Results tagged “business”

Our daily commute to work takes us right past The Daily Grind. This morning we noticed an empty parking lot and a lack of interior lighting so we turned around to investigate.

Earlier this year, it was announced that Bed, Bath & Beyond competitor Linens-N-Things would be closing 120 stores across the country in an effort to cut costs and save their company from liquidation after declaring Chapter 11 bankruptcy in May. At that time, the only stores in Houston to be affected by the nationwide closures were the Post Oak location near the Galleria and the location inside the similarly-plagued West Oaks Mall.

If you know someone who works for Continental Airlines — and if you live around here, we're pretty sure you do — they might need some consoling soon. The Houston-based carrier announced this morning that it will cut 3,000 jobs and slash domestic capacity by 11 percent, a response to the rising fuel prices that are wreaking havoc throughout the airline industry:

By now, you've probably heard the news that Houston-based Continental Airlines has decided not to merge with another carrier right away — but, of course, that doesn't mean Continental won't look into a deal down the road. "We have significant cultural, operational and financial strengths compared to the rest of the industry, and we want to protect and enhance those strengths — which we believe would be placed at risk in a merger with another carrier in today's environment," Continental CEO and Chairman Larry Kellner said in a message to employees Sunday.

Running a start-up business can be one of the most stressful things in the world; a crushing weight of expectations and hopes, the investments (both monetary and personal) that must be made worthwhile, all conspire to exert considerable pressure on the entrepenuer. Competition is always a serious issue, too: what if someone out there is already performing your job? What if they're better than you? How do you compete, and compete smart? What if your competition is the NFL?

Local tech news in a compact, digital format.

>> Two Houston Area Offshore Drilling Companies Win Big: The oil and money are flowing freely for two drilling companies based in Houston. A report in the Houston Business Journal, lists 2007 revenue for mammoth behemoth, Transocean closed out at $3.1 billion. The company also announced a $586 million contract extension with client Anadarko, another Houston company. The HBJ also reports that The Rowan Companies also inked a three year deal. The Rowan deal is valued at $201 million for services provided to Saudi Aramco. The Houston-based company manufactures and operates deep water drilling platforms that operate around the globe.

• Texas State Hotel pictures

The Houston Business Journal picked up this story yesterday, and while we're over-joyed, we can't say that we're all that surprised. We knew those Rice kids were up to something sustainable.

Good morning, Houston. We freely admit that we don't like bugs, so we've tried quite a few home extermination methods — but we've never blown the roof off our house while doing it like Patricia Espiricueta of Galveston did. It seems Espiricueta was fed up with her home's roach problem, so she set off five bug bombs and left the house. While she was gone, the fumes hit a pilot light and exploded, lifting the roof off the house and separating a rear addition from the main part of the home. "It sounded like an explosion, or like a car had crashed into the building," neighbor Corinna Carubba told KTRK. The damages totaled about $15,000; there's no word on whether Espiricueta solved her bug problem, but she said she would try a different approach next time. "I'm not going to use [bug bombs] no more," she said.

Good morning, Houston. Remember the plans for the Dynamo stadium on the east side of downtown? And remember Metro's plans for two new light rail lines heading out from the east side of downtown? Turns out there's a question about whether the stadium will be in the way of the rail lines — and it's not clear yet whether the proposed stadium will have an effect on the rail alignments. "We are evaluating a number of options. Any proposed solutions will be part of the ongoing process with the FTA. We do not expect this to affect the timetable for construction," Metro spokeswoman Sandra Salazar told the Chronicle. Metro maps — which Salazar said are being revised — show the East End and Southeast rail lines routed along Capitol Avenue, which runs through a site the Chronicle reported that the city and Dynamo are looking to buy for the stadium.

Local tech news in a compact, digital format.

The Dynamo are in a quandry. On the heels of winning their second consecutive MLS Cup, they're at the center of a dispute with the MLS. The Orange are owned by AEG, an entertainment conglomerate owned by Phil Anschutz. AEG used to own close to half of the teams in MLS, but are now down to just our all-conquering hometown boys, and the pretty boy-signing LA Galaxy. The MLS is ready for AEG to shed...

Local tech news in a compact, digital format. The $199 PC Dwight Silverman reviews the Everex/Google $199 PC whose target market includes low-income and first-time PC buyers. The Kids Are Alright The Houston Business Journal covers the emergence of Gen Y's in the modern workforce and the specific needs of this generation of workers. Must Be Jelly Cause Jam Don't Work Like That Have you heard of Jelly? "Jelly is an every-so-often casual coworking...

Americans for the Arts' Vice President Policy and Research, Randy Cohen, makes a trip to Houston today to discuss economic impact of the arts results from a recent Cultural Impact Study, which Mayor Bill White formally introduced at the Business of the Arts Luncheon hosted by the Greater Houston Partnership in September. You can view a copy of the study here. This morning's discussion will convey how arts organizations can utilize the findings to...

So many good shows this week, that we don’t have enough space to highlight all of them. Tonight, our pick is the pure pop sounds of Office tonight at The Mink (congratulations to Cynthia for winning tickets through us!). Singer/songwriter fans will have a touch choice Thursday night – Ryan Adams makes a rare Houston appearance at Verizon Wireless and former Toad the Wet Sprocket front man Glen Phillips plays two shows at the...

Good morning, Dynamo fans. Ready to see the Orange in the MLS playoffs again? Well, playoff tickets will go on sale at 10 this morning. Depending on where the Dynamo finish in the standings, the team will play in the Western Conference semifinal match at Robertson Stadium either Oct. 27 or Nov. 3; pick your tickets up at Ticketmaster or the Dynamo's website. >> The scandal effect: TSU's enrollment has fallen to its lowest...

Houstonist recently kept you abreast of the “Humberto Incident”, where a low pressure system in the Gulf strengthened in less than 24 hours and slammed ashore, with sustainable wind gusts of 85 mph as a Category 1 hurricane, near High Island, causing power outages, localized flooding and wind damage. When storms give you little warning – the choice is already made for you to shelter in place. The media here is rife with preparedness information...

Good morning, Houston. At Houstonist world headquarters, our e-mail boxes are graced almost daily with offers from people who want to move millions of dollars to U.S. bank accounts and allow us to take a huge share of the money just for helping — eh, all in a day. But there's a new e-mail in the same vein floating around now: It comes from someone claiming to be Michelle Kristine Kraiser, the "the Confidential...

So, Houstonians, you think energy prices are higher than a proverbial cats back? We can power our world on biodiesel, wind turbines and solar power? You have the opportunity to experience what it takes to power a city of 3.9 million, courtesy of Chevron and the publisher of Economist magazine. So, bang here to try your hand at running "Energyville" and learn a little about energy supplies. Here's a blip from the Chronicle that gives...

So what are you doing the weekend of September 28th - 30th? How about hanging out with a bunch of techies, drinking beer and starting an entire company - you foxy entrepreneur you.

So here's something interesting for people who keep track of abandoned downtown buildings: The Houston Business Journal reports that Omni Hotels has plans to revamp the old Sheraton-Lincoln into a luxury suite hotel. The 28-story hotel at 717 Polk Ave. opened in 1962 and closed in 1986; according to the folks at the Houston Architecture Forum, the nearby Hyatt Regency bought the building in the late 1990s for a proposed expansion, but that deal fell...

Earlier this year, we talked about the downtown real estate boom: One Park Place, the apartment tower under construction at the edge of Discovery Green; Houston Pavilions, the retail and office complex being built on Main Street; and a few skyscrapers in the planning stages. Well, the Houston Business Journal reported on one of those proposed new buildings Friday: a 47-story skyscraper being planned by Hines in the 800 block of Main Street. There...

Local tech news in a compact, digital format.

Good morning, Houston. The bad news: You've missed your chance to see the International Space Station this morning as it orbits above Texas. (We suppose it's only bad news if you're interested in seeing the space station — if you're not, hey, you won't be disappointed!) The good news: You'll have three more opportunities before the end of the week. The ISS will be visible at 4:08 a.m. Thursday (for nearly four minutes, beginning...

The Chronicle has a few more details today about the proposed Houston Dynamo stadium downtown — but not many. What we know: It would be an open-air stadium seating somewhere around 22,000 people, and it would likely be built on Minute Maid Park's parking lot C, the six-square-block lot on the other side of Highway 59 from the baseball stadium. Anschutz Entertainment Group, which owns the Dynamo, would pay most of the construction costs, and the stadium would open for the 2010 season.

Saturday marks the "piece de resistance" of Art Car Weekend - The Art Car Parade! Houstonist is singing "I Love a Parade" in our very best Ethel Merman voice in celebration of this event (normally, we stick to "There's No Business Like Show Business"). The world's largest and oldest parade of its kind makes its way into downtown on Allen Parkway for the 20th year to an anticipated crowd of over 200,000 people. This year's...

Out of curiosity, have you tried to book a hotel anywhere in Houston this week? Checked out the prices? Wondered why all rooms have gone up by a hundred dollars or so? If you don't know what we're getting on about, then you probably don't work in the energy industry, and you probably don't know that the OTC (Offshore Technology Conference) is going on this week. The convention is currently taking up the entire...

Jack Valenti, the long-time head of the Motion Picture Association of America and Houston native passed away today at his home in Washington. He was 85 and still suffering the effects of a stroke he had in March. Valenti was born in Houston to Sicilian immigrants in 1921, growing up on the still unpaved streets of the 1st Ward. He traced his love of movies to a string of jobs working in downtown Houston movie...

Local tech news in a compact, digital format. HelpLine: Outlook Freak Out Jay Lee over at The Chronicle's HelpLine helps a reader who's Outlook email app is opening mulitple windows. Click here for the solution to this wacky reader debacle. Ugliest Building in the World? Someone placed a story on Digg about The Ugliest Building in the World. Yup, that's the Federal Reserve Bank Building on Allen Parkway. Ugly? Maybe, but Houstonist is just...