Mickey Meece‘s appointment is effective Aug. 15, the online news site launched in 2010 said this afternoon. A Louisville native, Meece worked at the Times for 13 years on the business and features desks, including assistant to the editor, small business editor, weekend editor and staff editor.
Meece
Insider didn’t say whether Meece’s position is new, or whether she’s replacing someone.
The site’s executive editor and vice president of content, Sarah Kelley said: “Mickey brings with her a wealth of journalism experience, and she will be an asset to IL as our news operation continues to gain momentum.”
As to her specific responsibilities, IL says only that Meece “hopes to start a lot of conversations with Louisville residents to find out what they want to see covered on a daily basis.”
Every business wants to see their name pop up in Google’s search results, so we here in Boulevard’s Marketing Department were delighted to spot this yesterday:
KINDRED said second-quarter results came in at the high end of Wall Street’s expectations. Revenues were $1.8 billion and earnings were 23 cents per share (press release). Yahoo Finance has the forecast. The report was issued after stock markets closed; in extended trading, Kindred’s shares were unchanged at $11.17. The Louisville-based hospital and nursing giant also declared a regular quarterly dividend of 12 cents a share (press release). Kindred employs 2,200 workers in Louisville and 102,000 nationwide. More about the company.
YUM‘s dominance of China’s fast-food market is starting to slip as consumers shift to healthier options and Chinese-style food chains, from huoguo (hot pot) to tangbao (steamed dumplings). That might explain some of the middling interest in Yum’s China Division spinoff. “There would definitely have been more buyer interest five years ago, but at that time they were doing so well that they couldn’t bear to sell,” said management professor Li Weihua of China University of Political Science and Law. “With the bloom off the rose, if they don’t sell now, it would be worth even less five years later” (Bloomberg).
PAPA JOHN’S has renewed its multiyear sponsorship contract with the NFL, a deal in place since 2010. As the official pizza sponsor of the league, the chain said today it will continue using NFL logos and trademarks in advertising and marketing campaigns across marquee league events, such as the Super Bowl, Pro Bowl and NFL Kickoff (press release).
In related news, Papa John’s won’t be replacing Peyton Manning in its TV commercials, even though the Denver Broncos quarterback has retired. “Peyton Manning is the Michael Jordan of football. Period. End of conversation,” CEO John Schnatter told Wall Street analysts during a teleconference yesterday on the chain’s better-than-forecast second-quarter financial results. He’ll play a different role, however, said COO Steve Ritchie. “I think you’ll see some very fun and interactive ways that the marketing team . . . has utilized Peyton in the spots” (Seeking Alpha). Here’s one with Manning, Schnatter and the Houston Texans’ J.J. Watt, and long-retired Hall of Famer Joe Montana.
PAPA JOHN’S: A federal judge sided with restaurant chain Panera Bread and issued a temporary restraining order barring a former IT executive from working at Papa John’s. U.S. District Judge John A. Ross said Panera would likely win its lawsuit, filed last month, accusing former vice president Michael Nettles of violating his noncompete agreement and misappropriating trade secrets by taking a job as the chief information officer at the Louisville pizza chain (Law 360).
Also today, Papa John’s shares closed at $77.38, up 4.6%, or $3.37, after the chain reported second-quarter results beating Wall Street forecasts after markets closed yesterday afternoon. Earlier today, the stock hit a new record intraday high of $78.09 before easing back. The company has also filed its quarterly 10-Q report with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
HUMANA: Racing to save its $37 billion merger with Humana, Hartford-based Aetna has urged a judge to hear its case in the fall — and before considering a second merger of two other insurance companies that Justice Department antitrust enforcers are trying to stop (Reuters).
Earlier today, Humana reported second-quarter results that beat forecasts on both the top and bottom lines. Revenue was $14 billion vs. $13.7 billion a year ago, and adjusted earnings per share were $2.30 vs. $1.77. Analysts were expecting $13.6 billion in revenue and $2.21 EPS. The Louisville-based health insurer also reaffirmed its full-year 2016 financial guidance increase on July 21 to earn $9.25 a share vs. the previous $8.85 EPS. Humana’s stock closed at $173.48, up $3.91, or 2.3%.
Broussard
“Our second quarter and year-to-date results show the improvement in the effectiveness of our clinical programs and increasing clinical engagement by our members,” CEO Bruce Broussard said in the earnings release. “The improved health outcomes from these programs is not only lowering healthcare costs, but allowing more affordable options for our Medicare members.”
The insurer said it wouldn’t hold a customary conference call with analysts to discuss the report because of the pending merger with Aetna, and doesn’t expect to hold any in the quarters ahead, either (press release and MarketWatch).
Finally today, Humana filed its second-quarter report with the Securities and Exchange Commission — the full 10-Q (SEC document). Humana has 12,500 employees in Louisville and about 50,000 nationwide; more about the company.
TACO BELL follows a three-step process to decide whether to enter a foreign market for the first time, according to Pizza Marketplace:
Move a team to the city under consideration to learn what everyday life is like in the target city, including how people get to work and what they do for fun.
Get to know the locals through focus groups to see how outsiders can become part of the community.
Cook and prepare food to understand what flavors work — and don’t work. In Tokyo, for example, prospective customers wouldn’t order nachos and cheese because they didn’t they want to get messy. Solution? Nachos became seasoned chips with dipping sauces.
In other news, franchiser Wag n’ Wash of Denver expects its first Kentucky pet food and grooming store to open soon in Louisville with an in-house bakery menu that includes pumpkin ravioli, sushi, pies and cakes using human-grade ingredients (Courier-Journal). This will be Wag n’ Wash’s 15th store since opening in 1999.
The former publisher of The Voice-Tribune — Tracy Beale, formerly Tracy Blue — is launching online magazine TAB’s View next month with a staff of six, including herself. She left the Voice-Tribune last winter amid her high-profile divorce from the weekly’s then-owner, Blue Equity CEO Jonathan Blue. Blue Equity recently sold the Voice-Tribune and other publications to the owner of LEO (Insider Louisville).
In a letter to readers yesterday, she promises the new owners will hew to the 70-year-old Voice-Tribune’s tried-and-true strategy of party photos, party photos, and more party photos. Plus, Abeln vows to continue employing “the same captivating columnists.”
This is huge for Boulevard’s society news department because we really, truly love that boldest of boldface names: Partyline columnist Carla Sue Broecker, who after two decades on the soirée beat surely knows where all the bodies are buried in Anchorage, Glenview and Prospect.
Abeln, it turns out, has had her nose pressed against the VT’s leaded-glass windows a long time. “I have always looked to The Voice-Tribune as the standard of excellence to which I hoped to live up [to],” she says.
Broecker
Confidential to Tonya: Please arrange for a more suitable photo of Carla Sue tout de suite; the one online, at least, is starting to look like an early Jackson Pollock.
The Boulevard 400™
We took a page from Caroline Webster Schermerhorn Astor‘s social diary to create our own roster of Louisville movers, shakers, and money-makers. Everyone gets a score: the number of times their name appears in boldface here on Boulevard. Our “400” list already includes Carla Sue, Tonya, and 167 others. Are you on it?
1936: Brown-Forman advertising car, possibly in front of the company’s distillery on Dixie Highway south of downtown. The promotion included the company’s founding bourbon, Old Forester; plus two brands no longer produced: Bottoms Up Whisky, and Old Polk, according to the University of Louisville Photographic Archives.
Yesterday, the founding Brown family rotated three new family members onto the board of directors of the nearly 150-year-old Louisville spirits giant.
News about business and culture in Louisville, Ky.
KINDRED said second-quarter results came in at the high end of Wall Street’s expectations. Revenues were $1.8 billion and earnings were 23 cents per share (
In other news, franchiser 
Boulevard 