Unheavenly

Chock full o' commotion

William Black was assuring everyone last week that he was not dead. Eighty plus, yes, but not dead. Afflicted with heart trouble, a bleeding ulcer and a third ailment he will not disclose, yes, but still not dead. Said Black: "I know how Mark Twain must have felt when he stated that reports of his demise had been greatly exaggerated."

Black's message was aimed at fending off dissident shareholders trying to take control of the company he founded in the 1920s, then nursed into a group of nut stores that became Chock Full O' Nuts Corp. The company evolved into a chain of counter-service restaurants, mostly in New York City. But the biggest chunk of its fiscal 1982 sales of $116 million came from its "heavenly coffee," sold nationally under Chock Full's label and promoted in saccharine TV commercials by Black's third wife, Page, who looks fiftyish.

Dissidents among Chock Full's 20,000 shareholders are led by Jerry Finkelstein, 66. He runs Struthers Wells Corp., a maker of power-plant equipment, and publishes the New York Law Journal. The dissidents claimed that Black had not set foot in his office for a year and had admitted he kept in touch with Chock Full through his wife. They said he had not attended a directors' meeting since August 1981, and knew the names of only four of his fellow directors. They charged also that Chock Full's president, Leon Pordy, Black's cardiologist, still ran a Park Avenue practice.

Black and Pordy struck back. "I am not an absentee manager," said Pordy. "I spend 40 to 50 hours a week here." They countered in a splashy New York Times ad that Finkelstein's businesses lost money or had minimal earnings, whereas Chock Full's earnings stood at $5.4 million. Cracked Black: "Finkelstein has not done as well with his companies from his office as I have done from home and hospital." Diagnosed Pordy: "A doctor would be good for his sick company."

The two sides will clash directly this week at Chock Full's annual meeting. Finkelstein's people have amassed 16% of the stock, vs. 18% owned by Black and his wife. The dissidents want a new management team, one that would expand and license the Chock Full name for other products besides coffee and cakes.

What Finkelstein's group might really be after is Chock Full's substantial New York City real estate holdings. Those, plus buying by the dissidents, have helped drive the company's stock up from $3 in 1980 to $13 last week, despite erratic earnings.

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