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

DATE: WEDNESDAY, May 23, 1990                   TAG: 9005230042
SECTION: BUSINESS                    PAGE: B4   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: GEORGE KEGLEY BUSINESS EDITOR
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

RETAIL SALES UP 8

Despite a 7.5 percent increase in spring sales in Roanoke, the figures for the first 10 months of the fiscal year are running flat, only 1.1 percent above last year, said Joel Schlanger, city finance director.

"We'll have to do awfully good" to meet an estimated sales tax revenue target of $12.2 million for the year, Schlanger said.

April's tax check for the city's March sales was up 9.5 percent, he said, but the level for the year is the lowest in three years.

Schlanger said three months ago that all tax sources were flat "and everybody has cut back on spending in every category."

The flat performance of Roanoke's retail sales over the past year reflects the U.S. economy, Schlanger said. Interest rates are still rather high, he added.

The finance director said he's more concerned about layoffs - at ITT and at small businesses - than about inflation. Scattered layoffs add up and detract from spending, he said.

Schlanger said he sees nothing in the economy to indicate improvement. "The biggest trend is no trend."

Healthy retail sales increases of $9 million in Salem, $4 million in Roanoke County and $18 million in Roanoke appeared in the first-quarter figures from the state Department of Taxation.

Frank Turk, Salem finance director, believes the increase there was a result of the recent opening of Wal-Mart and K mart stores in West Salem and the Lakeside complex in East Salem.

A number of people in Salem and West Roanoke County now have more variety in their shopping, he said. They can go to Salem stores and be back home in less time than when shopping at the malls in the Roanoke vicinity.

Unlike Roanoke, Salem's sales tax collections for the fiscal year are running 13 percent ahead, Turk said.

Fred Anderson, Roanoke County treasurer, was not surprised by the increases. The economy is still strong and growing, he said.

Anderson said he has no fear of inflation or recession on the horizon. "This economy seems to perk along."

He said he sees evidence of people "out there buying."

Taxable sales for the state in the first quarter added up to $9.4 billion, a strong increase of 9.9 percent, the report showed.

Craig County, down 29 percent to $1.2 million in sales, was the only neighbor of the Roanoke Valley with a first-quarter decrease.

Botetourt County gained 13.5 percent to $15.9 million, Floyd 18 percent to $5.1 million, Franklin 8 percent to $30.9 million, Henry 18 percent to $54.4 million, Martinsville 9 percent to $41.6 million, Montgomery 13 percent to $92.7 million, Radford 2 percent to $11.9 million, Bedford County 25 percent to $18.9 million, Bedford 5 percent to $15 million, and Rockbridge County 21 percent to $19 million.