Tag: Ford

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Yum close to finishing big corporate campus expansion in Plano; and Ford’s China vehicle sales jump 6% year-to-date

A news summary, focused on 10 big employers; updated 5:30 p.m.

spcorporateimg
Entrance to Plano corporate offices, in photo from employment site Glassdoor.

YUM‘s expansion of its Pizza Hut and KFC international corporate campus in Plano, Texas, will boost total space by 60% to 300,000 square feet, with the addition of two three-story buildings. The pizza and fried chicken chains are opening about 1,000 new locations a year, requiring more space for employees.

One of the two new buildings will house a life-sized mock up of a Pizza Hut restaurant for testing everything from diner traffic flow to consumer reaction to artwork. There will also be a new conference room for all the campus’ 450 employees, twice the capacity of the existing conference space.

Greg Creed
Creed

Yum CEO Greg Creed and four other top corporate executives are getting new offices above the conference center, too. The five executives now divide their time between Plano, which is 20 miles north of Dallas, and  Louisville, a move in February that raised questions about Yum’s commitment to Louisville. Yum said it was more practical for the top brass to work closer to the company’s two biggest and fast-growing divisions. The corporate campus expansion was disclosed at the time (Dallas Morning News).

The Pizza Hut Division has about 14,000 restaurants in 90 countries and territories outside China. KFC has about 15,000 in 120 countries and territories, also excluding China.

The China Division, based in Shanghai, has about 7,200 restaurants, mostly Pizza Huts and KFCs. Under pressure from an activist investor, Yum is in the process of spinning off the China Division, a process it expects to complete by the end of October.

Pizza Hut and Yum’s international business have been based in Plano since Yum was spun off from PepsiCo in 1997. KFC’s U.S. division remains in Louisville, where the company employs 1,000 workers. Yum’s third division, Taco Bell, is based in southern California’s Irvine. More about Yum in Louisville.

FORD said it sold 577,097 vehicles in China during the year’s first half, a 6% increase from a year ago. Demand for Ford and Lincoln SUVs sales was strong, with combined sales of the Ford EcoSport, Kuga, Edge, Everest and Explorer and Lincoln MKC, MKX and Navigator surpassing 150,000 vehicles, 27% more than a year ago (press release). Ford’s stock closed this afternoon at $12.75, up 1.4% to $12.74.

Last week, Ford said total U.S. sales grew 5% during the year’s first six months, its best first-half performance since 2006. The automaker employs nearly 10,000 workers at truck and auto factories in Louisville.

AMAZON‘s first Prime Day 24-hour sale last year didn’t go off without a hitch. “The company hyped price-breaks on everything from beard growth rubs to nail clippers for large animals, as well as the much-mocked 55-gallon bottle of lube for over $1,000,” says Time magazine. “The overwhelming verdict for the vast majority of Prime Day deals last year was: they kinda sucked.” What to do different for this year’s Prime Day, next Tuesday? Time offers five suggestions (Time). Also, Amazon plans to hire another 1,000 employees in the U.K. at its London head office, research and development centres in Cambridge and Edinburgh and new warehouses in Manchester and Leicestershire — all on top of 2,500 jobs it announced earlier this year (The Telegraph).

In other news, Courier-Journal parent Gannett Co. said it would report second-quarter financial results July 27, followed by a 10 a.m. ET conference call with Wall Street analysts (press release).

Latest Headlines

Amazon sweetens Prime Day with extra-speedy delivery; no criminal charges in Edsel Ford II’s domestic violence arrest; and KFC India says ‘friendship utni kamal ki hoti hai!’

A news summary, focused on 10 big employers; updated 10:01 a.m.

AMAZON customers in more than 25 U.S. metro areas will be able to get near-immediate delivery of more than 500 items during the e-commerce giant’s second annual Prime Day, a 24-hour extravaganza of extra savings over the retailer’s usual discounts set for July 12. Louisville isn’t one of the eligible cities; the closest is Cincinnati. 😦 Amazon also announced yesterday that first-time Prime Now customers will get $10 off their order when they use the 10PRIMENOW promotional code on orders placed between today and July 12. They will also receive another code later for another $10 off Prime Orders placed later in the month (Cnet and press release).

Prime Day is a big deal in Louisville. The retailer employs 6,000 workers in the Louisville area at mammoth distribution centers in Jeffersonville, and in Bullitt County’s Shepherdsville. Plus, one of Amazon’s biggest shippers is UPS; with 22,000 workers at its Louisville International Airport hub, it’s the city’s single-biggest private employer.

FORD family scion and director Edsel Ford II won’t face criminal charges after being arrested for suspected misdemeanor domestic violence involving his wife Monday night at their Grosse Point Farms home, according to several news media reports this morning. 

Edsel Ford II
Edsel Ford

Ford, 67, great-grandson of founder Henry Ford, spent the night in jail after his arrest, but was released yesterday after the city prosecutor’s decision to not bring charges, according to the Detroit Free Press. He was arrested at about 11:30 p.m. Monday after police were called to the suburban Detroit home he shares with wife Cynthia Ford; alcohol was involved.

Late last night, Cynthia Ford issued a statement denying the incident amounted to domestic violence. “I stand behind true victims of domestic violence and I am not one of them,” she said, the Free Press said in a separate story. “My husband and I ask that you respect our privacy and that of our family. We are working in the right direction to heal from this experience and move forward.”

Continue reading “Amazon sweetens Prime Day with extra-speedy delivery; no criminal charges in Edsel Ford II’s domestic violence arrest; and KFC India says ‘friendship utni kamal ki hoti hai!’” →

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Ford U.S. year-to-date sales jump 5%, best in a decade

Good news out today for the automaker’s Louisville factories, which employ nearly 10,000 workers.

Ford said total U.S. sales grew 5% during the year’s first six months, with 1,353,048 vehicles sold — its best first-half performance since 2006. June sales were up 6%, with 240,109 vehicles sold, the automaker said in a press release this morning.

Ford logoTruck sales were the standout. The company sold 531,500 pickups and vans, a 13% gain vs. a year ago. Truck sales were up 24% last month, driven by strong F-Series sales of 70,937 vehicles: a 29% increase from a year ago, and their best June sales in more than a decade.

Ford’s stock, battered over the past week in the Brexit-fallout, rose 1.6% in mid-afternoon trading to $12.76 a share, on a day when U.S. stocks overall were marginally higher. Even so, Ford is down 4.7% from pre-Brexit levels.

The Kentucky Truck Factory employs about 5,100 workers, producing F-250 and F-550 Super Duty pickups, plus Expeditions, and Lincoln Navigators. The Auto Assembly Factory employs 4,700 producing  Escapes and Lincoln MKCs. More about Ford’s Louisville operations.

Latest Headlines

July 12! Amazon sets second 24-hour Prime Day; two Conn. groups push against Humana-Aetna; and the Internet gorges on story about ‘world’s angriest’ Taco Bell customer

A news summary, focused on 10 big employers; updated 10:04 a.m.

AMAZON said this year’s 24-hour Prime Day sale would include more than 100,000 specially discounted items. U.S. members can shop starting at 3 a.m. ET/midnight PT, with new deals as often as every five minutes (press release). Last year, in addition to a 266% increase in orders vs. the same day in 2014, Prime Day also spurred more people than ever to try the $99-a-year Prime service. It also drove more sales than any of the retailer’s previous events — even beating Amazon’s 2014 Black Friday (The Verge). Apparently responding to complaints last year that some items sold out too quickly, Amazon said this year it would “dramatically” boost inventory and make it easier to search for deals by sorting through categories (Cnet).

Amazon employs 6,000 workers in the Louisville area at mammoth distribution centers in Jeffersonville, and in Bullitt County’s Shepherdsville. Plus, another big Prime Day is good news for the retailer’s shipper, UPS; with 22,000 workers at its Louisville International Airport hub, it’s the city’s single-biggest private employer.

HUMANA: Two Connecticut activist groups and the state’s medical society have criticized regulatory reviews of the proposed $37 billion Humana-Aetna merger in a letter this week to the U.S. Justice Department; they’re asking the trust-busters “to protect people from the harm these mergers will cause.” Aetna is based in Hartford. The groups, which also criticized a similar planned merger between Anthem and Connecticut-based Cigna, were joined by 40 other state doctors’ associations and health-care charities nationwide (Hartford Courant). Humana employs 12,500 workers at its downtown Louisville headquarters and other sites across the city.

UPS and the 2,500-member Independent Pilots Association  today announced a tentative agreement on a new five-year labor contract, including improvements across all sections. Specific details of the agreement will not be disclosed before the IPA presents the proposed contract to all UPS pilots (press release).

Also, a looming pilot shortage will soar to 15,000 by 2026, according to a study by the University of North Dakota’s Aviation Department, as more captains reach mandatory retirement age of 65, and fewer young people choose aviation as a profession. “And that’s in an industry,” says the Dallas Morning News, “where captains on the biggest international jets average more than $200,000 a year — with some pushing $300,000” (Morning News).

FORD‘s decision to bypass an employee for a position based on his use of opioids was not enough to prove his disability discrimination claim, the U.S. Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals has found (National Law Review). The automaker employs nearly 10,000 workers at its auto and truck factories in Louisville.

PIZZA HUT: In New Orleans, police arrested a man and woman early yesterday who allegedly carjacked a Pizza Hunt deliverer’s car at gunpoint Tuesday night, then led cops on a car chase before they were apprehended. The driver told officers he was making a delivery about 11:30 p.m. when a woman who said she placed the order — Simonne Walker, 19 — approached him. But instead of paying him, the woman’s companion — Kenneth Rainer, 20 — walked up, put a gun to the driver’s back, and demanded cash and his car keys. Walker and Rainer then got into the car and sped off, the cops say (Times-Picayune).

ChambordBROWN-FORMAN is promoting its Chambord black raspberry liqueur through a “Just Add Chambord” Royale cocktails campaign starting tomorrow. The campaign targeting hotel bars and lounges runs through Sept. 30. The Louisville spirits giant will supply participating establishments with Chambord-branded flute glasses, recipe and tent cards. Nidal Ramini, marketing chief for Bacardi Brown-Forman brands said (in a very odd quote): “We are confident the new platform will inspire the on-trade in particular, to transform and elevate serves, whilst helping them understand how Chambord can be the perfect way to elevate a simple glass of bubbles, and ultimately increase profit” (Harpers). Here’s the Royale recipe.

PAPA JOHN’S fired an employee at Continue reading “July 12! Amazon sets second 24-hour Prime Day; two Conn. groups push against Humana-Aetna; and the Internet gorges on story about ‘world’s angriest’ Taco Bell customer” →

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Bevin appoints Brown-Forman, Glenview Trust, other big-money heavy-hitters to new UofL board; Schnatter and Frazier raise profiles

A news summary, focused on 10 big employers; updated 10:42 p.m.

Matt Bevin
Bevin

Tightening his grip on the University of Louisville, Gov. Matt Bevin today added 10 more members to his reconfigured board of trustees, appointing a slew of business heavy hitters, including at least one with long family ties to the board.

Among them: Papa John’s founder and CEO John Schnatter; Glenview Trust Co. founder and chairman David Grissom, who’s also a retired Humana executive; and Brown-Forman heiress Sandra Frazier.

Schnatter is a major UofL booster, donating millions for naming rights to Papa John’s Cardinal Stadium. He and conservative industrialist Charles Koch donated $6.3 million to the school in March 2015 to establish an on-campus center to study the virtues of free enterprise; responding to criticism, the university said the money wouldn’t curtail academic freedom.

Sandra Frazier
Frazier

Frazier, who is now cycling off the Brown-Forman board of directors, also is a director of Glenview Trust, a boutique investment firm that serves more than 500 of the area’s wealthiest families. Her late father, Harry Frazier, is a former UofL vice chairman, and her uncle, the late Owsley Brown Frazier, was once chairman.

Two other Bevin appointees are private equity and venture capitalists, according to The Courier-Journal: Dale Boden, now a partner with Weller Equity; and Douglas Cobb, who co-founded Chrysalis Ventures with David A. Jones Jr., a Humana director. Jones’ father, David Sr., co-founded Humana and is also a Glenview Trust director. The 10-member Glenview board comprises some of Louisville’s  biggest power brokers.

Here’s Bevin’s order, with the full list of appointees and their terms.

Bevin’s announcement today follows his surprise June 17 dismissal of the previous 20-seat board, which he called “dysfunctional” in its oversight of the university and President James Ramsey. He replaced them with an interim three-member board, which he filled out with today’s appointments. The school has been roiled with controversy over Ramsey’s seven-figure compensation; a sex scandal involving the marquee men’s basketball program, plus other administrative missteps. Ramsey offered to resign when Bevin dissolved the board, but a final decision on his future was deferred to the next board.

In other news: Continue reading “Bevin appoints Brown-Forman, Glenview Trust, other big-money heavy-hitters to new UofL board; Schnatter and Frazier raise profiles” →

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Louisville companies snap two-day losing streak, as Dow Jones soars 269 points; and Yum China bidders reportedly bust deadline, balk at $10B valuation

A news summary, focused on 10 big employers; updated 4:16 p.m.

Those 10 companies tracked by Boulevard joined U.S. stocks clawing their way back from two consecutive days of steep losses, following Britain’s stunning vote last week to quit the European Union. The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed moments ago at 17,410 — up 1.6%; the broader S&P 500 index jumped 1.8% to 2,036 points, and the Nasdaq climbed 2.1% to 4692.

June 28 Guardian
Today’s Guardian.

“This is going to take a long time to play out and I think the initial shock is being a little reversed right now,” Doug Cote, chief market strategist at Voya Investment Management told CNBC. “This is not 2008. It’s more like 2011.” (Read the latest Brexit developments in Britain’s Guardian.)

In Louisville, virtually all of Boulevard’s top 10 rose by the time markets closed at 4 p.m. They included Kindred, which got pounded yesterday, falling 7%. The closing prices:

Those gains came even as Ford said it expects the double-whammy of any softer post-Brexit industry and a weaker British sterling “would have an adverse impact on our operations in the long term,” a Ford spokesman told financial news site The Street. Ford also said it would issue revised 2016 guidance during its second-quarter earnings call July 28 (The Street). Ford shares have now tumbled nearly 8% since Britain’s surprise vote to leave the European Union — nearly twice as much as the broader S&P 500 index.

In its most recent annual report, in February, Ford warned about the impact of a possible Brexit, saying it “could cause financial and capital markets within and outside Europe to constrict, thereby negatively impacting our ability to finance our business, and also could cause a substantial dip in consumer confidence and spending that could negatively impact sales of vehicles.”

Last year, the U.K. was Ford’s single-biggest market after the U.S., accounting for 8% of the automaker’s $149.6 billion in sales:

Ford sales graphic

Ford employs nearly 10,000 workers at an auto assembly and a truck factory in Louisville.

In non-Brexit business news: At YUM, potential bidders for the fast-food giant’s mammoth China division  Continue reading “Louisville companies snap two-day losing streak, as Dow Jones soars 269 points; and Yum China bidders reportedly bust deadline, balk at $10B valuation” →