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5/6/2011
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INSIDE New grocer enters region with two stores
Lenders courting business again More banks re-enter the game, create opportunity for borrowers
Fletcher, N.C.based Earth Fare Inc., a natural and organic food chain, will open new stores in Fairlawn and Fairview Park, and established local grocers are leery. Read Stan Bullard’s story on Page 10.
By MICHELLE PARK mpark@crain.com
Lawrence Krakowski’s fleet is 10 trucks greater because the yellow light for lending, at last, turned green. The Medina businessman’s attempts to borrow money to buy equipment for Krakowski Trucking Inc. in 2009 and early 2010 were “just not accom-
plishable,” he recalled, even though the company was almost debt-free. “Nobody wanted to give in no matter what condition the company was in,” said Mr. Krakowski, the company’s CEO. “It’s not that they wouldn’t loan us money. They wouldn’t give us an answer. The loan process was going on and on and on for months at a time. It was neither a yea nor a nay.”
But, after moving his business banking to First Federal of Lakewood last spring for multiple reasons — among them, cheaper fees — Mr. Krakowski applied for and received financing of more than $1 million last November. With it, he’s outfitted his fleet with 10 new, more gas-efficient trucks. “The banks have stepped up,” he
said. “I think that has forced the other banks to step forward also and be a little more direct in lending.” While business loan demand growth is modest by most accounts, competition is intensifying. More banks have shaped up and are increasing their business lending. Meanwhile, fewer businesses are said by lenders to be seeking financing, and a smaller number of them are well-qualified borrowers. See LENDING Page 19
Crowne Plaza bidder would close hotel for two years
CAUGHT IN THE RAIN Golf courses suffer major losses as weather wreaks havoc
Neglect leaves only 100 of 470 rooms operable
By JOEL HAMMOND jmhammond@crain.com
By JAY MILLER jmiller@crain.com
T
ired of the lousy weather this spring? So are golf course operators. Across the area, horror stories abound, with thousands of rounds and dollars lost and almost no chance to make them up, no INSIDE: Data matter how thirsty from the National area golfers are to play Weather Service show just how bad once the weather turns. this spring has “No one’s going to been. Page 17 make it up. It’s over,” said Joe Salemi, architect and owner of the picturesque Boulder Creek in Streetsboro, situated along the Ohio Turnpike. Mr. Salemi said rounds played at Boulder Creek, which he started in 1998 and opened to the public in 2002, were down so far this year around 70% from the like period last year.
If the sale of the Crowne Plaza Hotel Cleveland City Centre goes through as planned, the new owner intends to close the dilapidated building in November to undertake a two-year, $47-million transformation of the property into a four-star hotel. A myriad of mechanical problems caused by years of neglect has left the current operator with only about 100 usable rooms in the 470-room hotel. At present, a single level of scaffolding surrounds the building at East Sixth Street and St. Clair Avenue, protecting passersby from bits of masonry peeling off the exterior. The closing of the 36-year-old property would put 100 employees out of work. On the bright side, Sage Hospitality Inc. of Denver, which is running the hotel, has partnered with Optima Management Co. of Miami in a bid to buy the hotel out of bankruptcy for $10 million. Its goal is to reopen a restored property in time for the ribbon-cutting on the new Cleveland convention center and medical merchandise mart under construction nearby. The tradeshow complex is scheduled to open in the fall of 2013. The hotel is owned by Lehman
See RAIN Page 17
MARC GOLUB PHOTO ILLUSTRATION
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See HOTEL Page 21
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Entire contents © 2011 by Crain Communications Inc. Vol. 32, No. 19