Cover of the Sept. 26, 2011, Northern Nevada Business Weekly.
EDITOR’S NOTE: Each week in 2021, we feature snippets of stories that published a decade ago to provide readers a 10-year perspective of business news in the region. This week’s stories first published in the Sept. 26, 2011, edition of the NNBW.
Dental payment plan: Patients selling gold from mouthsAllen Rowe, president of Northern Nevada Coin, is used to the steady stream of customers that comes into his Carson City store to sell their old gold rings, necklaces and other jewelry.But lately, Rowe and owners of other businesses that buy scrap gold have seen a huge increase in customers coming in and selling old dental gold.With gold selling at more than $1,800 an ounce, trading in old gold crowns and bridges has become big business. The largest transaction conducted at Northern Nevada Coin for old dental gold: more than $70,000, Rowe says.“We see dental gold daily — we actually buy quite a large amount of it,” he says. “Really there is not a day that goes by that we don’t buy some.”— Page 1, by Rob Sabo
Robotics help Toys “R” Us improve efficiency of e-distribution
The robots that scoot around the new Toys “R” Us e-commerce fulfillment center at the Tahoe Reno Industrial Center in Storey County may help the logistics industry in Northern Nevada unsnarl one of its challenges.For much of the past two decades, distribution centers have gotten larger as logistics experts sought to capture economies of scale, says Jerry Storch, chairman and CEO of Toy “R”Us Inc.But in recent years, industry experts realized the costs of moving stuff around inside a giant warehouse — hauling it the distance of a couple of football fields on a forklift — ate up any efficiencies that they gained from a big operation. And that’s especially critical in an e-commerce fulfillment operation, where pennies matter.— Page 1, by John Seelmeyer
Laddawn Corp. to add Sparks manufacturing operations
After more than a year of searching, plastic film and bag maker Laddawn of Devens, Mass., found a suitable location for a manufacturing facility at 650 Lillard Drive in Sparks and plans to begin limited production in March.Laddawn has operated a distribution facility in Sparks for the past decade and had been seeking a suitable location for a western region manufacturing facility for the past 18 months, says Owen Richardson, vice president of marketing and sales.However, the company’s search was hampered by its need for certain height clearances for its manufacturing processes, rail access and the fact Laddawn wished to buy a building instead of paying rent. The new facility allows Laddawn to increase its storage capacity in Sparks, which had been getting close to full, Richardson says, as well as shave transportation costs and lead times.— Page 6, by Rob Sabo
