Luxury Eyewear Maker Laying Off 208 in Memphis

Luxottica Retail North America Inc. has filed an official notice with the state of Tennessee saying it will permanently layoff 208 workers in Shelby County by Dec. 31.

The filing with the Tennessee Department of Labor and Workforce Development affects workers at its facility at 5780 E. Shelby Drive, Suite 102.

The workers are not represented by any collective bargaining agreement.

Luxottica designs, manufactures and distributes fashion, luxury, sports and performance eyewear under such brands such as Ray-Ban, Oakley, Vogue Eyewear, Persol and Arnette, and has licensing agreements with Giorgio Armani, Chanel, Michael Kors, Prada, Ralph Lauren, Tiffany & Co., Versace and other brands.

– Daily News staff

Highland Row Owner Secures $245M in Capital

Indianapolis-based developer Milhaus, which currently owns the Highland Row in Memphis, has secured $245 million in new capital from FrontRange Capital Partners, StepStone Group Real Estate LP, and a group of internal investors.

Now that the investment has been secured, Milhaus will be able to “retain ownership and control of assets for the long term,” including the Artistry in Indianapolis, Lift in Oklahoma City and Highland Row in Memphis, according to a release from the company.

The $245 million in capital will allow the company to reach its goal of having 20,000 housing units in 10 markets by 2020.

“We firmly believe this new capital will empower Milhaus in a number of ways,” Milhaus CEO Tadd Miller said in a release announcing the investment. “From the financial viewpoint, it will help to solidify our goal since inception: to build and own a portfolio of hard-to-assemble, hard-to-replace assets in the top secondary markets throughout the Midwest and Southeast.”

Since 2009, Milhaus has developed more than 3,805 units and manages 7,445 multifamily apartment units focused in secondary markets in the Midwest and Southeast.

– Patrick Lantrip

U of M breaks ground for new music center

The University of Memphis was to hold a groundbreaking ceremony Friday, Oct. 27, for the new Scheidt Family Music Center on campus.

The new 40,000-square-foot center will be located on the north side of Central Avenue across from the current University of Memphis Music Building.

It will more than double the space of the current Rudi E. Scheidt School of Music. The state-of-the-art facility is estimated to cost $44 million and will feature an expansive performance hall and significant enhancements in technology and acoustics, providing dedicated, tailored laboratories for innovation and artistic expression to enhance the educational experience for students.

– Daily News staff

Tenet Healthcare To Cut 1,300 Jobs

Tenet Healthcare plans to cut 1,300 jobs, more than 1 percent of its workforce, in an attempt to cut costs as it reported a quarterly loss of $367 million on Friday, Oct. 27..

It was not immediately clear whether some of the layoffs would come at St. Francis-Memphis or St. Francis-Bartlett hospitals in the Memphis area market that Tenet owns.

The company’s stock jumped 10 percent on the news to $14.19, in early trading Friday, but closed about 4 percent higher on the day.

The Dallas-based health care company expects the job cuts to lower annual expenses by $150 million. Tenet has about 101,000 full-time employees.

The company also named James Bierma to the board of directors, increasing its size to 10 members.

Tenet reported a third-quarter loss of $367 million, or 17 cents per share when adjusted for non-recurring costs and discontinued operations. Wall Street was expecting a loss of 38 cents, according to the average estimate of nine analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research. Revenue of $4.59 billion in the period missed Street forecasts of $4.73 billion.

– Daily News staff

Redbirds’ Eversgerd Promoted To St. Louis Bullpen Coach

Bryan Eversgerd, longtime pitching coach for the Memphis Redbirds, will in 2018 work as the bullpen coach for the parent St. Louis Cardinals.

The big league club has made several staff changes of late, including firing pitching coach Derek Lilliquist and replacing him with Mike Maddux, who most recently was on the staff of the Washington Nationals.

Eversgerd had been pitching coach with the Redbirds since 2013 and this past season, when the Redbirds won the Pacific Coast League championship, Memphis manager Stubby Clapp relied on Eversgerd’s input when making in-game pitching decisions.

As a player, Eversgerd pitched 12 years professionally and spent time with both the Redbirds and Cardinals. His 2017 Redbirds pitching staff led the PCL with a 3.77 ERA and a 1.26 WHIP.

In other coaching staff changes, former Redbirds manager Mike Shildt was moved from third base coach to bench coach, Jose Oquendo will return to manager Mike Matheny’s staff and former Cardinal Willie McGee will be a full-time staff member. Also, another former Redbirds manager, Ron “Pop” Warner, will be Matheny’s assistant field coordinator.

– Don Wade