OSHMAN'S SPORTING GOODS, INC. ANNOUNCES
PURCHASE OF SEVEN SPORTSTOWN, INC. MEGASTORES
HOUSTON, Texas--July 28, 1995--Oshman's Sporting
Goods, Inc. (AMEX:OSH), today announced that it had been approved as
the successful bidder for seven Sportstown,
Inc.megastores by the United States Bankruptcy Court in Atlanta, Georgia. The
purchase will be made pursuant to a Leasehold Purchase Agreement to be
entered into between Oshman's and Sportstown, Inc.
The transaction fits Oshman's expansion strategy of accelerating
its growth through increasing the number of its sports megastores.
Six of the stores are located in the Dallas - Ft. Worth, Texas
metroplex and one store is located in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Oshman's
currently operated stores in both of these areas and anticipates
that the acquired stores will be in operation under the Oshman's
"Super Sports" name by November 1, 1995, after the liquidation of
the existing inventory is completed and the stores are supplied with
fresh merchandise. The existing inventory will be liquidated by
Gordon Brothers Partners, Inc. and Hilco/Great American Group,
acting as agents for Sportstown, Inc.
Oshman's operates 130 sporting goods specialty stores, including
13 megastores, in 15 states, offering high quality name brand and
private label equipment and sportswear. The Company's SuperSports
USA megastores utilize interactive merchandising by offering sports
test-play areas including basketball courts, batting cages, golf
simulators, tennis courts and boxing rings.
CONTACT: Investor Contact: Alvin N. Lubetkin
Chief Executive Officer
713/967-8200
or
Robert Jones/Christine DiSanto/
Caroline Babbitt
Morgen-Walke Associates
212/850-5600
or
Media Contact:Stacy Berns
Morgen-Walke Associates
212/850-5600
PEPROTECH FILES CHAPTER 11 BANKRUPTCY PETITION
PINE BROOK, N.J.,--July 28, 1995--Cistron Biotechnology,
Inc. stated that it has been notified that
PeproTech, Inc. (Rocky Hill, N.J.) filed a voluntary petition under Chapter
11 of the Bankruptcy Code on July 19, 1995. PeproTech's petition indicated
assets of $1.6 million and liabilities of $2.7 million.
Cistron Biotechnology, Inc. and the Boston-area institutions
that are Cistron's licensors were plaintiffs in a patent
infringement suit against PeproTech which resulted in an October
1994 judgment of $2.7 million in damages. The plaintiffs are named
as PeproTech's largest creditors.
Earlier this month, the U.S. District Court, district of New
Jersey, denied both PeproTech's motion to stay execution of the
judgment pending appeal as well as Cistron and the Boston
institutions' motion to include PeproTech's president as a
defendant. On July 18, 1995, PeproTech filed a Second Amended
Notice of Appeal from the infringement decision and damages award.
Cistron, together with the other plaintiffs, had commenced
damages collection procedures just prior to PeproTech's bankruptcy
filing. Further collection efforts have been halted, pending
resolution by the bankruptcy court.
/CONTACT: Bruce C. Galton, president of Cistron Biotechnology,
Inc., 201-575-1700/
Wyatt's Cafeterias files Chapter 11 reorganization plan
The Company will Emerge as a Radically New Food Service Company
-- Triangle FoodService Corporation
DALLAS, Texas--July 28, 1995--Wyatt's Cafeterias,
recently renamed Triangle FoodService
Corporation, has filed a plan for reorganization with the bankruptcy court.
Only 34 days earlier, Triangle FoodService had filed for
bankruptcy protection under Chapter 11 of the Federal Bankruptcy
Code. Joe Colonnetta, CEO of Triangle FoodService Corporation,
said, "What made this 65-year-old company a once great cafeteria
chain had been lost forever by the time we took control of the Board
last June.
"Our mission was not to restore it to its previous stature, but
to find the remaining core value which could be revitalized into a
viable and competitive company. In order to continue to revitalize
the core business of Wyatt's, we needed to restructure the capital
base of the company.
"We are pleased to submit a plan which offers a more secure
future for the hundreds of people employed by Wyatt's and which
deals fairly with all the company's constituents."
The major thrust of the plan is to exchange the debt held by
secured creditors for equity in the new Triangle FoodService
Corporation. This reorganization will enable Triangle FoodService
to move forward with the revitalization strategy the company began
in January 1995.
Wyatt's Faced Considerable Challenges When New Management Took Over
Colonnetta and his associate, Malcolm McArdle, Triangle's
current chairman, took control of the Wyatt's Board of Directors
June 13, 1994. Once Wyatt's was stabilized, Wyatt's institutional
owners recruited Colonnetta as president of the company in the fall
of 1994 with the mandate of trying to rebuild a company which was in
desperate trouble.
Colonnetta has a positive track record in advising troubled
restaurant boards and participating in restaurant turnarounds,
including the 700-unit Friendly's and the 450-unit Perkins Family
Restaurants.
Colonnetta recalls that when his team arrived at Wyatt's they
immediately faced the challenge of making $1.2 million payroll with
virtually no money in the bank. "Wyatt's was a company in dire
straits when we were brought in," he noted.
"A good part of Wyatt's demise had to do with the company's
failure to deliver a quality dining experience to customers," added
Colonnetta. "Over the years they created a very disrespectful
environment for customers with discourteous service. As a food
professional, that's a crime. It's a good way to run yourself out
of business," Colonnetta explained.
"We quickly formulated and launched an aggressive revitalization
strategy in January 1995," Colonnetta said. "The focus of our
strategy is to save as many jobs as possible while identifying and
improving the core assets of the company.
"While working on a plan to reorganize the company, it became
necessary that we file for bankruptcy to gain the time and financial
relief required to give the company a chance at a turnaround,"
Colonnetta added.
Management Accomplishments Have Already Added Significant Value
to the Company
According to Colonnetta, the company was able to file its
reorganization plan in an unprecedented 34 days because the new
management's turnaround work on the company had begun many months
before the filing.
Prior to its Chapter 11 filing, Wyatt's had completed
comprehensive revitalization of four cafeterias in Dallas and
Houston.
Believing strongly that urban settings can offer excellent
turnaround potential, the company implemented its three-pronged
revitalization plan which includes sharpening the focus on quality
and service, remodeling the facility, improving food products and
adding new dishes such as chicken parmigiano, steak italiano and
sauteed spinach.
After being revitalized, these cafeterias are registering
significant sales improvements. Four additional cafeterias are
currently being revitalized. Former Governor Mark White, former
Mayor Steve Bartlett, Mayor Ron Kirk, Dallas County Judge Lee
Jackson along with a host of other dignitaries attended the opening
of a revitalized Wyatt's in inner city Dallas.
White said the revitalized cafeterias help bring the community
closer together. "It's a place for people with all different
backgrounds," White explained. "You see one of the biggest car
dealers at a table next to someone who probably has difficulty
buying a car.
"This reinvestment in inner cities is wonderful for the
communities and this new management team of Triangle FoodService is
doing it all," White continued.
Already Triangle FoodService has streamlined its operations from
61 Wyatt's Cafeterias at the beginning of 1995 to its current 41
cafeterias by closing units which have long been unprofitable. As
further evidence that the company's turnaround strategy is working,
cash flow during June for the 41 Wyatt's units was $1 million more
than the cash flow for 70 units during the same month in 1994.
"This additional cash flow provided us both the means to pay for
additional remodeling as well as operate only those units where we
can deliver a quality dining experience," noted Colonnetta.
Additional value added to Triangle FoodService as part of
management's strategy includes securing licensing and developing
concepts which can serve as future growth vehicles for the company.
The company obtained a licensing agreement with Bishop's Cafeteria &
Bakery and is currently constructing its first unit in College
Station.
Wyatt's Express, a new takeout division of Triangle FoodService
and an additional avenue of growth in universities, malls, etc., is
proving popular with customers and has the potential to become the
"Boston Market of the inner city," according to Colonnetta.
In a Dallas Business Journal article on May 12, 1995, Wallace
Swanson, chairman and CEO of Highland Park Cafeterias, said
Colonnetta's ideas will benefit everyone involved in cafeteria
concepts. "He doesn't follow conventional thought processes,"
Swanson said. "If anybody can bring new insights to the cafeteria
industry, I would like to think it would be him."
Colonnetta and his management team also have struck new
relationships and expanded the potential for Triangle FoodService in
procurement and product development. StarMark Foods Division of
Triangle FoodService has been revived to gain product consistency
and labor savings though product innovation.
Already, StarMark has formed relationships with foodservice
leaders such as Basic American and Fortune Foods. Wayne Barnes of
Basic American Foods said, "This new management team is really
leading the foodservice industry in utilizing new food technology
for the benefit of its customers."
Another strategic relationship Colonnetta has led Wyatt's to
form an aggressive partnership with McLane/Foodservice, a subsidiary
of Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.
"This is an exciting time for Wyatt's Cafeterias and McLane is
proud to be part of it," said Drayton McLane, president/chief
executive officer of McLane Group, one of three vice chairman of Wal-
Mart Stores, Inc. and owner of the Houston Astros. "Our experience
and commitment to customer service will enable us to support Wyatt's
as it begins a new chapter in its history.
"While Wyatt's has significant challenges ahead, its only hope
of survival was finding a leader such as Colonnetta with both the
vision and strategy for a successful turnaround, plus the courage to
execute the strategy."
Most Important Change at Wyatt's is Strong Field Operations
Without a doubt, the greatest value Colonnetta's team has
created for the Wyatt's division is the legacy of a highly skilled
and motivated field operations team. "This new operations team is
the commando squad which has been deployed to move Wyatt's
Cafeterias from the '60s to the '90s.
"The first promise I made to our shareholders was to recruit the
most aggressive and talented operators in the industry," stated
Colonnetta. Colonnetta initially served as vice president-
operations, as well as president, because he wanted to make sure
corporate strategy was clearly understood in the field.
The company has recruited more than 125 new managers in just
over six months, many of them coming from such respected
organizations as PepsiCo, Brinker, Cracker Barrel, Black-eyed Pea,
Boston Market and Metromedia.
For its operations leader, Triangle selected Bob Whan as its new
vice president of operations. Whan, whom Colonnetta brought in this
spring, has 20 years of experience with foodservice companies
including Black-eyed Pea and PepsiCo. "I have never seen such
expertise and resources mobilized so quickly and successfully in
rebuilding a company from the ground up.
"It was as if we started a fully operational company overnight,
staffed with some of the finest turnaround talent in the restaurant
industry," said Whan.
Whan's new managers are equally excited about the turnaround
they're creating. "Like many of the other new managers, I joined
Triangle FoodService because I believe in the vision of our
leadership and wanted to be a part of a dramatic turnaround of a
company that was in a lot of trouble.
"Now, I'm very excited about the impact of changes we're making
and am positive about our company's future," said Charles Hendrix,
general manager of the remodeled Wyatt's Cafeteria and Wyatt's
Express in Wynnewood Village in Dallas, formerly with PepsiCo.
Underlining the importance of Triangle's field team, Colonnetta
summarized, "If we fail, I'll take 100 percent of the blame. If we
succeed, give me 5 percent of the credit and the remaining 95
percent to the field."
The Company and its Employees Look Forward to a Brighter Future
Colonnetta said, "As a result of extreme competition in the
foodservice industry coupled with the fact that many cafeteria
operators have not kept up with the times, there are 25 percent
fewer cafeterias across the industry today than there were five
years ago. And not all of today's cafeteria operators will be around
in five more years."
He added, "We have made hard decisions and taken dramatic
actions to make sure the new Triangle FoodService Corporation will
not only survive, but will have the potential to emerge as one of
the cafeteria segment leaders in the foodservice industry."
When apprised of Wyatt's decision to reorganize and seek Chapter
11 protection, Jack Evans (Dallas businessman, former mayor) said,
"I've watched the company struggle over the years and am glad
somebody has come in who's very committed to the company and wants
to turn it around."
Allan Hickok, restaurant industry analyst with Piper Jaffray in
Minneapolis, noted, "It's rare that such a focused management team
has attacked a troubled situation with such a clear understanding of
the issues ad solutions in turning a chain around."
Triangle FoodService Corporation is a privately held company
founded in 1931 which today operates 41 cafeterias in five states
with most of its units concentrated in Texas.
CONTACT: C. Pharr & Company
Cynthia Pharr, 214/243-0644
or
Triangle FoodService Corp.
Jennifer Maloney, 214/349-0060
UDC ANNOUNCES WITHDRAWAL OF INTEREST BY PULTE CORPORATION
TEMPE, Ariz.--July 31, 1995--UDC Homes,
Inc. announced today that it was notified on July 29, 1995 by Pulte
Corporation ("Pulte") that Pulte does not currently intend to
present a proposal for a change of control transaction that would be
the basis for a plan of reorganization for UDC. On July 7, 1995,
Pulte had indicated an interest in presenting such a proposal to
UDC.
On May 16, 1995, UDC entered into a Stock Purchase Agreement
(the "DMB Stock Purchase Agreement") with DMB Property Ventures
Limited Partnership ("DMB"), a Phoenix based real estate investment
and development company, pursuant to which DMB would acquire all of
the equity of reorganized UDC, subject to certain terms and
conditions provided therein. On May 17, 1995, UDC filed a petition
for relief under Chapter 11 of the Bankruptcy Code with the United
States Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware and
subsequently, on July 6, 1995, filed its first amended plan of
reorganization, pursuant to which DMB would acquire all of the
equity of reorganized UDC in accordance with the terms and
conditions of the DMB Stock Purchase Agreement. A hearing on the
disclosure statement relating to the reorganization plan is set for
August 3, 1995. Votes on the reorganization plan cannot be
solicited unless and until the disclosure statement is approved by
the Bankruptcy Court and transmitted to creditors.
CONTACT: ARTHUR SCHMIDT & ASSOCIATES, INC.
212/953-5555