The Milwaukee Post

6 • Milwaukee County Post • April 20, 2018 By KATHERINE MICHALETS Conley News Service MILWAUKEE — It's a sad day for Milwaukee- headquartered The Bon- Ton Stores, Inc. which announced the winning buyer during its bankrupt- cy auction is a liquidation company. During the court-super- vised asset sale, Bon-Ton's stores, e-commerce and mobile platfor ms under the Bon-Ton, Bergner's, Boston Store, Carson's, E l d e r - B e e r m a n , Herberger's and Younkers nameplates will remain open throughout the store closing sales. Bon-Ton will provide more details about the liq- uidation plans and going- out-of-business sales at its stores once the bankruptcy court issues an approval of the winning bid, which was expected to happen Wednesday, according to the announcement. "While we are disap- pointed by this outcome and tried very hard to identify bidders interested in operating the business as a going concern, we are committed to working con- structively with the win- ning bidder to ensure an orderly wind-down of operations that minimizes the impact of this develop- ment on our associates, customers, vendors and the communities we serve," said Bill Tracy, president and CEO, in a statement. "We are incred- ibly grateful to all of our associates for their dedi- cated service to Bon-Ton and to our millions of loyal customers who we have had the pleasure to serve as their hometown store for more than 160 years." On Feb. 5, Bon-Ton and its subsidiaries filed vol- untary petitions for a court-supervised financial restructuring under Chapter 11 of the United States Bankruptcy Code in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware. The Bon-Ton Stores, Inc., with corporate headquarters in York, Pa., and Milwaukee, operates 250 stores. In April, Bon-Ton noti- fied the Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development that if its Wisconsin operations would close, then about 2,255 employees would lose their jobs. Brookfield Mayor Steve Ponto expressed disap- pointment about the pend- ing closure of Boston Store in Brookfield Square mall. "I have been monitoring the Bon-Ton situation closely as has CBL Properties, the owner/operator of Brookfield Square Mall," Ponto said via email Wednesday. "The Boston Store has been an institu- tion since its founding in Milwaukee in 1897. It has been an anchor store for Brookfield Square Mall since the mall opened in 1967. I am sorry to see this institution go and know that this impacts many employees and others." Brookfield Square is undergoing a transforma- tion with the south end where Sears once occupied being tur ned into a Marcus Bistro Plex, as well a possible conference cen- ter. "The redevelopment of the south end of Brookfield Square is going very well and I am confi- dent a strong replacement or replacements will be found for the Boston Store," Ponto went to on to say. "The location is highly desirable and the Bluemound Road corridor as it runs through Brookfield has tremen- dous economic vitality. While we hate to lose an institution like the Boston Store, there are a lot of very positive transitions occurring and I am confi- dent about the future of Brookfield Square Mall and Brookfield's Bluemound Road corri- dor." BUSINESS A.O. Smith Corp. declares quarterly dividend MILWAUKEE — Directors of A.O. Smith Corp. announced it declared a regu- lar quarterly cash dividend of 18 cents per share on the company's common stock and Class A common stock. The dividend is payable May 15 to share- holders of record April 30. A. O. Smith Corp., with headquarters in Milwaukee, provides technology and ener- gy-efficient solutions to products manufac- tured and marketed worldwide. Bucks' Antetokounmpo has 4th-highest selling jersey in NBA MILWAUKEE — Milwaukee Bucks for- ward Giannis Antetokounmpo had the fourth-most popular jersey in the NBA dur- ing the 2017-18 regular season, the league announced Tuesday. In addition, the Bucks had the sixth- best-selling team merchandise for the sea- son. Rankings were based on www.nbas- tore.com sales since the beginning of the 2017-18 season. Antetokounmpo's No. 4 spot on the NBA's most popular jersey list is the high- est by a Bucks player to finish a season, and is four spots higher than his No. 8 ranking after the 2016-17 season. He entered the top 15 of NBA jersey sales in December 2016, marking the first time a Bucks player was in the top 15 of jersey sales since Gary Payton ranked 15th in December 2003. Overall, Bucks team merchandise jumped up two spots to No. 6 after finishing the 2016-17 season ranked eighth. A.O. Smith to become main water treatment brand at Lowe's MILWAUKEE — A.O. Smith Corp. announced it has been selected as the pri- mary supplier of residential water treat- ment products for all Lowe's U.S. home improvement stores. The Milwaukee-based water technology company will supply more than 20 A.O. Smith-branded water treatment products to Lowe's, beginning in mid-August. A.O. Smith will also provide merchandising support through new branded displays and an improved online experience, including a product selector tool on AOSmithatLowes.com, to help customers determine the right product for their needs. The company expects the new business' impact to earnings per share will be mini- mal in 2018, due to start-up costs, and will share more information at its Wednesday first quarter investors' conference call. Keller Inc. to build addition for Oldenburg Metal Tech MILWAUKEE — Keller Inc. has been selected to build an addition for Oldenburg Metal Tech, 775 Progress Drive, Saukville. Dave Uttech will be the project manager and Steve Klessig will be the architect. According to a news release, the addi- tion will be 15,000 square feet. According to its website, Oldenburg Metal Tech Inc. is a tool and die job shop that specializes in, but is not limited to, designing and building complex progres- sive dies. Other services that OMT offers include low- and high-volume production milling and turning, design and build of inspection, weld assembly fixtures, and coordinate-measuring machine inspection. Construction is expected to begin in May and be completed in September. Quad/Graphics produces ELLE's first personalized cover SUSSEX — Quad/Graphics created ELLE magazine's first personalized cover that went to 50,000 selected subscribers with a "handwritten" note addressed to the subscriber from April cover profile Kim Kardashian West. "While this campaign was focused on engagement and the reader-experience, the future potential of digital technology is compelling as it provides both publishers and marketers the ability to leverage their data to create personalized messages, images and offers in print advertising," said Brian Hickey, Quad/Graphics senior vice president of sales, in a release. "Quad's capabilities create the opportuni- ty for brand marketers to partner with publishers by leveraging their data into dynamic, highly personalized ad pages within magazines." Quad's digital platform allows publish- ers and their advertisers to develop data- driven custom content for target audi- ences. Kohl's announced $300 million cash tender offer MENOMONEE FALLS — Kohl's Corp. announced it has started a cash tender offer for up to $300 million combined aggre- gate principal amount of certain notes and debentures. According to the announcement, the offer applies to 7.25 percent debentures due 2029, 6.875 percent notes due 2037, 6 percent debentures due 2033, 4 percent notes due 2021, 4.75 percent notes due 2023 and 3.25 percent notes due 2023. The company reported the tender offer is being made pursuant to, and subject to the terms and conditions in, an offer to purchase, dated April 2. File photo A Milwaukee retail staple for decades, Boston Stores will close as part of Bon-Ton's liquidation announcement. Bon-Ton to close locations, including area Boston Stores

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