Month: May 2016

How Amazon keeps 90,000 employees from unionizing; GE CEO lists $5.5M home for sale

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GE CEO Immelt’s $5.5 million Connecticut house.

A news summary focused on big employers; updated 4:26 p.m.

AMAZON has successfully blocked unions from organizing its 90,000 workers at giant warehouses, including in Shepherdsville and Jeffersonville, where it has a combined 6,000 employees; here’s how (New York Times). Also, the company is reportedly rolling out new lines of private-label house brands that will only be available to members of its $99-a-year Prime program; they could hit retailer’s site by the end of this month or early in June (Wall Street Journal).

KINDRED‘s business mix has changed significantly since last year’s $1.8 billion purchase of Gentiva Health Services. Now the Kindred At Home division, it was 32% of overall revenue during the 12 months ended in March, the company told analysts at the Bank of America Merrill Lynch health care conference  (Business First); .pdf of Kindred’s presentation. Kindred’s shares closed today at $12.14, little changed.

GE CEO Jeffrey Immelt has listed his 10,458 square-foot home for sale in exclusive New Canaan, Conn., for $5.5 million (Boulevard thinks that’s a steal!) (Realtor). Meanwhile, Immelt’s reportedly bought a triplex near the top-drawer Boston Public Garden that was listed for $8 million; GE’s moving its headquarters to Boston (Boston Business First).

KFC: In Ohio, a man who ordered a sandwich without pickles Saturday reportedly returned to the restaurant angry about having pickles on his order anyway, and ended up throwing a phone into a wall (Mansfield News Journal). Also, the chain has leased 300 environmentally friendly electric scooters (The Star).

PAPA JOHN’S: Still in Ohio, a 44-year-old man was issued a summons for disorderly conduct after he yelled and cursed at employees during an argument about the number of toppings on his pizza (Mansfield News Journal, too). As if living in glamorous Miami Beach wasn’t enough, a landlord is advertising an apartment with an extra amenity: a Papa John’s is right next door (Craigslist).

FORD: With the month of June about two weeks away, it looks like the end of the road has come for the 2016 Ford Bronco rumors (Master Herald).

TEXAS ROADHOUSE is planning a new restaurant in Plymouth, Mass (Plymouth).

In other news,  U.S. stocks were soaring at mid-afternoon, with the S&P 500 index up 1% at 2,069, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average 1.2% higher at 17,737 (Google Finance). Nearly all stocks in Boulevard’s portfolio of big local employers were higher as well.

Ocean's 13Finally, Louisville native and Oscar winner Jennifer Lawrence may star opposite Sandra Bullock in an all-female remake of the “Ocean’s 11” franchise; the last sequel was “Ocean’s 13.” (Tracking Board).

Crazy-crooked houses, picturesque canals — it’s Louisville to Amsterdam for a $51,000 week-long visit

An occasional look at premium travel from Louisville.

Boulevard loves Amsterdam: whimsical, cockeyed houses lining romantic canals; the recently reopened Rijksmuseum of Dutch Masters after an extensive renovation, and friendly, liberal-minded residents. And that’s not to mention all those coffee shops selling fine marijuana. Indeed, there’s even more to savor in a recent New York Times story about the city: Amsterdam, Revisited. (And don’t miss its fresh update on “36 Hours in” Holland’s capital.

Consider this itinerary:

When: Oct. 12-19. Airline: Delta. Route: Louisville to Detroit to Amsterdam, 10 hours and 17 minutes travel time, including a one-hour layover in Detroit. How much: $7,479, economy to Minneapolis and business class to Amsterdam. Delta reservations.

Related: TripAdvisor recommends the five-star Waldorf Astoria Amsterdam. The Brentano Suite is available during these travel dates for $4,721 per night; that’s the lovely sitting area, belowReservations. And of course, don’t forget Airbnb Amsterdam apartments.

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The bottom line

For two travelers: airfare, hotel, plus $400 a day for meals, museum tickets and other incidentals: $51,000.

Trump renews Amazon attack, 93-year-old KFC retiree hits rare milestone; and UPS plans big new Austin facility

A news summary focused on big employers; updated 2:02 p.m.

Donald Trump
Trump

AMAZON: White House GOP candidate Donald Trump attacked Jeff Bezos again, claiming the Amazon CEO bought The Washington Post to promote a political agenda that would help the company on taxes (CNN). Also, a former software director who led the company’s new FireTV initiative was charged with promoting prostitution in the Seattle area (KIRO).

KFC: A retired 29-year employee in Ontario has reached an American Legion milestone that few reach in any organization: he’s been a member for 60 years. William Young, 93, worked at a KFC franchise, rising to manager before retiring. And he met founder Col. Harland Sanders (Argus Observer).

UPS plans a new $70 million, 300-employee distribution center in Austin with room for 300 vehicles; it’s to open at the end of 2018 (Austin Statesman). Asked and answered: How important is e-commerce to the shipper’s sales (Motley Fool).

In other news, The Courier-Journal has joined 199 other investors in buying a two-year-old colt, which the nascent Churchill Downs Racing Club hopes to run during the current spring meet. The horse is being trained by Hall of Famer D. Wayne Lukas (Courier-Journal).

As NRA readies big annual meeting here, equally big Ky. political donations emerge

Some 70,000 National Rifle Association members are holding their annual meeting in Louisville this week, a four-day gathering that will include speeches on Friday by White House hopeful Donald Trump, plus Gov. Matt Bevin, Sen. Rand Paul, and others.

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McConnell

The group gave $810,462 to federal candidates for the 2014 election, including a total $22,900 to six Kentucky Republicans, according to the non-partisan Center for Responsive Politics:

  • Sen. Mitch McConnell: $9,900
  • Rep. Hal Rogers: $5,000
  • Rep. Brett Guthrie: $2,500
  • Rep. Ed Whitfield: $2,500
  • Rep. Andy  Barr: $2,000
  • Rep. Thomas Massie: $1,000

Overall, the NRA’s Political Victory Fund has given $197,609 to Kentucky congressional candidates since 1998, according to this new Courier-Journal story.

Unexpectedly, the Responsive Politics center’s data, from the Federal Election Commission, doesn’t show any NRA money for Sen. Paul. And I don’t find any going to Bevin, according to the National Institute on Money in State Politics’ data for the governor; it tracks campaign money at the state level.

The NRA meeting and trade show will be held at the Kentucky Exposition Center; more key information in today’s CJ, which also reports on the group’s history and rise to one of the nation’s most powerful organizations.

Related: etiquette advice for party hostesses who don’t want gun-totin’ guests.

Sisters are neighbors — and sworn enemies, too — in $280M Schneider family fight

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The Galt House hotel is the jewel in the Schneider real estate crown.

The just-resolved legal battle over the late Al Schneider‘s real estate empire “prompted a war of words” between four sisters — three of whom live in adjacent houses on the same block off Newburg Road; the fourth lives less than a mile away, The Courier-Journal reports today.

Al Schneider
Schneider

It dragged on through four courts and required 10 lawyers, “one of those unfortunate family disputes that you hate to see,” said Rebecca Jennings, an attorney for sisters Mary Moseley and Dawn Hitron.

Moseley, 66, CEO of the Al J. Schneider Co., and Hitron, 62, a homemaker, agreed in court yesterday to drop a plan to sell the Galt House hotel and other high-profile assets worth more than $280 million before a May 31 deadline. Now, all 24 of Schneider’s heirs will decide what’s next, the newspaper says.

The other two opposing sisters were Christy Coe, 64, a nurse practitioner, and Nancy O’Hearn, 70, who owns an event planning company. Ironically, the CJ says, Coe’s husband Randy for many years tried to keep other family-owned businesses out of trouble as director of University of Louisville’s Family Business Center.

Schneider, the patriarch, died in 2001 at 86.