Alabama for sale
By Wade KwonRandall Publishing, a family-owned magazine publisher in Tuscaloosa, became part of the Wachovia empire on Monday.
You may not have heard of Truckers News, Modern Woodworking or Overdrive, but the company employs 400 and has been around for 70 years.
It’s part of a trend of homegrown businesses gobbled up by out-of-state owners.
Birmingham-born Bruno’s (also in business for 70 years) has had several corporate masters, most recently, Bi-Lo.
Parisian, founded in 1887 in Birmingham, became part of the Saks empire in 1996.
And SouthTrust, one of the big four banks in Birmingham, sold out to … Wachovia in 2004 at the ripe old age of 117. No doubt you’ve noticed the shiny new Wachovia signs all around town.
And the results?
Bruno’s has struggled mightily in the past few years, and increased competition from Wal-Mart has put it on the defensive (not to mention Publix’s long-awaited move into the Birmingham market).
Parisian has suffered by proxy, as Saks has been on a selling spree to keep stock prices up.
Wachovia will be the biggest bank in the Southeast after its $14 billion buyout of SouthTrust, but will shed 4,300 jobs in the process.
Randall’s new owner is Wachovia’s investment arm (not the banking division), but watch out. Mergers can sour quickly, publishing can be a fickle business, and some companies in Alabama end up written off as losses in the game of corporate consolidation.
