Maryland Business

What’s so great about Wegmans Food Markets? According to a recent report by Fortune magazine, the mega-grocer and specialty foods store has never laid off an employee.

That’s good news for Marylanders, who are awaiting the opening of a Wegmans in Columbia in June, with additional plans for a store in Owings Mills.

“When Wegmans Food Markets has to eliminate a position, they make sure they find the displaced employee another job that they will be passionate about within the company,” the report said.

“When their Britton Road store in Rochester, N.Y. closed last summer, they offered all of the store’s employees a job at another location in the same city. Within two weeks, all 250 employees from the Britton Road store knew exactly what they were going to be doing.”

The Rochester, N.Y.-based chain opened a store in Hunt Valley in 2005 and another in Abingdon in mid-September. There are also locations in Lanham and Frederick.

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Racking up “likes” on Facebook or Twitter followers could help a group of University of Maryland students win $5,000 toward a cause of their choice and a private jet to Atlanta for courtside seats at an NBA game.

The two prizes are part of a contest announced at last Saturday’s men’s basketball game, when the Terps got a video message from actor Kevin Bacon.

The university has teamed up with the film star for the “Do Good Challenge,” aimed at encouraging students to engage in philanthropy.

“What we’re trying to do here is get a lot of people out doing good, and to promote giving and make a difference at the same time,” said Robert Grimm, who is directing the challenge and also directs the University’s Philanthropy and Nonprofit Management program.

Eleven groups registered in the first 48 hours, Grimm said.

Students can start their own projects, work with an existing student group, or work with a nonprofit.

“I want to see how you can use your creativity to encourage social change,” Bacon said in his video message.

Students have until March 26 to submit a statement explaining the impact they’ve had and what they’ve learned.

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A lone insurance adjuster stood by what was left of a dilapidated row house in Johnston Square Thursday morning, taking photos for what certainly will be an upcoming claim.

The address in ruins was in the 800 block of E. Preston Street, just south of the historic Greenmount Cemetery. It was part of a $5.3 million rehab project of scattered vacant houses in the community, funded mostly with federal stimulus money. Mi Casa, a Washington-based nonprofit, is the developer of the project.

Thursday, what’s left of the house littered the site, with nail-studded beams loosely hanging in a perilous position from the top story, aimed at the sidewalk below.

What exactly happened, though, is in dispute.

Top city housing officials including Commissioner Paul T. Graziano said Wednesday they did not know of the collapse of the structure.

Graziano’s spokesperson, Cheron Porter, said in an emailed statement Thursday: “Mi Casa’s end of group structure at 818 E Preston completely collapsed. It is fenced off and the debris is contained on site. They had permits, and it seems they were onsite and handled the incident themselves. They have not taken any additional action (re: new permits to reconstruct). The go forward issues are not principally code enforcement ones. They will have to appropriately permit the rebuild, or the razing of the foundation.”

A neighbor across the street on Thursday described how the rowhouse “just collapsed” one day last month, sending a loud boom across the community.

The insurance adjuster, said he was informed that the house had collapsed on Jan. 20, “and thank God, no one was in it or near it.” It went unreported for a couple of weeks, he added.

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Ellen Valentino agrees with Gov. Martin O’Malley: Maryland business needs fewer regulations.

In a statement addressing the governor’s State of the State address Wednesday, Valentino, the state director for the National Federation of Independent Business, said the average small business spends $10,500 per year, per employee, in order to comply with federal regulations.

“We can only imagine that the state costs mirror federal compliance, and the irony of it is that federal and state regulations are duplicative, or even conflicting,” she said.

O’Malley, who in October issued an executive order for agencies to assess ways to streamline the state’s regulatory processes, reiterated the call in his speech Wednesday.

“This session, we are submitting 750 pages of regulations for you to reform, reduce and remove from the books,” he said.

That equals “more than 150 current state regulations to be repealed and/or streamlined,” according to the governor’s website.

“If the governor’s initiative can reduce the burden in terms of money [spent] and time wasted, we’ll see positive results in the economy,” Valentino said.

Less appealing are the governor’s proposed tax hikes.

“Small businesses and consumers are struggling in this economy, and the governor’s heavy emphasis on higher taxes is disappointing,” she said.

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The more things change, the more they stay the same.

That’s a good thing at the just-reopened tearoom of the Woman’s Industrial Exchange.

Irene Smith, new operator of the landmark Baltimore City restaurant located at 333 N. Charles St., placed a bright oil painting of the tearoom’s former waitresses above the mantle Tuesday. In their starched white aprons and blue uniforms, this legendary crew led by the inimitable Marguerite lends a nostalgic touch to the bright pink walls.

Talk about your welcoming committee!

Smith said business has been steady since the tearoom reopened Dec. 7. Patrons are still sticking with the old house favorite, the chicken salad, deviled egg and tomato aspic platter for $9.

Other menu items include vegetable pot pie, meatloaf and Tina’s mushroom pie with mixed greens — all served with delicious, bite-sized Maryland beaten biscuits.

Even Jacques Kelly, a staff writer at The Baltimore Sun and one of the city’s unofficial historians, has visited and loves the re-do, Smith said.

“We are seeing the old schoolers who are here who were skeptical,” she said. “And there have been lots of kids from Peabody coming in who we love seeing sitting next to the 70-year-old patrons.

“One guy comes in four times a week, orders the chicken pot pie and cleans his plate.”

Besides the new oil painting, by local artist Mark Becker, Smith has supervised other adornments.

The tearoom, open daily from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., is decorated and dedicated to Baltimore icons, cultural leaders and famous daughters. One dessert is dedicated to the two daughters of other local restaurateurs at the Chameleon Café in Lauraville: Fern and Gertie’s vanilla ice cream with chocolate Grenache.

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Andy Georgelakos

For the sixth time in seven years, Towson commercial real estate broker KLNB LLC has posted annual leasing income of more than $1 billion, the company reported Monday.

Last year’s $1.2 billion figure was a 10 percent increase over 2010, KLNB executives said. The company leases commercial real estate from five offices that focus on the Maryland, Washington, D.C. and Northern Virginia markets.

The sales figures were the highest mark since the company was founded in 1968 and represented the lease or sale of more than 1,000 transactions covering nearly 9 million square feet of commercial office, industrial, warehouse and retail space.

“Our brokerage team has become increasingly creative with our sales and leasing tactics and this strategy has resulted in the highest transactional value in our nearly 45-year history,” said Andy Georgelakos, managing partner of KLNB. “We envision another strong year ahead as companies and retailers continue to recognize the importance of maintaining a real estate presence in the fourth largest market in the United States.”

KLNB has 77 full-time real estate brokers and is planning to hire four more by March, Georgelakos said.

The 2011 results represent an approximate 10 percent increase from the reported figures of 2010, when KLNB achieved a $1.03 billion leasing and sales transaction volume.

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A small Baltimore news website met its fundraising goal… and then some, and Hunt Valley-based AAI Corp. laid off nearly 200 employees this week. Those stories and more in this week’s business top 5.

1. Cross Keys sale appears near – by Melody Simmons

The sale of The Village of Cross Keys in North Baltimore to an Olney-based developer is under negotiation and could close as early as March, sources close to the pending deal said Tuesday.

General Growth Properties Inc., which put the upscale shopping center on the market last summer after it emerged from bankruptcy protection, is finalizing the sale to the Carl M. Freeman Companies for an undisclosed price, sources said.

2. AAI lays off 184 in Hunt Valley – by Maria Zimmerman

AAI Corp., a Hunt Valley-based aerospace and defense company, laid off 184 employees Tuesday at its Baltimore County location as part of a 217-person, companywide reduction.

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In an effort to cut costs and maintain the right level of staffing during busy hours,  Walmart has removed greeters from its 10 p.m. to 7 a.m. shift. Over the past six months, the company has been reassigning these people to other positions, such as stocking shelves and manning cash registers.

The majority were able to find positions within the same store or another one close by, said company spokeswoman Ashley Hardie.

“Same-store sales at Walmart’s namesake U.S. locations declined for nine straight quarters before snapping the streak with a 1.3 percent gain for the quarter ended in October,” according to a report by Bloomberg.

Greeters have been a 32-year tradition at Walmart. The superstore chain has more than 3,000 locations nationwide and 45 stores in Maryland, including 16 Supercenters, which are typically open 24/7.

What do you think — will you miss someone standing at the door when you come in for a midnight snack?

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St. John Properties has announced the purchase of a one-acre parcel at 56 Timonium Road for redevelopment into 10,000-square-foot retail strip mall. Known as Timonium Exchange, the site is configured to hold a medley of tenants with businesses ranging from 1,500 to 4,500 square feet.

St. John said this week that it plans is to develop a mix of fast food tenants and small retailers and service businesses like hair salons and dry cleaners. The area is blessed with heavy traffic — data shows that more than 40,000 vehicles travel by Timonium Exchange daily. A report by NAI KLNB for the office market shows that the area has more than 7 million square feet of commercial office space, and a vacancy rate of 10 percent.

“This area remains under-served in the convenience retail and quick-serve food categories as consumers and businesspeople are constantly in search of amenities that address their busy lifestyles,” Bill Holzman, assistant vice president for retail leasing at St. John, said in a statement.

St. John also owns and manages Timonium Business Center, Yorkridge Center North and Yorkridge Center South, near the Exchange.

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Last week at a community meeting in Columbia, General Growth Properties unveiled plans to build a 75,000-square-foot lifestyle center at the Mall in Columbia. The changes are in the planning phase, and another meeting is set for Feb. 8.

The mall opened in 1971 and has 1.4 million square feet of retail space. The last renovation came in 2004 when an LL Bean store was added. This gussy up will see that store replaced to make way for the new lifestyle center.

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