Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, June 23, 1993 TAG: 9306230099
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-1 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: MICHAEL STOWE STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: BLACKSBURG LENGTH: Medium
Tetra Sales USA, the world's leading manufacturer of home aquarium products, has put together an "iguana starter kit" hoping to attract fans of the dinosaur flick.
"We anticipate more people buying iguanas after seeing the movie." said Alan Mintz, Tetra's general manger.
Tetra, a division of Warner-Lamber Co., has been operating in the Blacksburg Industrial Park since February, but the company held a formal grand opening Tuesday.
Mintz, who led tours of the manufacturing facility, said the company will introduce the new iguana kit at a trade show later this week and that it should be on store shelves in early July.
The package comes with the basics needed to house an iguana - minus an aquarium and a reptile. It features iguana food, a thermostat, Critter Logs and Sizzle Stone, the company's biggest selling product.
Sizzle Stone is used to provide "belly warmth" to the cold-blooded iguanas, Mintz said. A small heating coil warms the rock and the reptile likes to rub against it.
There are kits for 10- and 20-gallon tanks and Mintz said they will cost between $20 and $30.
Mintz said that while the kit was triggered by the movie, the product will not be marketed with a "Jurassic Park" theme.
"We didn't get in on the long line of commercial endorsements," he said. "It's a little far-fetched."
Trish James, a sales associate at the Hobby Shop, said the store hasn't seen much of an increase in iguana sales, but that she has noticed children linking the slinky reptiles to dinosaurs.
"Kids come in and I hear them say `Look, Mommy, there's a dinosaur in there'" she said. "I think they are connecting that."
"Jurassic Park" broke a record when the film grossed 50.2 million its first weekend.
Rep. Rick Boucher, D-Abingdon, whose Showcasing Southwest Virginia program brought Tetra to the New River Valley, was in town for the company's grand opening.
"Warner Lambert has discovered what we knew all along," he said. "Southwest Virginia is an excellent place to live and work."
Warner Lambert paid more than $1 million for the 100,000-square-foot shell building it bought from Montgomery County last year. The company moved to Blacksburg so it could consolidate its manufacturing, marketing and support operations under one roof.
"We've moved, we've unpacked and we're happy to be here," said Mintz.
Roughly 50 products are made at the plant and more than 500 products are distributed from Blacksburg throughout the United States and to Canada, Mexico and Australia.
The Blacksburg facility employs 57 full-time workers and is the North American operations center for Tetra. Mintz said Tetra hopes to expand and add more jobs in the future.
"A lot depends on the economy of the country," he said, "but that's certainly what we had in mind when we moved here."
by CNB