Cambridge Square to add Edward Jones
Edward Jones will open a new office in Ooltewah’s Cambridge Square development this summer. Jake Brigham said Monday he expects they will relocate his Ooltewah office to Cambridge Square by August.
“Edward Jones believes that a personal, face-to-face relationship with each client is key to understanding their needs and helping them reach their financial goals, we have been just that for 95 years,” said Brigham in a statement. “Working within Cambridge will allow me to foster this client-first culture and develop a location close to my clients in a professional setting.”
CBL sells center in Oklahoma City
Chattanooga-based CBL & Associates Properties Inc. said Monday its first joint venture with Horizon Group Properties, The Outlet Shoppes at Oklahoma City, was sold for $130 million to Outlet Resource Group and Singerman Real Estate.
About $70.1 million in loans secured by the property were retired with the sale and CBL said it netted $38 million after retirement of secured loans and closing costs. CBL has sold more than a dozen properties since it introduced its portfolio transformation strategy in 2014 to pare its debt and focus on its highest performing properties.
“We are pleased to demonstrate the value of our outlet portfolio and provide additional liquidity to reduce leverage and help fund our redevelopment program,” said Stephen Lebovitz, CBL’s chief executive officer.
Shares of CBL rose Monday by nearly 3.8 percent, or 35 cents per share, to close at $9.60 per share
Gas prices drop with glut of gasoline
With a glut of gasoline at refineries, prices motorists pay at the pump fell last week and are expected to decline even more this week, according to a report Monday by GasBuddy.com.
The average retail price of regular gas in Chattanooga declined by 3.1 cents per gallon last week to $2.08 per gallon among the 170 gas outlets in Chattanooga surveyed by GasBuddy.com. Chattanooga gas prices averaged 30 cents per gallon less than the U.S. average, but were still up by 8.8 cents a gallon from a month ago and were 3.3 cents per gallon higher than a year ago, GasBuddy.com surveys show.
“An oversupply of gasoline as refiners ramp up production will continue to exert downward pressure on prices at the pumps,” said Dan McTeague, GasBuddy senior petroleum analyst. “The expected bump in fuel demand doesn’t seem to be coming, leaving refineries with a lot of inventory that has yet to find a market. Gas prices appear poised to drop yet again this week.”
Coke United adds metro Atlanta area
Coca-Cola Bottling Company United Inc., the parent company of the nation’s oldest Coke bottler in Chattanooga, announced Monday it closed a transaction with The Coca-Cola Company to expand its territory by 40 percent by acquiring Coke bottling rights in metro Atlanta and seven additional Coca-Cola territories in Georgia.
Coke United, based in Birmingham, Ala., is buying two production facilities as part of the deal. The company originally announced last December an agreement with the Coca-Cola Company to acquire the bottling rights in Athens, Dublin, Gainesville, Jasper, Lawrenceville, Macon, Rome and metropolitan Atlanta, as well as production facilities in College Park and Marietta.
John Sherman, president and CEO of Coca-Cola Bottling Co. United, said as part of the deal the company will be making “significant investments in our people, infrastructure and communities.”
McDonald’s ‘frork’ fry promotes new burgers
McDonald’s is touting a new french fry-centric utensil – the “frork” – as part of a campaign to promote its new line of burgers.
The chain said the utensil has an opening where people can insert some fries, which act as edible tines. McDonald’s said it will give away 100,000 of them to people who buy the new burgers starting Friday. It’s the latest push by McDonald’s Corp. to drum up excitement and get people into its restaurants, after four years of declining customer transactions in the United States.
The stunt is intended to draw attention to the chain’s new “Signature Crafted Recipes.” McDonald’s calls the utensil “edible, utilitarian and desperately innovative,” but also “superfluous.” It made a mock infomercial it posted online.