Wholesalers

When Gino Troia opened Troia the Bistro at the Walters three years ago, he essentially left the original Cafe Troia (28 W. Allegheny Ave., Towson) in the hands of his family. (The bistro has since closed.) So customers probably won't notice much difference now that he's completely out of the restaurant business and operating Mondo Vino, a Maryland wine wholesaler.His wife, Carol, runs the restaurant with daughter Daniela in the kitchen. Gino's brother, Ernie Troia, is also involved."Gino has gone on to do his own thing," says Carol Troia.

Jack Lipsitz, a retired co-owner of a Baltimore wholesale dry goods firm who was a World War II combat veteran, died Monday from complications of Alzheimer's disease at Atrium Village Retirement Community in Owings Mills. The former longtime Pikesville resident was 93. Mr. Lipsitz was born in Baltimore and raised on Hanover Street, above his family's dry good business, D. Lipsitz and Sons, that had been founded by his father in 1900. After graduating from Southern High School in 1933, he joined his father in the business that sold clothing, underwear and towels to stores, family members said.

Sol Kramer, who turned a Depression-era 15-cent balsa toy airplane business into a leading wholesale hobby empire, died of pneumonia April 24 at Hospice by the Sea in Pompano Beach, Fla. The former Pikesville resident was 96. Born in Baltimore, he was the son of Lithuanian immigrants. His father, Morris, was a Saratoga Street tailor. His mother, Dora, was a homemaker. Mr. Kramer was a graduate of the old Robert E. Lee School and received his diploma from City College at age 14. "He and his brother, Lou, belonged to the Junior Birdmen of America, a model airplane club promoted by the Hearst newspapers," said his son, Dr. Karl Kramer of Coral Gables, Fla. "His brother was really the airplane builder.

State Sen. F. Vernon Boozer calls his bill to require beer wholesalers to provide retailers with written information on the alcohol content of the beers they sell a "matter of the consumer's right to know."But that doesn't mean people should rush down to their local beer meister to find out exactly how much wallop their favorite brand of brew packs.The law, which took effect Monday, doesn't require liquor store and tavern owners to display the information. And they don't seem to be in any great rush to do so."

ATLANTA -- Just a year after promoting its growing wholesale business as a pipeline for breakneck growth, Home Depot is considering getting rid of the unit. The move, announced yesterday, marks yet another reversal of a course set in motion by former chief executive Robert L. Nardelli, who left Home Depot last month amid mounting criticism from shareholders. One beef has been Nardelli's expansion of HD Supply, an industrial division that caters to large commercial contractors such as homebuilders and municipalities.

ANNAPOLIS -- A recycling tax of up to a dollar on every new tire sold in Maryland would be collected at the wholesale rather than retail level under amendments agreed to yesterday by a pair of Senate committees.The move to tax at the wholesale level added to the House-passed bill was sought by the Maryland gas station dealers' association.J. Basil Wisner, chief deputy comptroller, told the Budget and Taxation Committee that collecting the tax on the wholesale level would raise more money and be more efficient.

Superman died two years ago, but the latest comic-book news may be even more earth-shaking and, at least for some in the industry, scarier.The country's two biggest comic publishers have signed exclusive distribution deals, shifting millions of dollars in wholesale business faster than a speeding bullet.Marvel Entertainment Group Inc., the No. 1 comic company with about 30 percent of the market, fired the first shots two months ago by deciding to use a Marvel-owned distributor for all its shipments to specialty comic-book stores.

WASHINGTON -- Inflation at the wholesale level declined during March for the fourth month in a row, the U.S. government reported yesterday, heightening speculation about whether the Federal Reserve will move to push interest rates down further.The Department of Labor's monthly producer price index fell 0.3 percent over the month as price increases moderated across a wide range of sectors. The decline followed decreases of 0.6 percent in February, 0.1 percent in January and 0.6 percent in December.

A Baltimore meat wholesaler with a history of health code violations has agreed to pay a $5,000 fine and was placed on probation for three years after pleading guilty this week to two violations of state health law.Michael Tsang, who owns United Foods Co. in the 600 block of W. Saratoga St. near Lexington Market, had his food permit revoked by the city's Department of Health after an inspection in September by city and U.S. Department of Agriculture officials...

The Ravens held what seemed to be a sober, pragmatic state-of-the-union news conference yesterday. They talked a lot about relying on "process" to bounce back from their disappointing 2005. It was hard to sit through the almost hourlong event, which was just a few flow charts shy of a shareholders' meeting, and come away thinking of this organization as a pack of daredevils. But while they presented a businesslike front, they were embarking on what could only be described as a mighty risk.