Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: FRIDAY, February 17, 1995                   TAG: 9502180037
SECTION: BUSINESS                    PAGE: A7   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: SHANNON D. HARRINGTON STAFF WRITER
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Short

PHOTO PROCESSOR LOSES KROGER ACCOUNT

Qualex of Durham, N.C., purchased last summer by Eastman Kodak of Rochester, N.Y., said it did not anticipate any change in its Roanoke business operations despite speculation inside the company that staff reductions are on the way.

Qualex operates a photo-finishing plant in Northwest Roanoke that employs about 90 people and serves customers in six states in the mid-Atlantic region.

"The way things stand right now, Qualex doesn't anticipate any changes in its business operations. We are not saying that [staff reduction] wouldn't happen, or couldn't happen, but we do not anticipate it," said Ken Rabb, a Qualex spokesman working for Phoenix Communications, a Durham public relations company.

Officials at Kroger's mid-Atlantic office in Roanoke confirmed Thursday that after its contract with Qualex expired recently, Kroger decided to take its account to a different company. Spokeswoman Joann Boone would not state a reason for Kroger's change in photo-processing servicing, nor would she say which company now serves its stores.