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A Gold Coast Will Regain Office Depot Account ATLANTA--Office Depot is planning to move its estimated $70 million ad account from DeVito Verdi to Gold Coast Advertising, sources said. The Miami agency held the Delray Beach, Fla., retailer's business for 10 years until 1996. Since then, the account has moved from the Chicago office of J. Walter Thompson to Wyse Advertising in Cleveland to the New York incumbent. A source said no final date for the move has been set, but DeVito and the client have "mutually agreed to part ways." A Gold Coast representative referred queries to the client. Office Depot director of public relations Gary Schweik-hart, who did not deny sources claims, said an announcement would be made before the end of the year. A Starcom to Land Delta Media Business CHICAGO--Delta is expected to award its $100 million media buying account to Starcom Worldwide here, sources said. Though there was no formal review, the Atlanta-based carrier was believed to have talked with other media buying services, including including incumbent Zenith Media in New York and Western Initiative Media in Atlanta. Starcom officials declined comment; Delta officials did not return calls. Starcom and Leo Burnett USA won creative and media planning duties on the account in September. The agency broke its first work for the airline's Delta Shuttle subsidiary. It was the first television advertising for the discount carrier. A CountryCool.com Listens to Southeast Quartet ATLANTA--Country music Web site CountryCool.com has four finalists vying for its $2 million account, according to sources. The Nashville, Tenn., online venue, which allows consumers to download songs and buy CDs, will make a decision before the end of the month among Arnold Communications, McLean, Va.; EPB, Bethesda, Md.; E. James White Co., Herndon, Va.; and Williams Whittle Associates, Richmond, Va. A 'WSJ' Kills MarketingCentral.com's Corpse Ad ATLANTA--The Wall Street Journal has refused to run a print ad for MarketingCentral.com that shows a toe-tagged corpse offering its organs for sale. "They said it was in bad taste," said Morgan Shorey, the Atlanta company's marketing communications director. The ad was created by Sawyer Riley Compton here. The newspaper later accepted an alternative ad, which shows a church offering 10 percent more forgiveness. A Campbell Mithun Esty CEO Sets Retirement CHICAGO--Howard Liszt, chief executive officer of Campbell Mithun Esty, said he plans to retire from the agency at the end of next year. Liszt, who will be 55 at the time of his retirement, joined the Minneapolis agency in 1976 and was named CEO in 1995. Liszt, who sources said has lost favor with some agency executives, disputed that his future at the shop was based on anything other than his own decisions. A Thompson Is Atlanta's Top Young Ad Pro of '99 ATLANTA--Fletcher Martin senior public relations account manager Alicia Thompson has been named the Atlanta Ad Club's Young Ad Professional of the Year.

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