Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, June 18, 1993 TAG: 9306180087
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: A-7 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: SANDRA BROWN KELLY STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Meanwhile, Sears, Roebuck and Co. is negotiating with a buyer for the telemarketing operation, according to spokesman Gordon Jones. He declined to identify the potential buyer.
The company hopes to sell the center as a turnkey facility, meaning that the work force and management staff would be part of the deal.
Jones did say that the center possibly could be kept open on a week-to-week basis beyond the end of this month.
It still has 1,000 workers, most of them part-timers. It is housed in part of a former shopping center building near the Roanoke Regional Airport.
Sears at one time had 11 such centers taking telephoned orders for its catalog division, which closed last month. Some of the centers were kept open to handle service and parts calls for Sears' retail division or to take orders for a tool catalog business the company retained.
The Roanoke center and one in Louisiana were the last taking orders when the catalog operation ended May 27. The final order was taken in Roanoke.
The center lost some workers when Sears announced in January that it was quitting the catalog business, but it hired others because orders increased with closing sales.
Even though 1,000 workers remain, some have left for other jobs or are looking for jobs.
The Virginia Employment Commission said more than half of the 250 applicants for jobs with Goody's Family Clothing Inc. were Sears workers. Sears Telecatalog employees also have applied for jobs at the Orkand Co. in Salem, the VEC said.
Goody's, a Knoxville, Tenn., retailer with a store in Christiansburg, is hiring about 80 people for two clothing stores it will open in the Roanoke Valley in August.
Orkand has a contract with the U.S. Postal Service to bar-code mail so it can be processed by machine.
by CNB