Business briefs

Sarasota-Manatee Originals is offering discount certificates for dining at a deeply discounted rate, starting at 9 a.m. Monday. This sale will only last for 24 hours.

Certificates for local restaurants normally sold for $25 will be $12.50. There's also $20 certificates going for $10 and $15 certificates for $7.50. Some restaurants are not included as their certificates have been sold out.

Anyone interested can order and print discount dining certificates from a home computer by visiting dineoriginal.com, or have the certificates delivered to your email address after purchase. They can be used immediately and are valid for six months from the date of purchase for the food portion of your restaurant bill.

One certificate may be redeemed per table, per visit.

Visit dineoriginal.com for information.

Board of employee leasing companies' appointments

TALLAHASSEE -- Gov. Rick Scott announced an appointment and two reappointments to the Board of Employee Leasing Companies, including a leader from Lakewood Ranch.

Britt Landrum III, 46, of Gulf Breeze, is the president of Landrum Human Resources. He succeeds Richard Buchanan and is appointed for a term ending Oct. 31, 2018.

Celeste Dockery, 56, of Lakewood Ranch, is the chief executive officer of Century Employer Organization LLC. She is reappointed for a term ending Oct. 31, 2019.

Abram Finkelstein, 48, of Weston, is the president of Stafflink Outsourcing Inc. He is reappointed for a term ending Oct. 31, 2019.

The appointments are subject to confirmation by the Florida Senate.

Neal Communities unveils Indigo recreation center

LAKEWOOD RANCH -- Neal Communities has unveiled Club Indigo, the new recreation center at Indigo in Lakewood Ranch.

A gated, island-resort style neighborhood just northeast of Central Park, Indigo's $1.6 million recreation center features areas for community events, a culinary kitchen, fitness room and movement studio, pool with cabanas, spa, pickleball and bocce ball courts. A full-time lifestyle director will create a calendar of activities for homeowners, including water aerobics and book, card and jogging clubs.

There are three professionally designed and decorated models at Indigo. For information call 888-720-4429.

Gap's sales continue to slump during holidays

NEW YORK -- Gap's slump continued through the holiday season.

The San Francisco-based retailer, which operates stores under its own brand as well as Banana Republic and Old Navy, said Thursday that a key sales measure fell 5 percent for the five-week period ended Jan. 2.

The decline was worse

than the 3.5 percent drop analysts expected, on average.

By division, a key revenue measure at Gap fell 2 percent, while Banana Republic posted a 9 percent drop. Old Navy, until recently a bright spot, saw sales fall 7 percent. The metric is based on revenue at stores opened at least a year.

The company's total revenue dropped 4 percent to $2.01 billion for the five-week period.

The results underscore the continued challenges that CEO Art Peck confronts in turning around the business.

-- Herald staff, wire reports

This story was originally published January 7, 2016 at 11:59 PM with the headline "Business briefs ."