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Tom Hicks Maneuvering to Keep Rangers

Wick Allison — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 14:44:05 +0000

Randy Galloway doesn’t think that’s a good thing. According to Galloway, neither does the Ranger staff:

“I work for Tom, I wanted Tom to be successful at this, but, frankly, we can’t sell Tom,” said one. “Our fans, for the most part, will not buy Tom. And our former season-ticket holders, and we’d lost a lot of those because of Mr. Hicks, will not come back if Tom is still the owner.”

Really? That’s the problem in selling tickets? The owner?

Hensarling: Build a Bank Fund, And It Will be Used

Jason Heid — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 22:26:43 +0000

Dallas’ own Jeb Hensarling is among the opposition speaking out against financial regulatory reform legislation approved by the House Financial Services Committee today. One of the measures would require big banks to pay fees into a $150 billion fund to be used in case one of them fails.

Here’s what “the GOP’s Most Powerful Nobody” said:

“Pre-funding the fund would lead to more bailouts because the fund would be sitting and available to be used,” said Rep. Jeb Hensarling, R-Texas. “If you build it they will come, it will create an expectation that the fund would be used.”

Mary Kay Making Bank in China

Jason Heid — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 21:51:49 +0000

The Addison-based cosmetics company says its sales in China are up 20 percent over last year, according to this piece on Slate. Because its usual direct-sales method was outlawed until a few years ago, Mary Kay has had to work differently there, doing most of its selling out of showrooms.

Its Shanghai corporate office prominently displays maxims of founder Mary Kay Ash, in both Mandarin and English. Here’s a noteworthy tidbit:

The uplifting talk and homilies strike a lot of Americans as hokey. But in Shanghai, aspirational phrases are part of the lingua franca. We heard the motto for Shanghai’s upcoming Expo 2010 repeated for us several times yesterday: “Better Life, Better City.”

So there’s something that Shanghai and Dallas have in common: Aspirational phrases are part of the lingua franca here too: “Live Large. Think Big,” anyone?

Perot Jr. Says New Museum Has Room to Expand

Glenn Hunter — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 20:42:08 +0000

Does Ross Perot Jr. know something we don’t? Speaking at today’s groundbreaking for the new Museum of Nature & Science at Dallas’ struggling Victory Park, which he helped develop, Perot said, “Mr. Mayor! Where is the mayor?!” before pointing to City Councilmember Dwaine Caraway, sitting in the audience down front. Mayor Pro Tem Caraway (pictured at far left with Deputy Mayor Pro Tem Pauline Medrano and Perot) is not quite the mayor yet, but he’ll be well-positioned if Tom Leppert ever steps down to run for the Senate. Leppert, who’s in China, nonetheless made a video appearance at today’s bash for the museum, a $185 million project that got a jump-start when Ross Jr. and his siblings donated $50 million in honor of their parents, Margot and Ross Perot Sr. The 14-story edifice on 4.7 acres can’t hurt the Victory project, which has been attempting lately to attract a better tenant/demographic mix. And, Ross Jr. said, “What people don’t understand is there’s enough room here for the museum to double in size.”

Plano’s Beal Bank Aids Trumps’ Casino Takeover

Jason Heid — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 21:36:44 +0000

According to the Wall Street Journal, Plano-based Beal Bank was partner to “the Donald” and his daughter Ivanka Trump in their bid to regain control of the Atlantic City casino group that bears their brand name. They’ve abandoned that bid and reached a settlement.

But was Beal Bank left high and dry in the outcome?

It was unclear how Beal Bank, which holds a senior $486 million secured loan on the casinos and had been Trump’s equity partner in the takeover bid, figured into the settlement. “We are not in a position to comment at this time,” Beal Bank President Andrew Beal said through his assistant.

Ex-Hurler: Rangers’ Pitching Staff Needs Starters

Glenn Hunter — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 22:34:27 +0000

While conventional wisdom holds that the Texas Rangers are set with their pitching for now–for a change–some experts like the ever-astute Evan Grant don’t necessarily agree. Grant contends that Texas still needs another “premium” pitcher, and Roberto Diaz, a salesman at the NorthPark Salvatore Ferragamo store, concurs with that assessment–and then some. Why listen to Diaz, a 51-year-old native of Puerto Rico? Because he’s a former relief pitcher in the Milwaukee Brewers organization who’s pals with the likes of Pudge Rodriguez and Juan Gonzales, who also hail from PR. (In fact, Diaz says, he moved to Dallas from Florida because of the connections.) The “Rangers are a pretty good young ball club,” says Diaz (pictured), who coaches kids at occasional baseball clinics in Plano. “But they need a couple more good quality starters, and they should go into the free [agency] market to get them.”

The People Speak; The Nasher Listens

Glenn Hunter — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 19:11:26 +0000

It might seem like an odd way to steer a leading cultural institution. But Dallas’ Nasher Sculpture Center relied on the votes of people who attended a benefit party last night to embark on a major new undertaking. Attendees at the bash held at NorthPark Center were asked to vote for one of three “wishes” for the Nasher: A contemporary projects series featuring emerging artists, an illustrated catalog to accompany the exhibition Jaume Plensa: Genus and Species, or a monthly contemporary artist lecture series. Nasher director Jeremy Strick (pictured) says the winner by a substantial margin was … drumroll, please … the contemporary projects series. The Nasher, of course, was built by the late Raymond Nasher, who also developed NorthPark Center, whose marketing/media department cooked up the people’s-choice contest.

Marquez Nabs Top Business Award

Glenn Hunter — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 22:13:39 +0000

Texans Can! CEO Richard Marquez (pictured) was honored Thursday by the Dallas chapter of the Texas Association of Business as the 2009 Distinguished Business Leader in Education. Marquez, profiled in 2008 in D CEO magazine, joins such previous Distinguished Business Leaders as T. Boone Pickens, Raymond Nasher, Ross Perot Sr., Ray Hunt and Ebby Halliday. Congrats, Richard!

Commercial Realty Honcho: No Recovery Til 2012

Glenn Hunter — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 17:35:12 +0000

About 400 commercial real estate types turned up at the Belo Mansion last night for NTCAR’s annual Stemmons Service Award dinner. That was 150 more than showed up last year. But the bigger turnout may not indicate market optimism, one attendee said, so much as the fact that the brokers had time on their hands and needed something to do. Indeed, bigwig Lee Halford Jr.–who leads a firm founded by the Stemmons family, for whom the prestigious award is named–said the industry is facing rough sledding and won’t fully recover until, gulp, 2012. At the podium, though, Halford tried to buck up the crowd: “If Mr. [John] Stemmons were here tonight, he’d tell all of you to keep on plugging.” The Stemmons firm started in 1928, Halford noted, the year before the big stock market crash, and “it wasn’t until 1946 that anything of significance took place. So perseverance was important.” Then Halford announced this year’s Stemmons winner: Steve Lieberman (pictured) of The Retail Connection.

How Much Money Will Super Bowl XLV Bring?

Jason Heid — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 16:40:36 +0000

I was a little confused in reading today’s Dallas Morning News story wherein Super Bowl XLV Host Committee CEO Bill Lively says the North Texas game will have a record impact, but declined to give a figure.

Lively gave us a figure just a few weeks ago: About $500 million.

Granted, the host committee hasn’t yet released any findings of the official economic impact study that it commissioned. So Lively’s number is probably just him doing what he needs to do at this point: boost expectations. He’s optimistic that North Texas will come in higher than the record take for Arizona in 2008.

Of course some sports economists cast doubt on any estimates in the hundreds of millions of dollars.