Noble Wine & Spirits took over the former location of a Ponderosa restaurant in Anderson, 5009 S. Scatterfield Road, in 2021. (Photo provided by Indiana Liquor Group) CARMEL, Ind. – Among companies that own the most liquor stores in Indiana, Big Red Liquors Inc. is No. 1 and Indiana Liquor Group LLC is No. 2. Unlike Big Red, the retail titan that operates 82 stores, Indiana Liquor Group doesn’t have a prominent public profile. Instead, the company buys stores in small cities and towns and typically leaves the business names unchanged. In January, Indiana Liquor Group bolstered its portfolio with the purchase of six Papa Joe’s Liquors stores in Richmond. It’s a strategy that’s added up to 60 locations, or will hit 60 when three permits are used for future stores in Noblesville, Franklin and Yorktown. Kyle Hupfer, the Indiana Republican Party chairman who’s a co-owner of Indiana Liquor Group, said it wouldn’t make sense to streamline the 60 stores into a single brand name. “As we’ve done acquisitions, we have been in suburban and rural communities,” Hupfer said. “We feel like these brands have a lot of community identity and awareness. They’ve been there a long time. Papa […]

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getty Managing your business in uncertain times is like beating the most difficult level of a video game. It makes you want to quit, yet at the same time, you can treat it like an opportunity to level up. When facing economic challenges, CEOs tend to cut costs. In fact, 52% of C-level executives have already started reducing their costs, and 19% of them decided to stop hiring new people. But wait—is cost-cutting the perfect solution for business growth? Not exactly. Making your company succeed in tough times requires two actions: reducing business expenses and investing in technological solutions that help you optimize and automate business processes. Business Cost-Optimization With The Four R’s Strategy IT infrastructure is an essential part of any business. And if managed well, an optimized infrastructure ensures cost savings that can be reinvested in business growth. A good rule of thumb is to start working on the infrastructure and operations optimization process, focusing on the 4 R’s. • Reduce: This step involves reviewing the number of facilities, services and charge options your company has to avoid extra spending. • Replace: Think of moving the entire IT infrastructure to the cloud since it provides flexibility and […]

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Ed Breault serves as CMO at Aprimo , an industry-leading provider of digital asset management and content operations software. getty If you’ve ever had the pleasure of observing a master craftsperson at work, you’ve likely taken note of two things: They waste nothing, and they aren’t flashy. Their movements are measured and deliberate, at the service of some envisioned end; their tools and methods are often identical to those used centuries ago. They have a taut approach with straightforward elegance and simplicity, knowing exactly what’s required to achieve the final product. Simplicity—as it is expressed in artistry, technology or even one’s lifestyle—“require[s] hard work and discipline to achieve and education to appreciate,” as Dutch computer scientist Edsger Wybe Dijkstra said. Brashness and complexity might sell better, but the simple beauty of a well-crafted concept, pragmatically implemented, will always stand the test of time. This is true in the business world, as well. Sustainable, successful marketing is a process requiring deep knowledge, dedication to proven methods, agility, scalability and vision—not an easy task. But there are certain tools that can help ensure success across all these factors—one just has to be willing to learn them and use them well. Digital […]

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Private equity firms kept an affectionate gaze toward software companies in 2022. And you can expect private equity to keep targeting software stocks this year, provided rising interest rates don’t get in the way. The Federal Reserve is expected to continue its rate hikes amid its inflation battle. So financing acquisitions with debt could be harder for some private equity firms. But earlier this month, Francisco Partners continued the 2022 trend when it swooped in to buy Sumo Logic ( SUMO ) for $1.7 billion. And indications are that major private equity players are gearing up for more software shopping. "As we head into 2023, we believe we will continue to see elevated (private equity) activity within software as a result of persistent multiple compression across the industry reducing valuations of solid assets," Raymond James analyst Terry Tillman said in a recent note to clients. Names To Watch For 2023 Action If that trend continues, there are two private equity names to keep an eye on as the year progresses: Thoma Bravo and Vista Equity Partners. The two were the most aggressive private equity firms chasing software stocks in 2022, and are still flush with cash, thanks to their […]

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Millennials are in the driver’s seat when it comes to trading. And they’re betting big on a handful of favorite S&P 500 stocks. Tesla ( TSLA ), Apple ( AAPL ) and Amazon.com ( AMZN ) continue to be the top holdings of millennial investors and all are up in value this year, says an Investor’s Business Daily analysis of data from the just-released Apex Next Investor Outlook for the fourth quarter and S&P Global Market Intelligence. Watching millennials’ portfolios is important. As these investors age and start families, their generation is turning into a driving force of trading. "Over the past few years, aggregate assets for all generations have risen 16% to $52.4 trillion, while millennials and Gen Z are gaining wealth at a rate of 25%, much faster than the older generations," the report says. "Such a massive shift in market power is fueling major implications for how, when, and why financial services are consumed today and in the future." Watching Millennial Money Millennials, aged 26 to 41, triggered nearly 56 million trades in the fourth quarter. That’s more than any other generation, Apex says. And it’s nearly 1.5 times the trades made by Gen X, aged […]

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Caterpillar machines are seen at a construction site in New York City, U.S., October 17, 2016. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid Feb 24 (Reuters) – U.S. companies borrowed 6% more in January to finance equipment investments from a year earlier, industry body Equipment Leasing and Finance Association (ELFA) said on Friday. "Business demand for equipment financing continues unabated despite uncertain and conflicting economic signals — inflationary pressures, rising interest rates, a hot labor market and easing supply chain disruptions," said ELFA Chief Executive Ralph Petta. Companies had signed up for new loans, leases and lines of credit worth $8.8 billion last month, compared with $8.3 billion a year earlier. New business volume, however, was down 32% month-on-month after the typical end-of-quarter, end-of-year spike in new business activity. ELFA, which reports economic activity for the $1 trillion equipment finance sector, said credit approvals were 75.1%, down from 76.6% in December. Washington-based ELFA’s leasing and finance index measures the volume of commercial equipment financed in the United States. The index is based on a survey of 25 members, including Bank of America Corp (BAC.N) and financing affiliates or units of Caterpillar Inc (CAT.N) , Dell Technologies Inc (DELL.N) , Siemens AG (SIEGn.DE) , Canon […]

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Photo: ©ROBIN J. GENTRY – STOCK.ADOBE.COM PARIS — Danone SA is employing two strategies to further the success of its Essential Dairy and Plant-based (EDP) business. Expanding plant-based yogurt alternatives into other eating occasions is one. Whittling down the number of stock-keeping units (SKUs) in Europe is the other. In the EDP business, 2022 fiscal-year sales of €14.80 billion ($15.69 billion) were up 13% from €13.09 billion. “In plant-based, we are broadening our yogurt offering to cover more segments and occasions from indulgent to functional,” said Antoine Bernard de Saint-Affrique, chief executive officer, in a Feb. 22 earnings call. “Combining Danone’s historical know-how in fermentation and manufacturing with our plant-based expertise provides us with the capability to lead the plant-based yogurt market.” Companywide, Paris-based Danone achieved net income of €959 million ($1.02 billion), or €1.48 ($1.57) per share on the common stock, in the fiscal year, down 50% from €1.92 billion, or €2.94 per share, in the previous year. Net sales reached €27.66 billion, up 14% from €24.28 billion in the previous year and up 8% on a like-for-like basis. Pricing was up 9%. Volume/mix decreased 0.8%, but excluding the exit from Russia, it was up 0.2%, Mr. de […]

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Photo: ©BRENT HOFACKER – STOCK.ADOBE.COM BOCA RATON, FLA. — Executives at PepsiCo, Inc. are eyeing opportunities to add the company’s snack brands to more meal occasions. “More and more we’re experimenting with how Lay’s can substitute potatoes in many dishes around the world, how Doritos can be part of how you make a pizza,” said Ramon L. Laguarta, chairman and chief executive officer of Purchase, NY-based PepsiCo, during a Feb. 21 presentation at the Consumer Analyst Group of New York conference in Boca Raton. With more than $86 billion in annual net revenue, PepsiCo is one of the largest food and beverage companies in the world, and yet management sees “a long runway for growth” and untapped potential across its portfolio. “We want to move our products … more into meals, being accompaniment to a meal, but also being part of the recipe of the meal,” Mr. Laguarta said. He described a food truck concept the company introduced in Mexico “where consumers go and they can choose different ingredients to create a meal with our products.” Tosticentro, inspired by the Tostitos brand, serves such items as “walking tacos,” featuring tortilla chips with toppings that may be eaten on the […]

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Tian Derose is the CEO of EAMA Inc. , a technical service company that offers a wide range of property management services. getty One of the great misconceptions about running a successful business is that all you need is a good idea. There are an untold number of cases, however, where businesses have failed despite good ideas and intentions due to bad timing, lack of financing, lack of expertise, and, ultimately, poor execution. Many who start businesses in their fields believe that their experience translates into expertise, only to later find that they are clueless. The truth is that a business does not exist inside a vacuum, and any successful enterprise relies on a complex ecosystem of factors working symbiotically. A Strong Management Team Business is about people, and those who may have initially struck gold without putting the right people into place to sustain future growth often suffer rapid declines. The downfall of these businesses can be attributed to an inability to adapt when the economic equilibrium shifts. With this in mind, the first step that any entrepreneur should take when establishing a business is to prioritize creating a strong management team. This should include a complementary team […]

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On Feb. 22, 2022, I joined a video call with Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky, who was then facing a terrifying build-up of Russian troops along his country’s borders. Calm and composed, he talked at length about his strategy for Ukraine’s economic transformation and shared his plans to bring foreign investment into the Donbass region, the Eastern part of Ukraine that had seen so much unrest and conflict. The President understood that the prospect of economic growth and prosperity was key to creating peace and stability in the region. I agreed and offered to take his message to other Western business leaders, who, I was sure, would be very sympathetic to the idea. Less than 48 hours later, Russian troops began their full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Supported by relentless missile attacks and air raids on Ukraine’s military and civilian infrastructure, they launched a war of aggression that all but shattered President Zelensky’s vision of peaceful economic development. One year on, the toll of Putin’s self-serving assault on Ukraine’s sovereignty has been staggering. Some estimates put the combined number of battlefield casualties on both sides at over 200,000. Caught between the frontlines or targeted by indiscriminate Russian shelling, thousands of Ukrainian […]

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