Muffin company cooks up synergy with bakery buy. (Up Front).LOOK for a few bread sticks in your next muffin basket. Beverly Hills-based muffin maker Mrs. Beasley's has acquired the assets of artisan bread manufacturer Buona Forchetta, an 8-year-old company based in Culver City Culver City, city (1990 pop. 38,793), Los Angeles co., S Calif., a residential suburb of Los Angeles; inc. 1917. It is a center of the U.S. motion-picture industry, whose roots in the city date to c.1915. Its chief manufactures are rubber products and computers. that sells Italian bread to supermarkets and local hotels. Mrs. Beasley's is owned by L.A.-based Kayne Anderson Anderson, river, Canada Anderson, river, c.465 mi (750 km) long, rising in several lakes in N central Northwest Territories, Canada. It meanders north and west before receiving the Carnwath River and flowing north to Liverpool Bay, an arm of the Arctic Investment Management. Ken Harris, Mrs. Beasley's chief executive, wouldn't reveal details of the deal. But he said the acquisition would help Mrs. Beasley's boost its revenues this year to $20 million from $17 million. Mrs. Beasley's, which makes gift baskets A gift basket, or fruit basket is typically a gift that is delivered to the recipient at their home or workplace. There are different varieties of gift baskets, some which have fruit only, some with dry/canned goods only (such as tea, crackers and jam) although the standard filled with mini-muffins, cookies and cakes, will be producing Buona Forchetta's breads in its Carson manufacturing facility. "Buona Forchetta was attractive to us for three reasons," Harris said. "It helped us utilize our excess production capacity in Carson. It added another very strong brand to our portfolio that we can market through our mail order catalogs and Internet Internet Publicly accessible computer network connecting many smaller networks from around the world. It grew out of a U.S. Defense Department program called ARPANET (Advanced Research Projects Agency Network), established in 1969 with connections between computers at the . And it gave us entree to major supermarket chains that will let us sell our own brands such as Miss Grace lemon cakes and our line of pastries." Suzanne Dunaway, who was Buona Forchetta's chief executive, is being retained as a consultant. She is also working on new product development. Bedding Matters Ken Karmin is looking to expand his Southern California Southern California, also colloquially known as SoCal, is the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. Centered on the cities of Los Angeles and San Diego, Southern California is home to nearly 24 million people and is the nation's second most populated region, mattress presence. Karmin, president of Ortho Mattresses, wants to take over 21 stores once owned by Mattress Discounters Corp., a Maryland-based company that filed for Chapter 11 reorganization on Oct. 23. Mattress Discounter plans to sell or close 100 California California (kăl'ĭfôr`nyə), most populous state in the United States, located in the Far West; bordered by Oregon (N), Nevada and, across the Colorado River, Arizona (E), Mexico (S), and the Pacific Ocean (W). stores. The $5 million purchase, which must be approved by a bankruptcy bankruptcy, in law, settlement of the liabilities of a person or organization wholly or partially unable to meet financial obligations. The purposes are to distribute, through a court-appointed receiver, the bankrupt's assets equitably among creditors and, in most judge, would give L.A.-based Ortho Mattresses 21 additional Southern California locations, and increase its annual revenues to about $30 million from $20 million. The 45-year-old company already has 19 stores, all in Southern California. "The real estate combination of our locations and their locations made it very interesting and unique for us," Karmin said. The deal includes inventory and leases, and Ortho would retain 30 Mattress Discounters employees on staff. Musical Chairs Guitar Center Inc. is expected to profit from the demise Death. A conveyance of property, usually of an interest in land. Originally meant a posthumous grant but has come to be applied commonly to a conveyance that is made for a definitive term, such as an estate for a term of years. of Florida-based Mars Music Mars Music was a now defunct chain of music stores based in Florida. The company was founded in 1996 by former Office Depot president Mark Begelman, who created the store chain to combine his love of music with a new business venture. Inc., which plans to close all 37 of its stores, after filing for bankruptcy in late September. The closures should boost sales at 21 geographic locations for Westlake Village-based Guitar Center, said Marty Albertson, president and co-chief executive of Guitar Center, the country's No. 1 retailer of guitars, amplifiers, drums and keyboards. "We should have no competition in these markets for a while and will increase our market share," Albertson said. Mars Music, founded in Ft. Lauderdale in 1996, abandoned a reorganization effort when it failed to obtain additional financing. Staff reporter Deborah Belgum can be reached at (323) 549-5225 ext. 228, or at dbelgurn@labusinessjournal.com. |
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