Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, July 19, 1990 TAG: 9007190230
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: A11 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: DEBORAH EVANS BUSINESS WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
The San Jose-based outfit apparently has failed to get a business license to sell computer systems that make insoles from footprints of people needing special footwear.
Amfit said Wednesday it plans to open its eastern regional office in Roanoke. However, city Commissioner of Revenue Jerome Howard said he is concerned because the company, which actually has been operating here since early June, has not yet applied for a business license. Howard said he cannot be certain the company is required to buy a license until he contacts company officials.
But that may prove difficult.
Amfit's business address is a postal box at a local Western Union office. The company's Roanoke operations are in "about one foot by two feet . . . sort of like a telephone answering service," Howard said after a visit Wednesday to Amfit's address at 621 Townside Road S.W., Suite 420. "It's a big question mark," Howard said.
Robert Quimby, named in a news release as Amfit's chief operating officer, could not be reached for comment.
The company's Roanoke sports medicine coordinator, Chris Wildgen, said she was unfamiliar with licensing requirements and referred questions to Quimby. She said the company is "still in the process of establishing" its Roanoke location.
Wildgen said the company sells computer systems, at $24,900 each, that reproduce insoles made from a customer's footprints. Its primary clients are health professionals, such as podiatrists, she said.
Wildgen said Amfit selected Roanoke because of its central location along the East Coast and access to an airport without the disadvantages - such as traffic jams - of larger cities.
by CNB