Dart Group

WILMINGTON, Del. -- Robert Haft, former chairman of Crown Books Corp. and president of Dart Group Corp., testified yesterday that his father, Herbert, who fired him in June 1993, had told him virtually all his life that he would one day run the family-controlled business empire.The testimony came on the first day of a trial that moves the Haft family feud into open court, where Robert Haft is suing three companies controlled by his father.In his lawsuit in U.S. District Court here, Robert Haft says he was unjustly fired as president of Dart Corp.

LANDOVER -- Dart Group Corp.'s board elected Ronald S. Haft president and chief operating officer yesterday, two months after his older brother was ousted from those positions.Herbert H. Haft, 72, forced his older son, Robert Haft, 40, out of the family-controlled companies, including Dart, Crown Books Corp. and Trak Auto Corp., in June.Herbert Haft, Dart's chairman and controlling shareholder, named Ronald Haft, 34, to the company's board July 29.Herbert Haft removed his wife, Gloria, and his son Robert Haft from Dart's board in early June.

LANDOVER -- Dart Group Corp. has sued members of the company's founding family, the Hafts, marking the first time the court-appointed executive committee running Dart has publicly broken ranks with the family.The lawsuit is another in a blizzard of litigation that has marked the dealings of the Haft family for more than a year. Family members have sued each other and family-controlled companies they battle to tie down claims to portions of the teetering family empire.The newest lawsuit concerns three warehouses in Landover leased to Dart by the Hafts.

LANDOVER -- Crown Books Corp. said yesterday that it would close 90 to 100 small stores in the next three years and replace them with about 28 big stores it plans to open next year.The company disclosed the plan in reporting a third-quarter loss of $25 million, or $4.64 a share, after a one-time charge against earnings to account for the store closings. A year ago, the company earned $118,000, or 2 cents a share.The Landover-based retailer said the charge amounted to $19 million pretax.It didn't disclose the after-tax charge.

Carpet Fair files under Chapter 11Carpet Fair Inc., a Baltimore-based chain of 25 stores, filed yesterday for reorganization under Chapter 11 of the Bankruptcy Act.The company is in essentially "sound" financial condition, with no debt secured by its cash, inventory or accounts receivable, but was forced to seek protection when Mercantile-Safe Deposit & Trust Co. terminated its unsecured line of credit, said Paul M. Nussbaum, the firm's attorney.He said the credit was terminated because of a "dispute" between the two companies.

Dart Group Corp. posted a huge fiscal-third-quarter loss yesterday, nearly 100 times that of a year earlier, partly because of legal battles between Chairman Herbert Haft and his sons, Robert Haft and Dart President Ronald Haft.Landover-based Dart, which owns major stakes in Crown Books, Trak Auto, Shoppers Food Warehouse and other businesses, said its loss for the three months that ended Oct. 31 was $68.6 million, or $36.91 a share.Excluding $67 million in charges, the loss was $1.6 million, or 86 cents a share.

Dart Group Corp.*QGLandover .... .... ..... ..... Ticker .... .... ..... .... Yesterday's... ... ... ... .... .... .... Symbol ..... .... .... Cls. ... ... Chg.... ... ... ... .... .... .... DARTA ... .... ... ... 86 .... .... unchPeriod ended4/30 .... .... .... .... .... 1st qtr. ... .... ... Year ago .... Chg.Revenue ... .... .... .... .. $152,830 .... .... .. $361,561 ... -57.7%Net Income ... .... ... ..... $913 .... .... ...... $1,097 ... . -16.8%Primary EPS ... .... .... ... $.31 .... .... .....

Penril DataCommNetworks Inc. ... ... ... ... Ticker ... ... ... ... Yesterday's... ... ... ... .. .. ... ... Symbol ... ... ... ... Cls. ... ... Chg.... ... ... ... .. .. ... ... PNRL ... .. .. ... ... 8 1/2 .. .. ... -1Period endedOct. 31 ... ... ... ... 1st qtr. ... ... ... Year ago ... ... ... Chg.Revenue ... ... ... ... $11,084 .. .. .. ... $14,556 .. .. .. ... -23.9%Net Income .. .. .. ... $(1,586) ... ... ... $(974) ... ... .. .. --Primary EPS ... ... ... $(0.17) .. .. .. ... $(0.13)

WASHINGTON -- Only three months after reaching a settlement with his eldest son and divorced wife, Herbert Haft, the patriarch of a sprawling retailing and real estate empire here, is feuding again.The plot of the latest battle is about as peculiar as one in any novel stocked by Crown Books, one of the companies controlled by the family.This time, Ronald Haft, 34, the younger of Haft's sons, who Mr. Haft chose to share in his multimillion-dollar business ventures, on Saturday helped depose his father as chairman of Combined Properties Inc., one of the most lucrative commercial real estate companies in Washington.

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."