Kempner

Merry-Go-Round Enterprises Inc. announced the opening of an office in New York's Garment District yesterday in an effort to bring its clothing lines more in tune with emerging fashion trends.While the move may prove to be a positive one, analysts said it was only a small step in addressing fundamental problems that led the company to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in January.The new office also should serve to heighten the profile of Leonard "Boogie" Weinglass, chairman and chief executive, who will be spending 50 percent of his time there, meeting with scores of fashion designers and clothing manufacturers each week.

Wearied by an intense bankruptcy process and largely unsuccessful in his attempts to fix the national retailer he founded, Leonard "Boogie" Weinglass will leave day-to-day management at Merry-Go-Round Enterprises Inc. this month, officials said yesterday.Mr. Weinglass, who parachuted back into daily operations a year ago after sales began plummeting at the fashion retailer, is expected to resign as chief executive officer by mid-November and rejoin his family at his home in Aspen, Colo., said Merry-Go-Round spokesman Michael W. Kempner.

Before there were subprime mortgages, collateralized debt obligations, vacant Nevada McMansions and foreclosed Florida condos, there was Rocky Gap Lodge & Golf Resort, Maryland's original toxic asset. Built in the 1990s, the state-owned hotel was supposed to draw tourists and conferences to Western Maryland. It did, to a modest degree. But every investor in the Allegany County hideaway, whether the capital was financial or political, has come away a loser. Rocky Gap basically hasn't paid its mortgage, held by private investors, for at least eight years.

Signaling more uncertainty at Merry-Go-Round Enterprises Inc., the Joppa-based fashion retailer is behind in payments for its spring merchandise, and Fidelity Investments, the company's largest creditor, has been meeting with the retailer lately to discuss their options, according to sources.In addition, New York and California retailers have expressed an interest in buying a piece of the business and the Merry-Go-Round board of directors is expected to meet tomorrow -- the last day of a standstill before the company is to submit a plan of reorganization under Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization.

Merry-Go-Round Enterprises Inc., reeling under declining sales and the cost of bankruptcy, is now plagued with another problem: fear.Sources within the company and industry observers say the fashion retailer, looking to cut its losses, is considering cutting the payroll and closing more stores.Company spokesman Michael W. Kempner said yesterday, "As a company policy, we don't respond to rumors, and these are rumors."Layoffs, sources said, would affect not only store clerks and managers but possibly upward of 100 workers at corporate headquarters, which had a payroll of about 600 at the beginning of the year.

FLINTSTONE -- On a recent weekday, Wit Kosicki enjoyed the view of Evitts Mountain as his wife received a massage inside the Rocky Gap Lodge & Golf Resort. Kosicki, an insurance broker who has lived in Timonium for 20 years, was surprised to find only a smattering of people in the upscale restaurant for lunch. Only a few had rented boats or bicycles on a sunny day when the noon temperature hit 75 degrees. The indoor pool was empty, and the fairways on the Jack Nicklaus-designed golf course were surprisingly uncrowded.

DURHAM, N.C. -- Thousands of dieters come here every year from around the world with one goal in mind - turning their flabby figures into svelte, healthy bodies. This city, once home to the tobacco industry, has taken on a healthier image by transforming itself into the diet capital of the world, with three major weight-loss clinics that attract up to 4,000 people annually who spend more than $51 million during their stay. The Rice Diet Program, the Duke Diet & Fitness Center and Structure House don't resemble the posh resorts where the wealthy go to drop a few pounds while getting pampered with body wraps and facials.

SHENZHEN, China -- At least 20,000 police surveillance cameras are being installed along streets in southern China and will soon be guided by sophisticated computer software from an American-financed company to automatically recognize the faces of police suspects and detect unusual activity. The program will start this month in a port neighborhood and then spread across Shenzhen, a city of 12.4 million people. Most citizens will also be issued a residency card fitted with a powerful computer chip programmed by the same company.

Foraging: New York magazine's fall fashion issue features a photo spread on the Scavengers. Snappy dressers such as socialite Nan Kempner, jewelry designer Kenneth Jay Lane and designer/socialite Carolina Herrera were invited to put themselves together on the cheap at second-hand shops and street vendors. These folks, who may go the price of a Ford Escort for one outfit, did it with panache. You know these Manhattanites, always up to something clever and out of the ordinary.You can try this at home.

Will HOPE sculpture become as iconic as Indiana's LOVE? The pop artist best known for his LOVE word sculpture has created a similar public art installation that spells HOPE - in celebration of President-elect Barack Obama's message of hope. Artist Robert Indiana's HOPE was unveiled yesterday at Jim Kempner Fine Art, a Manhattan gallery. The 6-foot stainless-steel sculpture was shown privately during the Democratic National Convention in Denver in August. No decision has been made on where it will be permanently displayed.