ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Tuesday, March 5, 1996 TAG: 9603050037
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: B-6 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: JEFF STURGEON STAFF WRITER
Lamar Advertising Co., the Roanoke area's largest billboard company, said Monday it has bought 200 billboards from Dominion Signs Inc. of Roanoke, a smaller competitor that is shutting down.
The purchase brings Lamar's billboard inventory to about 750 in the Roanoke and Lynchburg areas, said Keith Austin, vice president and general manager. Terms of the deal, completed in December, were not disclosed.
Fancher Turner, owner of Dominion Signs, sold his remaining 150 billboards to Martin Media, based in Culpeper, and has laid off five employees.
"It's time to shut down," said Turner, who opened his billboard company in 1947. "I'm 77 years old, and it seemed like a good time to shut down."
Lamar, based in Baton Rouge, La., has operated in the Roanoke area since buying Creative Displays in 1983, Austin said. Lamar crews will affix the company name to its new signs, but clients' advertisements will remain, Austin said.
In an unrelated move, Lamar won a state contract in November to maintain blue roadside information signs that announce restaurants, hotels and gas stations at nearby exits.
LENGTH: Short : 30 linesby CNB