URS Corp. (NYSE: URS) bought the 200-employee firm, said Wendy Lopez, co-founder and CEO of LopezGarcia, who will remain with the firm as leader of its Texas initiative with a title of vice president.

Both LopezGarcia and URS declined to disclose financial terms, although Lopez said it was an all-cash deal.

The LopezGarcia name is expected to disappear eventually, but for now the five LopezGarcia offices will answer the phones as URS/LopezGarcia. LopezGarcia has offices in Dallas, Fort Worth, Houston, Austin and Amarillo.

“We are about to celebrate 20 years in the business, and we’ve had a really good run,” Lopez said. “The company is doing great. There was no reason prompting us (to sell), but I see our industry changing, and the firms are getting bigger … and the projects are getting bigger.”

Lopez said the firm was having trouble growing beyond its regional size, and also saw the consolidation trend developing.

URS approached LopezGarcia, said Lopez, who said talks commenced about a possible merger about a year ago.

“Sometimes you are limited by your resources,” she said. “In a larger organization, it will create some larger opportunities for our employees. If someone wants to work in Hong Kong, we’ve got an office there.”

URS’ Vincent Provenza, senior vice president and regional business unit manager for URS Corp. in New Orleans, said URS wanted a bigger Texas presence, he said.

“URS has always felt that Texas, because of its quality of life and economy … would continue to grow in population and this growth in population would necessitate new infrastructure in power, transportation and water resources. These are all the things that URS focuses on.”

The state has been consistently a top issuer of government bonds, which are used to fund infrastructure projects. In the first quarter of 2008, the state issued $11.1 billion in bonds, according to URS.

Provenza said URS looked at more than 100 firms to find one that shared its culture and focused on the state and local infrastructure market.

URS has had a presence in North Texas since the 1960s, mainly through acquistions of local firms. About a year ago, it began a Texas initiative to grow its clout in the Lone Star State. Its Texas projects have included work on a downtown Dallas Area Rapid Transit line, planning work for the Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport and environmental planning for the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, a state agency.

Lopez said she’ll lead URS’ Texas initiative going forward, working to raise the firm’s profile in the state to grab more market share.

LopezGarcia’s projects have included the mechanical, electrical and plumbing design services for the new Dallas Cowboys stadium, program management services for D/FW Airport and engineering design services for U.S. 290 in Houston. In July, Lopez was named one of the area’s most influential women in business by the Dallas Business Journal.

URS will move out of its offices at 3010 LBJ Freeway in the Graystone Centre and move into the InfoMart, where LopezGarcia offices. No layoffs are expected, Lopez said.

Dallas Business Journal

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Michael LaMoria, who operates the Mephisto store in Bellevue Square, is opening his second location on the northeast corner of University Street and Fourth Avenue across from the Fairmont Olympic hotel this September.

The 601-square-foot space that Mephisto is occupying has been vacant for several years.

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Sales at the nation's three biggest chains rose 5.9 percent from a year earlier, easing from June's 11.2 percent gain, the Ministry of Knowledge Economy said in Gwacheon today.

Households, struggling with surging living costs, have reined in purchases of non-essential goods, which may erode earnings at retailers such as Lotte Shopping Co. Moderating spending will further cool an economy that grew at the slowest annual pace in more than a year last quarter.

“Consumer spending will likely remain weak for a while on the weak labor market and higher fuel and borrowing costs,'' said Go You Sun, an economist at Daewoo Securities Co. in Seoul. “Sentiment may start to improve as oil prices are falling.''

The Kospi stock index has dropped 17 percent this year as Asia's fourth-largest economy shows signs of cooling. Shares in Lotte Shopping, the nation's largest department store operator, have fallen 28 percent in 2008, and those in Hyundai Department Store Co., the second biggest, have slumped 26 percent.

Consumer confidence declined to the lowest level in eight years in July. The economy expanded 4.8 percent last quarter from a year earlier, the slowest pace since the start of 2007. The jobless rate was 3.2 percent last month, up from 3 percent at the start of the year.

Prices Surge

Spiraling food and fuel prices are eating into household budgets. Consumer prices climbed 5.9 percent in July, the biggest gain since 1998.

The Bank of Korea lifted its benchmark interest rate to an eight-year high of 5.25 percent this month, the first increase in a year, to quell inflation.

Spending on men's clothes fell 6.6 percent in July from last year, today's report showed. In contrast, sales of luxury goods at department stores gained 30.7 percent.

Sales at discount stores rose 2.1 percent last month from a year earlier, reversing a 1.9 percent drop in June.

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Gross domestic product in the 15 nations that share the single currency shrank 0.2 percent from the first quarter, when it expanded 0.7 percent, according to the median estimate of 40 economists in a Bloomberg News survey. Germany's economy, the largest in the region, probably shrank the most since 1993, a separate survey shows.

European Central Bank President Jean-Claude Trichet said on Aug. 7 that growth will be “particularly weak'' through the third quarter. Manufacturing and services industries shrank for a second month in July and confidence in Europe's economy is at the lowest level in almost 15 years.

“Even allowing for the correction after the strong first quarter, it could be even weaker than people expect,'' said Simon Barry, an economist at Ulster Bank Ltd. in Dublin. “And the underlying weakness means the economy has considerably less momentum heading into the third quarter.''

Italy's economy, the third-biggest in the euro region, unexpectedly shrank in the April-June period, edging closer to a fourth recession in a decade, according to data published Aug. 8. GDP fell 0.3 percent, compared with economists' expectations for stagnation.

German Slump

German GDP probably shrank 0.8 percent in the three months through June, according to the median estimate of 41 economists in a Bloomberg survey, after expanding 1.5 percent in the previous quarter. In France and Spain, the pace of expansion also slowed in the second quarter, separate surveys show.

The German data will be published at 8 a.m. today, followed by France and Spain. The euro-area figures are scheduled to be released at 11 a.m.

An index measuring the economic climate in the region dropped to the lowest since 1993, the Munich-based Ifo institute said yesterday. Measures of both current conditions and expectations declined, according to Ifo's quarterly World Economic Survey.

Trichet, speaking last week after the ECB kept its benchmark rate at 4.25 percent, said the central bank has “no bias'' on interest rates and he removed a reference from his introductory statement to “moderate, ongoing growth.''

Orders Dry Up

German factory orders have fallen for the past seven months and dropped the most in a year in June, according to figures published last week. An index of European manufacturing and services activity fell to 47.8 last month from 49.3 in June, where below 50 indicates a decline. The level is “consistent'' with zero economic growth, according to Barry at Ulster Bank.

As euro-area companies grapple with cooling orders, they are also contending with soaring costs for energy and raw materials and the euro's 9 percent advance against the dollar in the past year. European inflation quickened to 4.1 percent last month, more than twice the ECB's 2 percent limit, according to a first estimate published July 31. The final consumer-price data for July is also scheduled to be released at 11 a.m.

Diemen, Netherlands-based CSM NV, the world's largest supplier of ingredients to bakeries, yesterday said price increases will hurt sales in the U.S. and delayed a profitability goal. Italian washing-machine maker Indesit Co. said July 30 that 2008 earnings will be lower than last year's, citing the “very strong effect of exchange rates.''

While crude oil has dropped more than $30 since hitting a record $147 a barrel last month, prices are still almost 60 percent higher than a year ago. The gloomier growth outlook, and the ECB's acknowledgement that growth may not pick up as early as it previously expected, has prompted investors to start to price in interest-rate reductions.

Rate Expectations

Yields on Eonia forward contracts, a widely used market gauge of interest-rate expectations, have fallen in the past month. The yield on the March contract dropped to 4.12 percent yesterday from 4.38 percent. The euro has dropped 6.2 percent against the dollar in the same period and fell below $1.50 this week for the first time in more than five months.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. yesterday lowered its forecast for economic growth and predicted the ECB will cut its benchmark rate three times next year to 3.5 percent, starting in the first quarter. It previously forecast the ECB would keep borrowing costs on hold through 2009.

The economy is facing “stagnation or a low growth rut, similar to what happened in the region after the bursting of the equity bubble in 2000,'' said David Mackie, chief European economist at JPMorgan. “The forecast now anticipates a reasonably extended period of growth below potential.''

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Starting early next year, its flight attendants will be outfitted with hand-held credit-card machines.

"It’s more convenient for our customers," said Michelle Mohr, a US Airways spokeswoman. "We realize consumers these days aren’t going to have a pocket full of cash. We want to move to a cashless cabin."

Last week, the Tempe, Ariz.-based airline began charging $1 for coffee and hot tea, and $2 for soft drinks and water. It is the carrier’s latest move to boost revenue as it struggles to make money with high fuel prices and softening demand.

The cost of jet fuel has increased more than 90 percent over the last year and more than 200 percent since 2000.

US Airways also charges for checked luggage, curbside-checked luggage and call-center reservations. The a la carte pricing is expected to bring in up to $500 million annually.

The airline, the seventh-largest serving Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport, has been testing hand-held credit-card devices for several months. US Airways declines to say how much it is investing, but it expects to sign a contract with a vendor soon. It then takes 12 weeks to receive the machines, which are about the size of a TV remote control.

Several other airlines — including Delta Air Lines Inc. (NYSE: DAL), American Airlines (NYSE: AMR) and JetBlue Airways Corp. (NASDAQ: JBLU) — already use the machines. "We’re behind the curve on this," Mohr said.

When America West Airlines and US Airways (NYSE: LCC) merged in September 2005, such capital expenditures hadn’t been in the picture, Mohr said.

Mike Flores, a spokesman for the Association of Flight Attendants, which represents US Airways’ flight attendants, said the devices could lead to the airline charging for more amenities such as blankets and pillows.

Flores said he hasn’t heard too many complaints from customers but also hasn’t seen much demand.

Each flight brings in a few hundred dollars in beverage sales, Mohr said.

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Factory-gate prices rose 10 percent in July from a year earlier, the statistics bureau said today, after gaining 8.8 percent in June. That was more than the 9 percent median estimate of 15 economists surveyed by Bloomberg News.

China's government has tweaked policies toward stimulating growth rather than cooling prices after inflation eased from February's 12-year high as food-price gains eased. Today's number may make policy makers more cautious after they loosened bank lending quotas, raised tax rebates for some exporters and halted gains by the yuan.

Producer prices pose “a strong upside risk to consumer- price inflation growth,'' said Sherman Chan, a Sydney-based economist at Moody's Economy.com. “In the next few months, the authorities will likely further tighten monetary policy and impose price curbs.''

The yuan traded at 6.8648 as of 11:39 a.m. in Shanghai, from a close of 6.8588 on Aug. 8.

The surge in producer prices isn't likely to flow through to consumer prices “soon'' because of the extremely competitive market for goods, Zhang Liqun, a senior research fellow at the State Council's Development Research Center, said in an e-mailed statement.

Zhang said the gain was the biggest since 1996. Bloomberg data goes back to 1999.

Consumer Goods

So far, manufacturers are absorbing most of the higher prices, rather than passing them on to consumers. Producer prices of consumer goods rose 4.6 percent in July from a year earlier, the least in six months.

Consumer prices rose 7.1 percent in June from a year earlier, down from 8.7 percent in February.

China raised last month lending quotas for banks and increased tax rebates on exports of textiles and garments as export growth cooled. The yuan has fallen 0.2 percent against the dollar this quarter after gaining 4.2 percent in the first quarter and 2.3 percent in the second.

The world's fourth-largest economy expanded 10.1 percent in the second quarter from a year earlier, down from 10.6 percent in the three months through March.

The producer price of crude oil jumped 41 percent in July from a year earlier after rising 36 percent in June, the statistics bureau said. Ferrous metals climbed 31 percent after gaining 29 percent.

Fuel, Electricity prices

China raised state-controlled fuel and electricity prices in June and July.

Tumbling commodity prices have increased the likelihood of producer-price inflation slowing in coming months.

Crude oil fell below $115 a barrel on Aug. 8 for the first time since May. The Bloomberg Constant Maturity Commodity Index dropped 3.3 percent to 1,420.62, the lowest since March 20.

“The recent sharp falls in many commodity prices suggest that these upstream inflation pressures may be at a peak,'' said Mark Williams, a London-based economist at Capital Economics Ltd.

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Sunnyvale-based Yahoo (NASDAQ: YHOO), like other online portals, has sought to gather information about people using its site and to aim specific ads at them based on that knowledge. This lets the company charge advertisers more because Yahoo can guarantee them the target audience they want.

The House Energy and Commerce Committee asked 33 companies for information about customized ads, and Yahoo made this opt-out choice available as a result. Users will have this option by the end of the month.

Anne Toth, Yahoo's head of privacy, said "the trust of ours users is our greatest asset."

In a letter to John Dingell, the chairman of the committee, Yahoo said its users often want to receive targeted ads. "Consumers have and continue to respond strongly to Internet products and services that are customized to their interests," the letter said.

Yahoo also said that targeted ads like those it sells allow small businesses "to gain a foothold on the Internet."

Most of Yahoo's revenue comes from advertising. In the quarter ended March 31 $1.6 billion, or 87 percent, of Yahoo's $1.8 billion in revenue came from "marketing services" — display advertising and sponsored search ads as well as what the company calls "Content Match links," which are customized ads aimed at specific users.

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The Orlando/Orange County Convention & Visitors Bureau president and CEO is facing some tough challenges, the magazine noted, including an economic downturn and trying to fill the big shoes left by retired bureau President Bill Peeper.

Still, Sain was recognized for the "Creative Minds" campaign the bureau launched this spring to highlight Orando's vast and varied meeting space capabilities.

The magazine added that Sain's diverse sales and marketing background are a good fit as the bureau steps up its marketing campaign.

Others making the list included Richard Branson, president and founder of London-based Virgin Group; Ben Bernanke, chairman of the U.S. Federal Reserve; and renown chef Wolfgang Puck.

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Terms of the deal weren't disclosed, according to Sports Business Journal, a Dayton Business Journal sister publication, and it still needs an OK from the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP). Tennis for Charity will continue to own the Women's Open event.

Paul Flory, who runs the Warren County tournament, will retain a minority interest and continue to play a major role, according to the story. The tournament is negotiating with its sponsor, Western & Southern Financial Group, for a renewal.

Arlen Kantarian, USTA chief executive of pro tennis, told the Sports Business Journal that it planned to expand the tournament's broadcast hours on ESPN2, move the finals to CBS, boost marketing and upgrade the Lindner Family Tennis Center in Mason, where the event takes place.

The deal doesn't include the tennis center, which sits on 89 acres near the Kings Island theme park. The USTA will lease the property from Tennis for Charity.

Flory said in the story that the nonprofit wanted a partner to finance up to $20 million in needed capital improvements.

"We had one intent, and that is to build the event," he said.

The Western & Southern Masters tournament was held from July 25-Aug. 3. The Women's Open, a Tier III event on the international Sony Ericsson WTA Tour, will take place Aug. 9-17.

The tournaments have provided more than $7.7 million in charitable contributions since they began in 1974.

E-mail dayton@bizjournals.com. Call (937) 528-4400.

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The airline confirmed today it instituted fuel surcharges on more than 4,000 city pairs for travel beginning Jan. 10, 2009.

Ticket monitoring Web site farecompare.com broke news of the price increase this morning.

Kristin Baur, a spokeswoman for Eagan, Minn.-based Northwest (NYSE: NWA), said the charge was needed to offset the high price of fuel. She also noted that similar increases were made by United Airlines and US Airways.

Minneapolis / St. Paul Business Journal

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