Product Line

Dan Roitman's company is called Stroll , a most ill-fitting name. From a growth perspective at least, Stroll's evolution has been anything but a leisurely pace. Born 12 years ago in a Maryland dorm room, the Center City company is an impressive display of the potential of any small business, though perhaps in the extreme. In just the last year, its revenue has exploded from $17 million to $40 million, with another doubling expected by the end of 2012. Profit growth was 400 percent last year, Roitman said.

Simkar Corp. is already serving the do-it-yourself and electrical-distributor market at home centers such as Home Depot. Now it's going after professional interior designers at upscale retail outlets. Simkar bought Las Vegas-based Kalco Lighting last month. Kalco makes chandeliers, sconces and other lighting accessories that it sells through showrooms and high-end retail outlets. Simkar officials would not disclose the purchase price or Kalco's revenues. "It allows us to put our product through another distribution channel and gives us a distribution channel on the West Coast," said Bud Drago, director of marketing.

The deals just keep coming in a month more associated with vacation arrangements than definitive agreements. Google Inc. conjures up $12.5 billion to buys Motorola Mobility Holdings Inc. , which makes cable set-top boxes in Montgomery County. Philadelphia's Sunoco Inc. unloads its Ohio phenol plant in exchange for $106.5 million. Cardtronics Inc. scoops up Cherry Hill-based Access to Money Inc. , which operates 10,000 ATMs in stores and credit unions, for $21.2 million.

Ultra Hardware L.L.C. has a new display wall. Unlike the ones filled with brass-colored door knockers and locks, this one may not excite a handyman. But mothers and fathers may feel an instant affinity: All the products feature the Safety 1st label. The Pennsauken company bought Safety 1st Inc.'s hardware security business last month for an undisclosed amount. Now, it will make and distribute doorknobs, padlocks, door chains, latches and other products under the Safety 1st brand name.

State, local and county officials have met with representatives of the Anchor Hocking Packaging Co. in an attempt to get the company to reconsider closing its Glassboro plant. Loans from the Economic Development Authority and workforce development assistance were among offers made at the meeting Monday at the state Department of Commerce and Economic Development. The meeting was scheduled at the request of Glassboro Mayor Todd Armstrong and area legislators; union representatives also attended.

During a 35-year career in the apparel industry, Frederick Gillette worked for seven companies before landing at Artex Knitting Mills Inc. eight years ago. Not that he is a job-hopper. "They all went out of business," Gillette said of his previous employers as he slipped a spool of black yarn onto a creel on one of Artex's 100 knitting machines, whose humming fills the South Jersey factory. For Gillette, 61, and many of his colleagues who make up Artex's 90-person unionized workforce, the Westville, Gloucester County, producer of knit hats and scarves has become a refuge.

My readers never disappoint, and this week is no exception. One of you wrote to say that the white plastic coating on the bottom rack of the dishwasher was coming off, leaving rust on the dishes. The manufacturer's solution: a replacement rack for more than $200. Respondents cited similar problems — and solutions. From Stephanie Simkins: "My dishwasher is many years old and still working perfectly except for the rusting racks. I wrote to Maytag about the problem and did receive a call back from their customer service department.

  The Navajo Nation has filed a federal lawsuit against Urban Outfitters Inc., alleging that the Philadelphia-based retailer committed trademark infringement by marketing and selling products that use the American Indian tribe's marks and names without a licensing or vendor agreement. In the civil action filed in U.S. District Court in New Mexico, the tribe and its commercial subsidiaries seek damages and an order stopping Urban Outfitters from using the names   "Navajo   " and   "Navaho " and marks on goods that compete with its own trademarked jewelry, housewares, and clothing.

Frank Hayes Wheaton Jr., 85, the colorful, sometimes controversial, South Jersey industrialist and philanthropist who built his fortune on glass and plastic, died Tuesday from a stroke at the University of Pennsylvania Hospital, Philadelphia. A lifelong Millville resident, he was a 1931 graduate of Millville High School. Once the largest family-owned company in the United States, Wheaton Industries Inc., formerly known as Wheaton Glass Co., became a giant concern under three generations of Wheatons.

This is the story of the two Nathans brothers, Sonny Saul and Peter Paul, and the pink bubble gum-colored liquids that have come between them in the federal courts. The older brother, Sonny, 52, is the sole proprietor of S.S. Nathans, a Stratford company that develops and sells polishes, soaps and detergents. One of his top-selling products is Liquid Brilliance, billed as "a nonabrasive, state of the art, aerodynamic, fast brilliant luster for new showroom cars, expensive classic and antique automobiles . . . and sleek, beautiful limousines.

My readers never disappoint, and this week is no exception. One of you wrote to say that the white plastic coating on the bottom rack of the dishwasher was coming off, leaving rust on the dishes. The manufacturer's solution: a replacement rack for more than $200. Respondents cited similar problems — and solutions. From Stephanie Simkins: "My dishwasher is many years old and still working perfectly except for the rusting racks. I wrote to Maytag about the problem and did receive a call back from their customer service department.

Dan Roitman's company is called Stroll , a most ill-fitting name. From a growth perspective at least, Stroll's evolution has been anything but a leisurely pace. Born 12 years ago in a Maryland dorm room, the Center City company is an impressive display of the potential of any small business, though perhaps in the extreme. In just the last year, its revenue has exploded from $17 million to $40 million, with another doubling expected by the end of 2012. Profit growth was 400 percent last year, Roitman said.

  The Navajo Nation has filed a federal lawsuit against Urban Outfitters Inc., alleging that the Philadelphia-based retailer committed trademark infringement by marketing and selling products that use the American Indian tribe's marks and names without a licensing or vendor agreement. In the civil action filed in U.S. District Court in New Mexico, the tribe and its commercial subsidiaries seek damages and an order stopping Urban Outfitters from using the names   "Navajo   " and   "Navaho " and marks on goods that compete with its own trademarked jewelry, housewares, and clothing.

The largest trade show in the Americas must be a great place to show off new products, right? Wrong. The International Consumer Electronics Show (CES) is quickly becoming a launch pad for products that fall flat. When the annual gathering kicks off next week, organizers expect more than 140,000 people to descend on Las Vegas. They will mill around 1.8 million square feet of booths and exhibits, equivalent to 31 football fields. The 2,800 or so exhibitors are hoping to set the tone for the year by showing off tons of tablet computers, throngs of 3-D TVs, and untold numbers of slim, light laptops called ultrabooks.

Tastykakes are now for sale across the Southeast and exceeding the expectations of Flowers Foods Inc., the Georgia bread company that bought Philadelphia's Tasty Baking Co. in May. "Our integration plans are ahead of schedule," and cost reductions are meeting or exceeding estimates, Allen L. Shiver, Flowers' president, told stock analysts Thursday on a conference call discussing the Thomasville, Ga., company's third-quarter results. The cost savings included the elimination of 32 positions at the former Tasty Baking headquarters at the Philadelphia Navy Yard.

The deals just keep coming in a month more associated with vacation arrangements than definitive agreements. Google Inc. conjures up $12.5 billion to buys Motorola Mobility Holdings Inc. , which makes cable set-top boxes in Montgomery County. Philadelphia's Sunoco Inc. unloads its Ohio phenol plant in exchange for $106.5 million. Cardtronics Inc. scoops up Cherry Hill-based Access to Money Inc. , which operates 10,000 ATMs in stores and credit unions, for $21.2 million.

Eugene D. Hug, 77, of Kennett Square, a former steel-company president, died Friday at Neighborhood Hospice in West Chester of complications from a stroke. After becoming head of Phoenix Steel Corp. in 1977, Mr. Hug expanded the output and diversified the product line of the company's tube-products mill in Phoenixville and improved operating efficiency at the company's plant in Claymont, Del. In 1983, Mr. Hug testified before a U.S. Senate budget committee meeting, calling for an easing of antitrust laws to permit industry mergers that would increase efficiency.

The Hershey Co. closed its Reading plant yesterday, shutting down production lines that for 23 years have produced such storied sweets as York Peppermint Patties and 5th Avenue Bars. The production lines at the plant are being moved to Monterrey, Mexico, and other facilities in the United States as part of a restructuring of Hershey's, the nation's largest candy manufacturer. About 300 jobs are being lost at the Reading plant. A total of about 1,500 jobs are being eliminated companywide.