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Daily Record FINANCIAL NEWS &

MONDAY, DECEMBER 19, 2016

Vol. 104, No. 025 • Two SecTioNS

35¢ www.jaxdailyrecord.com

InMotion Entertainment Group President and CEO P. Jeremy Smith Jr. stands outside the company store on the main concourse at Jacksonville International Airport.

Creating a career in motion

‘‘

We’re in our own little world. It’s a niche market. It’s a different market than being on the street.

‘‘

P. Jeremy Smith Jr.

About InMotion Entertainment’s market being airports

Smith built on Barnett and Gate to lead airport electronic stores

By Karen Brune Mathis, Managing Editor If you’ve ever needed an electronic gadget in a United States airport, you might have visited the InMotion Entertainment store or kiosk. The company was founded in Jacksonville almost 20 years ago, and when it started, it rented DVD players and movies to airline travelers as InMotion Pictures. Today it sells chargers, headphones, speakers, portable power — anything you need for your flight. Or, as the company says, just for fun. InMotion is known for selling high-quality products from well-known brands that include Bose, Beats, JBL, Klipsch, and most recently, Apple accessories. Many of the company’s products are exclusive to InMotion in the airport market. It operates almost 120 locations in 42 airports. P. Jeremy Smith Jr. is the president and CEO of InMotion Entertainment Group LLC. SUCCESS

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Photos by Fran Ruchalski

$105M project planned in Clay

Transportation, housing, jobs and medical expansion are driving new development in north central Clay County. Citing those factors, developers of the proposed Branan Field Village bought 92 acres Thursday at southeast Branan Field and Old Jennings roads in the Middleburg area. The anticipated $105 million project comprises apartments, hotels, and commercial and medical uses. The site is just east of the new First Coast Expressway under development and not far from Cecil Commerce Center in Duval County. That combination could catalyze the need for apartments, commercial tenants and restaurants to serve employees at the large companies — like Amazon.com — developing in the business park. Branan Field Village LLC bought the vacant land from LPP Mortgage Ltd. for $1.8 million, according to John Kiddy, a manager and partner in the company. He said housing developments in the area drew his group’s attention. “I knew that market was picking back up,” he said. Kiddy said Clay County created the Branan Field Master Plan for the area to be a town center. “The property was zoned, there was growth happening all around the area and with the idea of the expressway coming through, we didn’t think the property would do anything but get more valuable,” he said. Branan Field Village LLC comprises MATHIS CONTINUED ON PAGE A-2

Headphones autographed by Tiger Woods are part of Smith’s collection of memorabilia.

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Web.com expects market to recognize value

At a time when the stock market is reaching record highs, Jacksonville-based Web.com Group Inc. is lagging, with its stock down about 20 percent over the past year. So as the company held an Investor Day meeting in New York last week, one analyst asked if the market doesn’t recognize Web.com’s value, would it be better for shareholders if the company sought a buyout by someone who does see it? “We’re completely open to the idea, however we have to build value,” Chairman and CEO David Brown said. “Up to this point in time, there

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haven’t been a lot of people knocking on our door to buy the company and pay us a price that was better than what we can create for investors,” he said. Web.com, which provides website development services for small- and medium-size businesses, has grown significantly through acquisitions in recent years, which sometimes creates uncertainty for investors. “We’ve been through this before,” Brown said. “Often times when you make big moves, the market doesn’t fully understand it or appreciate it. They need to see it,” he said. Web.com early this year

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acquired digital marketing company Yodle to expand the valueadded services it offers its customers. But Wall Street hasn’t been impressed. “This year has been challenging as Web.com looked to digest the Yodle acquisition, drive cost synergies and then deal with operational challenges in two of the value-added solution categories,” J.P. Morgan analyst Ster-

ling Auty said in a research note. Auty actually raised his rating on Web.com from “neutral” to “overweight” the day before Tuesday’s investor meeting, saying the drop in price provides investors an opportunity for a reward. “Overall the analyst day provided needed insight into the changes that Web.com is making to shore up the struggling legacy retail business, and how they can leverage growth areas to return the overall company to growth. But the highlight is still the free cash flow generation that is better than anticipated for 2017,” BASCH CONTINUED ON PAGE A-7

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