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

DATE: SUNDAY, February 21, 1993                   TAG: 9302220257
SECTION: EDITORIAL                    PAGE: F-2   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Short

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LEGGETT SHOULD STAY OPEN IN ROCKY MOUNT

THIS LETTER concerns the proposed April closing of the Leggett store in Rocky Mount, an action that will undoubtedly adversely affect the business community as well as the citizens of Franklin County.

Rumor has it that protests of the store's closing by telephone, mail or personal appeal will go unheeded, but some information should be passed to management as to the consequences of their decision.

Leggett has always had the reputation of following Christian principles in its business practices. Therefore, I am shocked that the company's executives are succumbing to the trend of our times: Business comes first, no matter whom it hurts.

And it will hurt, since employees will lose their jobs. There are no other department stores in Franklin County that offer the variety of merchandise that Leggett does. Also, its customers frequent other businesses on the block, so with its closing, downtown merchants will suffer - possibly leading to business failures. Citizens who want to support their hometown will be forced to go outside the county to buy.

A Roanoke Times & World-News article stated that Leggett had not lost money on its Rocky Mount store. Perhaps there is still a compassionate streak left and management will reconsider its decision. Small towns need stores such as Leggett. The present choice is the most devastating blow suffered by the county's business community and citizenry in many years.

Leggett, have a heart. Keep your store open in Rocky Mount. NATALIE WEST ROCKY MOUNT

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