Heads and tales: Selling well
By Wade Kwon
From the penthouse to …: HealthSouth continues its long march to solvency and respectability. A Dallas real estate company will buy its 280 headquarters and giant faux hospital for $60 million from the Birmingham-based health care giant, far less than the $238 million spent on them. The money will go to paying down the company’s $4.2 billion debt, or about 1.4 percent. HealthSouth will remain in its building for a year while seeking new office space within the metro area.
Meanwhile, founder Richard Scrushy and former governor Don Siegelman are a mere 24 days away from sentencing. Federal prosecutors have asked for 25 to 30 years jail time and millions in fines and restitution. Attorneys for the pair have filed for no jail time. Naturally.
• Unused hospital, HQ sold [Birmingham News]
The unholy power of Oprah: Birmingham-based Books-A-Million saw a 40 percent jump in profit between the first quarter of this year and 2006. Was it smart marketing, long-term planning or higher productivity? Or was it the awesome power of daytime TV host Oprah Winfrey? According to the retailer’s president, Oprah’s recommendation of self-help DVD “The Secret” helped boost sales revenues. Yeah, here’s the secret: Save the Oprah, save the world.
• Books-A-Million posts 40 percent increase in profits [Birmingham Business Journal]
Jazz in the field: Moss Rock Preserve (the nature site, not the residential development) will hold an outdoor jazz festival Sunday, featuring Birmingham’s own Eric Essix and Oteil Burbridge as well as headliner Kirk Whalum. The event runs from 3 to 10 p.m., with tickets priced at $24.50. Parking will be at Regions Park (formerly the Hoover Met), with shuttles running to the preserve. [map]
• Preserve Jazz Festival site
Also:
- Citizens asked to conserve water, but ‘go nuts’ with gasoline
- Mayor’s budget funds wacky new neighbor, surprise pregnancy
- Free from schools shackles, teens start summer jobs looting, chilling
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