Crown Books

Crown Books Corp. said yesterday that it will begin a voluntary filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.The move comes as the Landover-based book retailer continues to struggle to keep up with Barnes and Noble Inc. and Borders Group Inc. Crown said it lost $48.7 million in 1997."

New positions Hatfield, Bohman take posts with Crown Books Crown Books appointed John Hatfield vice president and chief financial officer and John Bohman vice president and general merchandising manager. As CFO, Hatfield is responsible for supervising the Landover-based bookstore chain's finance department as well as managing the information systems, loss prevention and real estate departments. Bohman is responsible for general merchandising. Hatfield formerly was with the Center for Business Development, a Los Angeles management consulting firm where he was project manager.

Crown Books Corp. will close five Maryland stores as part of a bankruptcy reorganization that calls for shutting down nearly half the bookseller's outlets nationally.The Landover-based discount retailer, a 1980s success story overcome this decade by competition from huge booksellers, said yesterday that it will close 79 of 174 stores and pull out of Philadelphia, Seattle and Texas altogether.The struggling company, which filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection July 14, hopes to stabilize its finances by shedding stores that failed to meet the company's profit requirements.

Crown Books Corp. will close five Maryland stores as part of a bankruptcy reorganization that calls for shutting down nearly half the bookseller's outlets nationally.The Landover-based discount retailer, a 1980s success story overcome this decade by competition from huge booksellers, said yesterday that it will close 79 of 174 stores and pull out of Philadelphia, Seattle and Texas altogether.The struggling company, which filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection July 14, hopes to stabilize its finances by shedding stores that failed to meet the company's profit requirements.

The feud among members of the Haft family over the control of their holdings in the Dart Group could well be a plot for the kinds of books Robert M. Haft promotes in television and newspapers advertisements for Crown Books, one of Dart's companies.Mr. Haft, 40, founded the Crown Books chain in 1977 and made it the nation's third-largest bookseller after Waldenbooks and Barnes & Noble, with reported sales of about $241 million. He was expected soon to succeed his 72-year-old father, Herbert H. Haft, as chairman and chief executive of the Dart Group.

WASHINGTON -- A bitter battle that had split one of Washington's most prominent retailing families has ended in a court settlement under which the family's patriarch, Herbert H. Haft, will retain control of the family's companies, which include the Dart Group, Crown Books and Trak Auto.The case, which had the trappings of a soap opera, was settled on Tuesday. The terms of the settlement were not disclosed, but people familiar with the case confirmed the details of an article in the Washington Post yesterday that reported Mr. Haft, 73, and one of his sons, Ronald, 34, had bought the interests of Mr. Haft's wife, Gloria, and their eldest son, Robert, 40.Washington became fascinated with the family's quarrel in the spring of last year, when Herbert Haft suddenly tried to oust Robert Haft from the board of the Dart Group.

Judge removed from IBM caseInternational Business Machines Corp. won a battle yesterday to get a federal judge removed from a government antitrust case he has overseen for almost 40 years.The U.S. 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals granted IBM's motion to force U.S. District Judge David Edelstein off the case, saying the judge's statements about IBM would cause a reasonable person to question his impartiality.In June IBM filed a motion to end a 1956 antitrust decree because advances in technology had made it obsolete and it was adversely affecting the company's ability to compete.

Crown BooksCrown Books Corp., the Landover-based discount bookstore chain, reported second-quarter income that was down 26.3 percent from a year earlier, blaming the decline on a one-time gain from a year-earlier disposal of assets. A year ago, the company showed an extra gain of $1,829,000 from selling shares in Bookstop Inc. Crown operates 255 bookstores in the Washington area and in California, Houston, Chicago and Seattle.Trak AutoTrak Auto Corp., a Landover-based operator of discount auto parts stores, reported increased profits for both the second quarter and first half of its fiscal year.

In the latest act in the retail industry's equivalent of "King Lear," Dart Group Corp. Chairman Herbert H. Haft publicly shifted his affections to his younger son, Ronald, four weeks after banishing his eldest son, Robert, from all corporate posts.Ronald Haft, 34, who previously had been involved mostly in the real estate end of the family's business empire, was named to the boards of directors of Crown Books Corp, Trak Auto Corp. and Shoppers Food Warehouse, as well as Dart, the holding company that controls a majority interest in the three chains.

Haft ousted as a directorThe board of Combined Properties Inc., the real estate arm of the Haft business empire, dismissed Herbert Haft as a director yesterday, accusing him of trying to undermine the company's interests. One of the votes to dismiss came from Mr. Haft's son, Ronald.Herbert Haft had already been removed as chairman of the Washington company in September. He said he was saddened by the ouster and denied wrongdoing.Combined Properties is the privately held real estate arm of the Haft family empire, which includes Crown Books, Trak Auto and Shoppers Food Warehouse.

Crown Books Corp. said yesterday that it will begin a voluntary filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.The move comes as the Landover-based book retailer continues to struggle to keep up with Barnes and Noble Inc. and Borders Group Inc. Crown said it lost $48.7 million in 1997."

An apt title might be "The Book Wars of Bel Air."When book superstores Barnes & Noble and Bibelot recently opened less than half a mile apart -- each with a coffee bar -- the town became a paradise for worshipers of the written word and lovers of latte."

Dart Group Corp. reported yesterday a first-quarter net loss of $467,000, or 36 cents a share.The company posted net income of $913,000, or 31 cents per share, in the same quarter last year. The quarter ended April 30.Dart Group's consolidated revenue for the quarter rose 3.3 percent, to $157.9 million, compared with $152.8 million in the first quarter of 1995.The Landover-based company operates retail outlets in Maryland, Virginia, Washington, D.C., Illinois and California.Dart Group owns 67 percent of Trak Auto, the discount auto-supply retailer, 51 percent of Crown Books, and 50 percent of Shoppers Food Warehouse, which operates 34 stores in the region.

New positionsAmericom hires VP of human resourcesAmericom, a regional cellular/wireless communications company, announced that Maggie Lintz joined the Timonium-headquartered Bell Atlantic Nynex authorized agent as vice president of human resources and chief administrative officer. Formerly director of human resources for KCI Technologies, she holds a master's degree in administrative science from the Johns Hopkins University. She is member of the board of the Baltimore County Chamber of Commerce and sits on the Governor's Task Force on Community Health Networks.

McLEAN, Va. -- The fans lined up for blocks, a few having spent the night outside on air mattresses as if queuing up to buy tickets for a rock concert.They came by the hundreds yesterday morning to buy a book from Gen. Colin L. Powell as he kicked off his 25-city blitz -- and to witness what many believed was the start of a presidential campaign.On the first stop of a four-week book tour that will take him from McLean, where he lives, to California and back, the Persian Gulf war hero was met with wild applause and encouragement to enter the race.

Already suffering, Columbia booksellers are about to be dwarfed by a mega-merchant.With 90,000 book titles, 40,000 music titles and an espresso bar, the 20,000-square-foot Borders bookstore that opened in the Snowden Square shopping center yesterday easily will overshadow its largest competitor.Although bookstores in The Mall in Columbia say they are insulated by the constant flow of shoppers, independent bookstores and those outside The Mall could be further pressured by the retailing giant.

Landover-based Dart Group Corp. announced yesterday that sales increased 18.8 percent and 17.3 percent, respectively, for the three-month and nine-month periods that ended Oct. 31.Three-month sales increased to $261,475,000 from $220,075,000, and nine-month sales rose to $747 million from $636,829,000.The increase in Dart's sales resulted primarily from the increase in the number of stores operated by Shoppers Food Warehouse, Crown Books and Trak Auto, all subsidiaries of Dart Group.In addition, sales were up 7.5 percent and 7.1 percent during the three- and nine-month periods for stores open more than one year.

Haft ousted as a directorThe board of Combined Properties Inc., the real estate arm of the Haft business empire, dismissed Herbert Haft as a director yesterday, accusing him of trying to undermine the company's interests. One of the votes to dismiss came from Mr. Haft's son, Ronald.Herbert Haft had already been removed as chairman of the Washington company in September. He said he was saddened by the ouster and denied wrongdoing.Combined Properties is the privately held real estate arm of the Haft family empire, which includes Crown Books, Trak Auto and Shoppers Food Warehouse.