place to Cincinnati's Chiquita Building early next year:

He believes Corporex could have kept the market research firm and its roughly 500 employees if Bank of America would have worked with the company on refinancing.“We needed the cooperation of the bank to meet the terms and conditions of Nielsen to stay and the bank wouldn’t cooperate,” Butler said.Corporex wanted to start conversations with Bank of America about the Madison Place loan in August 2009, according to the counterclaim. However, the bank said Corporex and its affiliates should put off discussions because of the recession’s impact on real estate valuations, according to Corporex’s counterclaim.

Butler and Corporex are countersuing Bank of America for damage to the company, arguing that BOA always intended to sell the loans:

In mid 2010, Corporex and its entities started negotiating with Bank of America on all three loans, since the maturity dates on all three were coming up, according to the counterclaim.Corporex had sought out other lenders to refinance its loans, in particular the Olympic II building in Erlanger. The lender Corporex was working with offered a loan with a 7 percent interest rate, which Butler said was expensive.“They (Bank of America) told us, ‘We can do better,’” he said. So Corporex continued to try to come to terms with the bank, he claims.During the time Corporex was negotiating with Bank of America, it discovered the bank planned to sell its loans as part of a roughly $880 million portfolio of commercial mortgages at a discount of 20 percent to 25 percent, according to a September Wall Street Journal article. Three of the loans, totaling $47 million, were Corporex’s, Butler said. 

You MUST read the entire article here: Business Courier

Madison Place

OMNICARE FACES CLASS-ACTION LAWSUIT

In other bad news involving companies about to bolt from RiverCenter, Omnicare (which will move to Cincinnati in December) faces a class-action lawsuit:

The plaintiffs are two institutional investors – the Florida-based Jacksonville Police and Fire Pension Fund and the Texas-based City of Austin Police Retirement System – and, in a separate suit, an individual, Paul Ansfield. They claim that they and “others similarly situated” lost money by investing in Covington-based Omnicare from Jan. 10, 2007, to Aug. 5, 2010.“While the company was trying to publicly distance itself from the pervasive fraudulent conduct that afflicted it, Omnicare continued to engage in similar machinations during the class period that had repercussions on the company’s financial results – misleading investors about the company’s income,” the plaintiffs allege.The plaintiffs didn’t specify how much they’re seeking in compensation. The institutional investors claim to have lost, collectively, $343,000.

You MUST read the entire article here: Business Courier
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MAJOR PROPS TO THE CINCINNATI BUSINESS COURIER FOR ITS DAILY DOSE OF BREAKING NEWS, AND PARTICULARLY ITS AHEAD-OF-THE-CROWD INFORMATION INVOLVING COVINGTON'S LARGE COMPANIES THAT WILL BE MOVING OUT OF THE CITY. GOOD JOURNALISM LIVES AT THE BUSINESS COURIER.
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DID LEXUS RIVERCENTER HIRE THE CREEPY VOICE GUYS FROM NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TO DO THEIR ONLINE VIDEO COMMERCIALS?
It sure sounds like it:

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It sure does sound an awful lot like this guy (voice starts at :20):

Nice work if you can get! (Nice cars too!)
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ANOTHER RESTAURANT FROM COVINGTON OPENS   
        LOCATION IN HYDE PARK
Following the lead of Cock & Bull, Keystone Bar & Grill opened a new location in Hyde Park. Check out the photos here: Keystone Hyde Park @ Facebook
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The Baker Hunt Art & Cultural Center Winter Light Series is tonight at 7:00PM, featuring singer-songwriter Tim Lake. Tickets are $7. Details? Click here.
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SPORTS:
Holy Cross scores its third straight football shutout, 45-0 over Owen County, moves on to play defending state champ Newport Central Catholic in next round of playoffs.
Kentucky basketball season started last night with a 50-point win for the Wildcats over Marist, 108-58.
NKU's defending national champion men's soccer team advanced to the next round of the playoffs.
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HUMOR:
cincinnati's the banks to have NKY theme
This article has been online for a while, but it's still worth a chuckle. Derf Magazine is sort of a local "Onion". Check it out here: Derf Magazine.
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colbert laments the loss of kentucky-based dippin' dots
Watch the hilarious video here: Huffington Post
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                  SEE YOU TOMORROW FOR THE SUNDAY EDITION!