TWEEDS IDLES 40 WORKERS 2ND CATALOG STORE SHIFTS AFTER HOLIDAY

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

DATE: TUESDAY, January 14, 1992                   TAG: 9201140101
SECTION: BUSINESS                    PAGE: A3   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: GEORGE KEGLEY BUSINESS EDITOR
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Short
TWEEDS IDLES 40 WORKERS 2ND CATALOG STORE SHIFTS AFTER HOLIDAY
Catalog merchant Tweeds Inc. said Monday it has laid off more than 40 employees, the second Roanoke area mail-order company to announce shifts in employment levels following the end of the Christmas sales season.
The layoffs at the Tweeds distribution center at Bonsack, effective Friday, leave Tweeds with a local work force of close to 300 people, with no further changes expected, said Mark Friedmann, marketing director at the company's headquarters in Paterson, N.J.
Friedmann declined to give a precise number of layoffs but confirmed that "it is in the ballpark" of 40 people. Earlier last year, the company said it had nearly 400 employees at the center, which handles both telemarketing and distribution in the Jack Smith Industrial Park.
Friedmann said the layoffs, "a painful thing to do," will make Tweeds a stronger company. Business remains good, he said.
He also confirmed that Tweeds has not yet named an executive to replace Ted Pamperin, who quit as chairman in late November.
Catalog companies often reduce their employment during the slower season at the first of the year.
An exception was the Orvis Co., which last week said it is moving several departments from Manchester, Vt., to Roanoke. The move will add working hours for about 200 employees hired for the holiday season, a spokesman said.

by Archana Subramaniam by CNB