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

DATE: WEDNESDAY, March 28, 1990                   TAG: 9003280125
SECTION: BUSINESS                    PAGE: B6   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE: RICHMOND                                LENGTH: Short

M&R MEMORABILIA TO BE AUCTIONED

Santa's chair and other memorabilia from the bankrupt Miller & Rhoads department store chain will go on the auction block under an agreement approved Tuesday by U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Douglas O. Tice Jr.

The sale of office furniture, mannequins and other fixtures from the 104-year-old chain's remaining properties will be held sometime in April, said R. LaDonne Bland of Bland Enterprises, an Atlanta firm that will conduct the sale.

Also to be auctioned are the Victorian clock that was a shoppers' landmark on the Richmond flagship store's first floor and chairs from its Tea Room restaurant. Former store employees have said they will try to buy the clock and send it to the Valentine Museum.

The chain, forced into liquidation by heavy losses, made $22,000 in a matter of minutes during the hearing.

Auctioneer Calvin Zedd said Miller & Rhoads had promised him the fixtures from its Pembroke Mall store in Virginia Beach for $40,000 but then accepted a $43,000 bid from Bland.

On the witness stand, Zedd offered $45,000 and entered a bidding war in open court with Bland that ended with Bland's winning bid of $65,000. - Associated Press

by CNB