Tuesday, February 12, 2013
Valentine’s Day is shaping up to be a money maker for florists if what I discovered at a couple of Burbank florists is any indicator. When I dropped by Samuel’s Florist on West Olive Avenue last Saturday, owner/floral designer, Donna Smith, was busy creating Valentine’s Day arrangements with shop floral designer, Karla Comayagua. Smith is surprised at how many customers […]
Friday, January 4, 2013
The Tribune company, the owner of the Los Angeles Times and the Burbank Leader, emerged from a lengthy and expensive bankruptcy on December 31, 2012 — and now there is even more talk about selling assets — especially the newspapers.The Tribune has new owners and a new board of directors. The Tribune has in its financial portfolio eight major […]
Sunday, December 16, 2012
Sam’s piano in the movie classic “Casablanca” sold for $602, 500 last Friday according to Reuters. The 58-key upright hit the auction block for between $800, 000 and $1.2 million. The selling price fell short of Sotheby’s estimate, but still a huge gain over the previous purchase, which was $154, 000 back in 1988. The reason: this piano has been […]
Wednesday, December 12, 2012
The Los Angeles Times and its Times Community Newspapers, which include The Burbank Leader, are facing an uncertain future as 2012 wraps up. There’s a report out that the owners of the newspapers’ parent company, the Tribune Company, are quietly seeking advice from bankers about launching a fire sale after December 31, when the company is expected to emerge from […]
Friday, December 7, 2012
Oscar maker to axe a lot of workers It’s not going to be a ho, ho, jolly holiday season for some employees of the company that makes Oscar. The Wrap is reporting today that R.S. Owens, a Chicago-based company, will be laying off almost 100 workers by December 17. That’s more than a third of the staff. R.S. Owens is […]
Tuesday, December 4, 2012
Netflix, the popular online movie service, has scored a huge deal with the Walt Disney Company. In a news release today, Disney announced a “… new multi-year licensing agreement that will make Netflix the exclusive U.S. subscription television service for first-run live-action and animated feature films from The Walt Disney Studios.” The deal begins with 2013 direct-to-video releases and 2016 big […]
Thursday, November 15, 2012
While the debate continues over the future and price tag for the present IKEA Burbank site, the Swedish home furnishing retailer is moving forward with plans to build another store in B-town. Today IKEA issued a statement announcing it is submitting plans to the City of Burbank for a new store because it has outgrown “the current location.” Meanwhile, the […]
Tuesday, November 13, 2012
NBC Universal is showing signs of rising from the ratings cellar, but that has not stopped the cutbacks and layoffs by parent company, Comcast. (Disclosure: I am a former NBC employee). The Internet is buzzing with the latest reports of 500 employees getting the axe throughout the entertainment, news, and cable units. The first story I saw about this was […]
Sunday, November 11, 2012
After flirting with the $5 a gallon milestone , self-serve regular is back to being under $4 a gallon at some pump stations in Burbank. Yesterday, I gassed-up at the Shell station at Buena Vista Street and Magnolia Boulevard for $3.89 a gallon for self-serve regular. Back in early October, the price soared to 4.60 a gallon and above for […]