Black Decker

Donald F. Reno Sr., a retired Black & Decker advertising executive, died Sunday at Future Care-Chesapeake in Arnold of complications from a broken hip. The Cockeysville resident was 82. Born in Baltimore and raised in the Gwynns Falls area, he was a 1943 graduate of Mergenthaler Vocational-Technical High School and earned a bachelor of arts degree at the Johns Hopkins University. During World War II, he was stationed in Panama with the Army as a photo lithographer. After the war, he held positions in printing and advertising.

Black & Decker is having trouble selling lock sets for doors. And this is just the kind of thing that worries investors and economists. Most lock sets are installed in new homes. And new homes aren't selling, as evidenced by two developments yesterday, a huge second-quarter loss reported by Pulte Homes Inc. and a report by the government that the June decline in new-home sales was the biggest in five months. Those followed reports earlier in the week that sales in the far larger existing-home market fell to the slowest pace in 4 1/2 years in June and that Countrywide Financial, one of the nation's largest mortgage lenders, sees defaults spreading from subprime to more conventional mortgages.

EASTON -- Black & Decker Corp.'s chairman said yesterday that he removed a top executive as a pre-emptive strike, fearing that the president of the power tools division would quit and leave the Towson-based company in a vulnerable position.Black & Decker shares fell about 8 percent Thursday, the day after Joseph Galli's departure as president of the Worldwide Power Tools and Accessories Group was announced. Yesterday, shares closed at $54.0625, up 6.25 cents.Galli was replaced by Paul F. McBride, 43, who worked at General Electric for 21 years, most recently as president of its global silicone products business.

Black & Decker Corp. failed yesterday in an attempt to have a judge throw out a $3 million lawsuit that alleges the Towson-based toolmaker's actions severely damaged a public relations firm's ability to do business.In 1997, Black & Decker hired a former employee of Image Dynamics, a public relations firm that had handled Black & Decker for eight years. The employee, David P. Olsen of Columbia, had been head of the Black & Decker account.Olsen signed a nonsolicitation agreement with Image Dynamics in 1995 that said he would not "solicit or perform any services for any client of [Image Dynamics]

Black & Decker Corp. Chief Executive Officer Nolan D. Archibald earned $4.35 million in salary, bonuses and long-term incentives and cashed in $31.85 million in stock options in 1998, a year in which the company's market value rose about $1.5 billion.Archibald's 1998 compensation was 5.6 percent less than the $4.61 million he earned the previous year. It was disclosed in the company's proxy statement -- filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission this week -- in advance of the Towson-based power tool maker's annual meeting April 27 in Easton.

Black & Decker Corp. has a tentative deal to sell its huge Hampstead warehouse and factory complex and lease part of it back in an agreement that could create new jobs for the area, the Towson-based maker of power tools confirmed yesterday.The company said the pact calls for it to sell its 800,000-square-foot factory and distribution center to Goodman Industrial Equities LLC, a Boston-based industrial-property redeveloper. Black & Decker will lease back about half the building, allowing Goodman Industrial to modernize and find tenants for the rest of the facility.

Black & Decker Corp. shares fell $4.25 each, or about 7 percent, to close at $53.625 yesterday after the Towson-based toolmaker posted fourth-quarter and year-end earnings that met forecasts, but cautioned that sales growth could slow this year.Black & Decker said net income in the quarter that ended Dec. 31 was $91.6 million, or $1.03 per diluted share, compared with $97 million, or $1 per share, in the same period the year before. Excluding several one-time items and before restructuring expenses of 8 cents a share, the company earned $98.1 million, or $1.10 per share.

Lawyers for the public relations firm that is suing Black & Decker Corp. filed a motion yesterday to lift the protective order that bars outside parties from reviewing court documents and prevents either side from discussing the case.The move followed a motion filed by The Sun Monday to open the records."That Black & Decker may be embarrassed by the disclosure of certain information provides an insufficient basis to deny public access to hearings or to the Court's files," Image Dynamics Inc. lawyer Alan M. Rifkin said in a separate letter to Baltimore Circuit Judge Thomas E. Noel.

Towson University put on a New York City look for its Maryland Arts Festival gala, on opening night of the Baltimore-Washington premiere of "Rags: Children of the Wind." The musical's story takes place in New York, so the party's more than 300 guests were treated to some Big Apple scenery, including a mini-Statue of Liberty, a Central Park fountain and a nighttime NYC skyline, all under a tent outside TU's Stephens Hall.Among those taking in the sights: Towson University president Dr. Hoke Smith and Joanne Glasser, the college's institutional advancement VP, the party's hosts; Teresa Hardin, event coordinator; Michael Decker, festival artistic producer; Nan Rosenthal, Lois Hodes and Sharon Akers, festival board members; Bruce Ballard, Aramark Corp.

James Mueller, who came out of a rough Southeast Baltimore neighborhood to become the head of a prominent furniture company, died Wednesday of brain cancer at his home in Pembroke Pines, Fla. He was 60.Born a cab driver's son in O'Donnell Heights, Mr. Mueller graduated from Patterson High School before volunteering for military service with a number of his friends."

The Baltimore area has seen corporate headquarters disappear before, but the loss of Black & Decker in a corporate merger could hurt more than most in terms of prestige, spinoff jobs and charitable giving, local leaders say. Allan Tibbels, co-executive director of Sandtown Habitat for Humanity, was left wondering what the proposed deal will mean for his nonprofit, which rebuilds housing in West Baltimore. The organization has benefited from Black & Decker's charitable contributions for years, as the manufacturer has donated power tools, employee volunteer hours and funding, Tibbels said.

Black & Decker Corp., the Towson-based toolmaker founded here almost 100 years ago, said Monday that it plans to merge with The Stanley Works in a $4.5 billion all-stock deal that will bring together internationally known brands but reduce the number of local jobs. For the Baltimore region, it is another in a long line of deals relocating corporate headquarters - and the decision-making power, charitable muscle and prestige they represent. Stanley would have controlling interest in the combined company, which would be named Stanley Black & Decker and headquartered in New Britain, Conn.

Black & Decker Corp. said Thursday that it is starting to see demand for its products stabilize, but said that doesn't mean the power tool market is ready for a rebound. "We are not seeing a recovery in demand but continue to see stabilization," said Steve Reeves, Black & Decker's chief financial officer, during a call with analysts to discuss third-quarter earnings. Reeves said retailers that sell the Towson company's products are no longer "destocking" as in the first half of the year, but they are not buying more either.

Phoenix house raffle drawing date pushed back A $100-per-ticket raffle fundraiser with a $1.6 million Baltimore County house as the prize has been extended to early next year, with the Oct. 15 drawing rescheduled for Feb. 26. Organizers of the raffle, Upperco-based nonprofit Universal Peacemakers Foundation, which helps financially troubled homeowners, said they extended the raffle to sell the 20,000 minimum number of tickets required before they can...

Marshall Clayton Roop Jr., a retired Black & Decker Corp. executive whose career with the Towson toolmaker spanned five decades, died of cardiovascular disease Thursday at Gilchrist Center for Hospice Care. The Mays Chapel resident was 77. Mr. Roop was born in Baltimore and raised in Roland Park. He was a 1951 graduate of McDonogh School, where he played varsity football and lacrosse. He served as a submariner in the Navy for several years before earning a bachelor's degree from the University of Maryland, College Park, in 1957.

Power tool company Black & Decker Corp. said Thursday that it was cutting its dividend by 30 cents to conserve cash in response to the global recession and declining revenue. The Towson company is lowering the dividend to 12 cents from the 42-cent quarterly payout that has been in place since 2007. The last time the company cut its dividend was in 1986, said spokesman Roger Young. The company expects to reduce cash outflows by $54 million this year with the dividend at the lower level.

Black & Decker Corp.'s first-quarter profit plunged 93 percent as a weak economy hurt sales of its power tools and other products much worse than it had anticipated. Executives at the Towson-based company don't believe the economy will improve any time soon, saying they expect sales to decline just as much in the second quarter as the first three months of the year. The company also lowered its outlook for the year. The company on Thursday reported earnings for the quarter that ended March 29 of $4.9 million, or 8 cents per diluted share.

Bosses at Avatech Solutions thought they had to slash payroll after sales cratered, but when it came down to it they didn't want to lay off 35 or 40 people. So the Owings Mills company let half that many go and achieved the balance of the savings with a kind of cost-cutting not widely seen since the Great Depression: a pay cut for all remaining employees. Many facets make this downturn unsettling and different: the collapse of Wall Street, the taxpayer dollars laid on the line, the depth of employment loss - underscored by Friday's report that in March the economy shed 663,000 more jobs.

Power tool maker Black & Decker Corp. said Wednesday it is moving to replace its short-term debt with higher-interest long-term debt in light of the recession and recent ratings downgrades. The Towson company floated a $350 million bond offering this week with interest of 8.9 percent. It plans to use net proceeds primarily to pay down $283 million in existing commercial paper and revolving credit borrowings carrying a much lower average interest rate of 2.9 percent, according to documents filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

Power tool maker Black & Decker Corp. is cutting salaries and suspending 401(k) matches for U.S. employees in response to the global recession and declining revenues, the company said yesterday. Starting with the first pay period in April, the Towson company said base salaries of top executives will be cut by 10 percent, salaried employees by 5 percent, and salaried workers who qualify for overtime by 2.5 percent. Black & Decker Chief Executive Officer Nolan D. Archibald, who made $11.1 million in total compensation in 2007, will likely take a $150,000 cut from his $1.5 million base salary.