Tag: Yum

Latest Headlines

NTT adding 300 jobs in Louisville; Ford’s $916K Edsel faced most pushback in director re-elect, and Hut tries beer-infused crust

A news summary focused on big employers; updated 7:43 p.m.

NTT DATA said it will add 300 jobs at its Louisville center to bolster its financial services offerings. The expansion comes only three years after NTT opened its North America Service Delivery Center in the city. The company is based in Plano, Texas (press release).

Edsel Ford II
Ford

FORD said all 14 directors were re-elected to the board last week during the annual shareholders meeting. But the best-paid of them, Edsel Ford II, faced the most opposition (SEC). Ford, 67, has been on the board since 1988, and is a great-grandson of the company’s founder. Last year, the automaker paid him $915,609 in fees — far more than any other director. That included $650,000 under a 1999 consulting agreement he has with the company (proxy report). Also, Executive Vice President James Farley sold 78,042 shares yesterday at $13.31 each for a total $1.1 million (SEC). Ford’s stock closed at $13.14, down 1.4%.

HUMANA issued a progress report on its goal to improve health outcomes 20% in communities where it does business by 2020 (press release); full report.

PIZZA HUT is giving beer-infused crusts a trial run in London (Mirror).

KFC has just opened the world’s first human-free fast food restaurant in Shanghai (Yahoo Tech). And a British newspaper wins today’s prize for worst pun use in a story: “Hundreds of fried-chicken lovers were counting their clucky stars this morning at the opening of KFC’s new Nottinghamshire eatery (Nottingham Post).”

AMAZON continued expanding its restaurant food delivery service, first announced in November for 20 big cities, to Manhattan and Dallas (press releases here and here).

In other news, Gannett has substantially raised its hostile bid for The Los Angeles Times, Chicago Tribune and other Tribune Publishing Co. newspapers by 22%, to $15 a share from $12; Tribune’s board has so far rebuffed the Courier-Journal’s parent company (regulatory filing).

The popular Highlands Asian restaurant Joy Luck is opening a second location, in the East End (Insider Louisville). The Holiday World & Splashin’ Safari park’s 11th annual charity walk raised more than than $350,000 for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (Courier-Journal).

stephen-reily4
Reily

Louisville entrepreneur Stephen Reily is among seven candidates vying for one of the most sought-after seats on the 26-member Metro Council — the Highland’s District 8 — as voters head for the polls today (Insider Louisville).

Latest Headlines

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).

Latest Headlines

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).

Media and Marketing

1,000 swans + 55 lbs. of salmon + 1 rocket-powered skateboard = Taco’s newest TV commercial

Now airing, it’s for the much-anticipated return of Taco Bell’s Beefy Crunch and Cheesy Double Beef burritos. The Yum division stopped selling the limited-time menu items three years ago. But fans wouldn’t have it, inspiring this LOL ad.

Related: How customers organized the Beefy Crunch Movement to win back the burritos, including a Facebook fan page that drew 40,000 likes and a Change.org petition. Taco Bell finally raised a white flag March 30, returning the $1 spicy Fritos-stuffed burritos to menus three weeks ago. Plus, more videos on Taco Bell’s YouTube page.

Latest Headlines

Report: Brown-Forman considers Finlandia sale, and Ford says 6,500 applied to buy new supercar

A news summary focused on big employers; updated 11:28 a.m.

GT
The new Ford GT costs $400,000.

92721BROWN-FORMAN is reportedly considering a sale of Finlandia vodka amid a broader effort to focus on its whiskey business; the company spent $200 million to assemble the vodka business from 2000 to 2004. Brown-Forman declined to comment on the report (Bloomberg). Last month, the company said it would spend $413 million to buy Scottish single-malt distiller BenRiach Distillery Co.

FORD said 6,506 people applied worldwide to buy the new EcoBoost-powered, carbon-fiber GT supercar; hundreds included videos to bolster their chances to buy the first 500. The $400,000 car will be available the end of the year (press release). Also, total vehicle sales in Ford’s 20 traditional European markets last month were the best since April 2009, with passenger car sales at their highest level since 2010 (press release).

KFC: A barrel of Montana oil fell so low this winter, it was cheaper than a big bucket of KFC: $22.16 for the oil vs. $24.99 for a 16-piece meal (Billings Gazette).

HUMANA: Aetna has spent at least $119 million for lawyers, investment advisors and other services in connection with its planned $37-billion purchase of Humana (Modern Healthcare).

GE: Negotiators for GE Appliances and a local union are trying to improve warehouse efficiency to prevent 217 jobs from being outsourced (Insider Louisville).

In other news, Al J. Schneider heirs have settled a feud that would allow for the sale of the Galt House and the late real estate moguls other holdings (Courier-Journal). The Bernard A. Dahlem family has donated $500,000 to the Catholic Education Foundation so more students can attend Archdiocese of Louisville schools (Courier-Journal). The new owners plan to demolish a Highlands house possibly dating to the 1830s to make way for a new, custom-built home; they paid $605,000 for the property last fall (Courier-Journal).