Mergers

Schulte-United. On the stock exchange shares of Schulte Retail Stores Corp. rose a few points. The apparent operations of a stock market pool was one cause; another, and more important, was the much mooted merger of Schulte (300 branches) with United Cigar Stores Corp. (3,000 branches). The two firms are now joined in interests in Union United Tobacco Co. (a holding company) and Schulte-United Five-Cents-to-a-Dollar Stores. United has large stockholdings in the Pennsylvania Drug Co., Schulte in the American Druggists Syndicate; United in Life Savers Inc., Beechnut Packing Co., Gillette Safety Razor Co., U. S. Tobacco Co., Philip Morris & Co. Ltd., Schulte in B. G. Davis & Co. (cigars), Nadler Cigar Co., Huyler's of Delaware Inc. (candy, sodas, lunches), V. Vivadou Inc. (cosmetics), Park & Tilford (candies), the Schulte Real Estate Co. Action on any such merger of United and Schulte was fairly remote last week: Charles A. Whelan, United's head, was in Europe; David Schulte at midsummer leisure.

Groceries. Kroger Grocery & Baking Co., ever expanding from its Cincinnati base, last week acquired the 115 Pittsburgh stores of the Eagle Grocery Stores Co., whose sales the first half of this year had been $1,873,750, all last year $3,194,604. Kroger now has more than 4,300 stores.

Credit. Two credit companies operate throughout the U. S. for the highly technical financing of productive and labor-saving machinery and equipment--the New Amsterdam Credit Corp. (Edward S. Maddock, president) and the Credit Alliance Corp. (Clarence Y. Palitz, president). The Credit Alliance Corp. having just bought all the stock of the other, their merger becomes effective, with $10,000,000 capital, $30,000,000 resources.

Du Pont. Somebody in recent stock trading days has been buying Paramount-Famous-Lasky stock. That somebody, it became clear last week, was affiliated with E. I. du Pont de Nemours & Co., which among its multifarious investments controls Du Pont-Pathe Film Mfg. Co. (Eastman Kodak rival). So the inference gained credence in Wall Street that du Fonts would soon be on Paramount-Famous-Lasky's directorate.