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

DATE: FRIDAY, April 5, 1991                   TAG: 9104050231
SECTION: BUSINESS                    PAGE: A-7   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Short

OFFICE WAREHOUSE TO START SELLING STOCK

OW Office Warehouse, a Virginia Beach-based office supply discount retailer, said Thursday it plans to go public this month with a stock offering of 1.8 million common shares. OW officials also confirmed Thursday that the company is negotiating a lease to open a store in Roanoke.

J. Larry Pacey, vice president for marketing, said OW has looked at several Roanoke Valley sites over the past couple of years and is close to making a decision on one. He would not identify the site being negotiated, however.

In its move to go public, OW filed an initial offering with the Securities and Exchange Commission on Tuesday and said it plans to begin marketing the stock April 20.

Stock in the 23-store chain is expected to sell at $12.50 to $14.50 a share.

Two weeks ago, OW announced plans to double the size of the chain over the next year. The company opened its first store in Virginia Beach on Jan. 2, 1989. It now has stores in Virginia, the Carolinas, Tennessee, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York and Rhode Island and plans to add outlets in Ohio, Arkansas, Georgia and Alabama. - Staff report

by CNB