Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, February 3, 1993 TAG: 9302030103
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: C4 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE:
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
IN BUSINESS
Heironimus curtails its downtown storeThe Heironimus department store in downtown Roanoke has trimmed its merchandise to men's and women's apparel, closing the housewares department on the second floor and deleting the children's-wear department.
Richard Lynn, president of the Roanoke-based retail chain, said Tuesday that sales of housewares and children's clothing have not been enough "for a long time" to support the cost of inventory and sales staff. He said the decision will not require any employee changes, except that retired workers who had been staffing those departments will retire a second time.
Lynn said the customer base for the downtown store is working men and women, and the store will cater to that group. He said the vacated second floor will be used to provide better offices for some members of the corporate staff. - Staff report
Blue Bird bus plant put on the market
Blue Bird Body Co. has put its closed Buena Vista bus factory on the market, almost two months after production stopped.
Blue Bird, a Georgia company, said Tuesday it has contracted with the Binswanger Corp.'s Charlotte, N.C., office to market the 250,000-square-foot building. Binswanger is a major U.S. real estate brokerage specializing in industrial property.
School bus production ended and the last of 207 employees lost their jobs in mid-December. Equipment remains in the idle plant, and a Buena Vista source said managers of Blue Bird's other plants will inspect the idle machinery today to see if it can be used at their operations.
Blue Bird President Paul Glaske said the company wants "an expeditious sale" of the Virginia property. The company's main goal has been to minimize economic disruption and quickly return the plant to production, he said. The 19-year-old plant is suitable for a wide range of manufacturing and assembly operations, he said. - Staff report
AEP says carbon tax could cause layoffs
A carbon tax on coal and oil products, suggested by the Clinton administration, could cost thousands of jobs and damage the industrial competitiveness of the Midwest, according to a statement Tuesday by American Electric Power Co., parent of Appalachian Power Co. of Roanoke.
AEP Chairman Richard E. Disbrow and President E. Linn Draper released a letter they wrote to President Clinton saying a carbon tax would raise the cost of electricity in AEP's seven-state region and would force job cuts by the utility company's industrial customers. Most of AEP's electricity comes from coal-fired generators. - Staff report
United Telephone opens Wythe center
WYTHEVILLE - United Telephone will open a customer contact center for Wytheville-area customers Monday in the Mountain View Square Shopping Center on East Main Street.
The Bristol-based telephone company closed its Wytheville office in September 1986 and had customers either mail payments or pay them at banks.
Dominion Bank and NationsBank will continue taking payments in Wytheville until March 12. After that, payments should be mailed, made electronically through United's bank-draft service or paid at the new center. - Staff report
Briefly . . .
Shamrock Food Service, a subsidiary of Guest Services Inc. of Fairfax, has received a contract to manage the food service operations at Brandon Oaks, a Roanoke retirement community opening its dining room on Feb. 22.
Starkey and Associates, a Roanoke company installing guardrails, signs and replacement bridge structural steel, is the 1992 winner of the Virginia Department of Transportation's outstanding disadvantaged business enterprise competition. The agency has a program to help companies owned by minorities and women work on highway projects.
World Travel Service of Roanoke has opened an office in the former Hopkins Travel office in Wytheville. The office is managed by Marcia Witt.