Business

Sales Pitcher

Whenever sports–souvenir companies look at Rangers ace Nolan Ryan, they see dollar signs.

Plugged In

At Conn Appliances, employees—and customers—are members of the family.

Red Tape

To drill for oil in Siberia, you have to overcome three things: the cold, the loneliness, and the Soviet bureaucrats.

Radio Days

Thirty-five years ago, a Harlingen publisher turned in to Hispanic radio, only to become Texas’ least-known media mogul.

King of Aces

A Dallas insurance firm’s big gamble—backing holes in one at golf tournaments—was right on the money.

Safety Last

Deadly explosions at Texas petro-chemical plants have been linked to under-trained outside workers.

Fraud Buster

An Austin investigator clues accountants in on how to sniff out financial shenanigans.

Uniform Success

Williamson-Dickie of Fort Worth has a blue-collar gold mine in Dickies work clothes.

Ranching Out

On the Y.O. Ranch, cattle don’t pay the bills—tourists and exotic animals do.

Continental’s Drift

The airline’s second trip to bankruptcy court has put its future up in the air.

Fathers of Invention

Two Dallasites put their heads together and opened a creative outlet for inventors.

Food Fight

When Art Torres tried to sell a slice of his pizzerias, Pizza Hut boxed him in.

Net Worth

How does NBA superstar David Robinson handle his millions? He passes them to a real mom-and-pop operation—his parents.

Two-way Street

A year ago, Michael Dell was Wall Street’s whipping boy. Now he’s its darling.

Meaner Than a Junkyard Dog

“Guys like me like Iraq,” says Houston oilman Oscar Wyatt. “That’s the way the real world works, baby.”

Court Order

For a Houston court clerk, having millions in his bank account is not a dream-it’s his job.

Making the Team

Whenever pro sports franchises are up for sale, appraiser Steve Matt is likely to be a major player.

Means of Descent

As LBJ’s heirs go their own way, the family dismantles its business empire.

Hock Treatment

With clean, well-lighted places-filled with bargains-Forth Worth-based Cash America is spiffing up the sullied image of pawnshops.

Question Authority

A tiny Houston delivery firm did-and now it has the broadest trucking rights ever granted in Texas.

Saving Face

Nearly two years after the Exxon Valdez relations gurus are busy telling industries how to avoid looking bad.

God’s Jeweler

Piety or passion: The trials of James Avery, craftsman.

Risky Business

Eastern states have hit the jackpot with lotteries. But will Lotto play in Texas?

Return to Sender

In 1998 Neiman Marcus shelled out $119 million for Horchow Mail Order—only to have the cataloger lose $28 million within two years.

A Bitter Pill

By Skip Hollandsworth

Skip Hollandsworth

Skip Hollandsworth specializes in long-form narratives.

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Two-way Radio

With a sweet leasing deal, Austin sister stations KASE and KVET pack a one-two punch on the FM dial.

Dressed in Peace

When it’s time for that final fashion statement, a Fort Worth clothier has just the thing—complete with Velcro.

Man at Work

Now that Drayton McLane has sold his family company to Wal-Mart, he has no intention of retiring from the daily grind.

Boomtown

Don’t give up on oil yet, Texas. Come along to Pearsall, deep in the brush country, and learn how the new oil boom is different from the old.

Ad Men at War

How the battle for the Southwest Airlines account turned into a long-awaited showdown between Texas’s two top agencies.

By Skip Hollandsworth

Skip Hollandsworth

Skip Hollandsworth specializes in long-form narratives.

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Pipe Dream

Polybutylene plumbing systems were supposed to be a homeowner’s fantasy; they turned out to be a nightmare.

Meet the Governor: Clayton Williams

Onward to the past.

Power Switch

Are customers of the Comanche Peak nuclear plant better off with safety advocate Juanita Ellis on the inside or the outside?

The Quickest Draw In the West

Not since Remington and Russell has a cowboy artist sold so many works—for so much—as Fredericksburg’s G. Harvey.

By Skip Hollandsworth

Skip Hollandsworth

Skip Hollandsworth specializes in long-form narratives.

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The Texas 100

Who’s up, who’s down, who’s gone, and who’s new on our second annual study of the state’s superrich.

Howdy, Comrades! Let’s Do a Deal

A Texas businessman launches his one-man invasion of post-Communist Romania.

Venus Behind Bars

A new private prison brought a belated boom to tiny Venus, but the state contends that the jailhouse is a bust.

A Ride On the Wild Side

Conquering Arlington’s Texas Giant.

By Skip Hollandsworth

Skip Hollandsworth

Skip Hollandsworth specializes in long-form narratives.

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Jeff Reynolds, Zillionaire

The mysterious Texan who tried to take over australia’s mighty Bond Corporation last January looked good on paper—but paper was about all he had.

A Bridge Too Far?

Laredo initially hated Monterrey’s plan for a new border crossing but had second thoughts when it realized that there was money to be made.

Wouldn’t You Like To Be a Pepper Too?

A Dublin bottler is the only one in Texas who’s still sweet on traditional Dr. Pepper.

Boom and Bust

When oil and real estate boomed, a lot of Texans rode the tiger. But the beast turned, and those who weren’t devoured faced the prospect of limping back. It has been a long but not uninteresting trip.

Strike Up The Bands

The bands play on and on and on in Austin.

The $76 Million Divorce

The eldest son of Trammell Crow used his money for drugs, guns, and high living. His wife spent a fortune on personal trainers and self-promotion. Now they’re squaring off in an L.A. divorce court.

The Price of Peace

With the cold war fading into history, Fort Worth’s General Dynamics now has to regard peace as not merely an ideal but an economic reality.

Chalk Talk

Horizontal drilling has not only hit pay dirt in South Texas-it has also revived oil-patch wheeling and dealing.

Billie Sol Estes Has a Deal for You

The guy whose name is synonymous with swindling is finally a free man—but it may not last.

TV Guides

Daytime television isn’t just for housewives anymore; car salesmen, cops, and stockbrokers are tuning in to business networks.

The Day Leroy Died

When a small private bank was closed on August 7, depositors lost all of their money, a pillar of the community came tumbling down, and the town’s trusting way of life was shattered.

The Texas 100

Wealthy Texans have been heard to say that money is just a way of keeping score. Here's the scoreboard.