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

DATE: THURSDAY, February 4, 1993                   TAG: 9302040095
SECTION: BUSINESS                    PAGE: B5   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Sandra Brown Kelly
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Short

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SINGER UNFAZED BY CATALOG CUTBACK

Singer Furniture Co. of Roanoke, a major supplier to Sears, Roebuck and Co., doesn't expect to feel much impact from Sears' decision to quit the catalog business and close many of its stores.

In fact, Dennis Ammons, Singer president, said sales to Sears have increased because of Sears' focus on its free-standing home stores.

Singer's sales to the catalog division are less than 5 percent of its total business with Sears, Ammons said Wednesday. He said Singer began supplying the catalog division only a year ago.

He said he knows the American public is mourning the loss of a tradition, but he thinks the steps taken by Sears were inevitable.

Singer is a privately owned company and does not publish sales figures, but Ammons said it had a good 1992 with "significant increases in the last quarter." He also said orders have not dropped off since Christmas as they usually do.

For two years, Singer has been regaining business it lost under previous owners, so its sales figures have been inflated, Ammons said. Sales rose 18 percent last year, for instance.

"We're proud of our accomplishment, but it wasn't indicative of the furniture business."

Now that the company has largely recaptured its market share, Ammons said, he expects Singer's 1993 increases to be closer to the 6 percent estimated for its industry. - SANDRA BROWN KELLY

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