Chipotle marks 5 years by giving away food

There is a free lunch after all.

Chipotle restaurant gave away a free burrito and beverage to every customer who walked through the door Tuesday to celebrate its fifth year in downtown Lawrence.

By 4:30 p.m., store officials estimated that they had given away more than 1,000 burritos, which sell for between $5 and $6 each.

“We just decided to do it because Lawrence had been so supportive of us that we wanted to give back in a powerful way,” said Ben Neis, a spokesman for area Chipotle stores.

Neis said it was the first time to his knowledge that a Chipotle had played host to such an event. The store had 12 employees on Tuesday, which is double what it typically has.

Leawood

Gold Banc to fetch lower price in buyout

Gold Banc Corp. Tuesday said the private group that was planning to buy it plans to cut its offer after lawsuits against the bank and losses from high-yield investments have reduced the bank’s value.

Lawrence residents Amy Toenjes and Jason Cook get ready to eat their free burritos at Chipotle, 911 Mass.

Investors calling themselves Silver Acquisition Group offered to buy the bank for $672 million in February, or $16.60 per share.

Gold Banc, based in Leawood, has 37 branches in Kansas, Missouri, Oklahoma and Florida.

In August, Gold Banc paid $16 million to settle a lawsuit that alleged it had submitted false certifications and claims to the Farm Service Agency and charged excessive interest rates to the agency’s programs.

Silver is made up of a group of bank executives led by C. Stanley Bailey, who most recently was chairman and chief executive of Superior Financial Corp. Bailey and two other former Superior executives would take over the management of Gold Banc.

Wichita

Jarden plans to purchase parent firm of Coleman

Consumer products company Jarden Corp. has announced plans to purchase Coleman Co., the outdoor equipment manufacturer based in Wichita.

Jarden, based in Rye, N.Y., said Monday it agreed to buy Coleman’s privately owned parent, American Household Inc., for $745.6 million in cash and assumption of $140 million in debt. The sale is expected to close in the first quarter of 2005, subject to regulatory and other approvals.

In addition to Coleman, American Household’s products include Sunbeam, Oster, First Alert and Mr. Coffee. Jarden makes home canning and packaging equipment, kitchen matches, plastic cutlery, toothpicks, rope, cord and twine, and playing cards.

Coleman was founded in Wichita more than a century ago, and the Coleman family lost control in 1989. There have been setbacks since then for its parent company, including a bankruptcy filing.