Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, January 25, 1992 TAG: 9201250203
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: A-8 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: DANIEL HOWES BUSINESS WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
`BUY AMERICAN' GAINING CACHET AMONG CUSTOMERS
There's a new buzzword creeping into the lexicon of political correctness: Buy American. Western Virginia car dealers are hearing it, some are saying it and those who sell U.S. products are loving it.And some merchants are seeing more consumers looking for American-made stereos, watches and cameras. Trouble is, many are either too expensive - or there aren't any.
Customers "don't have a choice when it comes to hard goods" such as cameras and attachments made in Germany or Japan, Don Jester, manager of Ewald-Clark Inc.'s downtown Roanoke shop, said Friday. "A vast majority of customers buy whatever they're getting the best deal on regardless of where it is made."
Take stereo equipment. Some of the finest home audio electronics today are made by such American companies as Bose, Advent and JBL, said David Jackson, a sales assistant at Holdren's Inc. But a 100-watt amplifier made in the U.S. costs $600, twice as much as a Japanese competitor's similar amp.
Still, retailers are seeing a perceptible, if sometimes only spoken, preference for American products.
"I think the thing that has aroused public sentiment about the Japanese was the gentleman who came out and said Americans were stupid and lazy and did not have the intelligence to [make and] sell a quality car or truck," said Charlie Robertson, general manager of Magic City Ford in Roanoke.
And Robertson is capitalizing on the new patriotism. Last week he ordered Uncle Sam be painted on his showroom window.
Increasing numbers of customers are saying they plan to go with an American model next time they buy a car. "It's been noticeable in the past week or two since [President Bush's] trip to Japan," said Andrew Kaplan, president of Dominion Car Co. in Salem.
"People are just getting fed up. The trip to Japan showed people how inequitable the situation really is." Kaplan and his sales staff are seeing customers refuse the Mitsubishi-made engines for their new Dodge Caravans in favor of Chrysler engines.
And despite a spate of recent news reports saying American cars may not be as American as they seem - a Pontiac LeMans built in Korea, a Dodge Stealth made in Japan, a Mercury Tracer built in Mexico - "you can't disassociate Honda from Japan just because it was made in Ohio," he said.
Gary Duncan's family owns eight car dealerships in Western Virginia, from Hokie Honda and Holiday Ford-Mazda in Blacksburg to Precision Acura and Holiday Mitsubishi in Roanoke. Even though "everybody would like to buy American," he said, "the problem is the perceived value and resale value" of American cars.
For now, he's not concerned that any consumer backlash against Japanese products will begin to pinch his bottom line. But the "Buy American" credo may be gathering steam:
Last Tuesday, the town board of Greece, N.Y., a Rochester suburb, voted 5-0 to reject a $40,000 Komatsu excavating machine because it was made in Japan. The board chose a U.S.-made Deere & Co. model instead - for $15,000 more. The board later learned the machine is made by an American-Japanese joint venture based in Illinois and Tokyo.
Last Wednesday, the Los Angeles County Transportation Commission scrapped a $122 million contract with an American subsidiary of Japan's Sumitomo Corp. to build rail cars for its transit system. The commission said it wanted to pursue the possibility of starting its own factory to produce U.S.-made rail cars.
Monsanto Co. of St. Louis on Thursday announced it will offer employees $1,000 toward the purchase of any car, van or light truck assembled in the U.S., Canada or Mexico. Several other companies previously announced similar plans.
An Ohio surgeon has offered his 35 employees up to $600 each if they buy an American car by July 4, The Wall Street Journal reported Friday. The name of the campaign: "Jump Start America."
Yet, with all the fervent nationalism Americans seem to be expressing with their wallets comes the ugly realization that some are actually blaming Japan for this country's economic malaise.
"We are the only country industrialized country that does not promote buying its own products," said Mary Houska, a Hollins College economics professor. "Our workers are still the most productive workers, and yet we are losing internationally."
And remember, this is an election year. "This appears to be one of those issues that should be strong in people's minds," she said. "It's a clever kind of issue, an issue people can get a hold of."
Staff writer Charlyne H. McWilliams and The Associated Press contributed to this report.