ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Thursday, March 21, 1996 TAG: 9603210004
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: B8 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: JEFF STURGEON STAFF WRITER
IT'S HARD TO FIND service in a superstore that's equal to what you can get at a local shop, she says.
A lot of business leaders talk the talk. They praise small business as the backbone of the business world. They praise the service a small business can give customers. They may even support small-business assistance programs.
Then you run into one of them at Lowe's or Wal-Mart .
You aren't likely to find Lucy Mullis in one of the big discount stores. She is the recently appointed executive director of the Williamson Road Area Business Association, a 15-year-old advocacy organization and resource for 150 to 200 mostly small businesses in the Williamson Road area of Roanoke.
Mullis, formerly the student activities coordinator at Hollins College, began her new job Feb. 1, replacing Roger Dalton who resigned to become a marketing official at National Business College in Salem.
Mullis will meet with interested business owners and citizens during an open house next Thursday. The session will be held 4:30 to 7:30 p.m. at the association office at 2927 Burton Ave.
Mullis says she believes small businesses, especially those right in your neighborhood, give the best value for the money.
She said she got a reminder of that when she went to buy a fax machine for her new office. She shopped a big discount store to get the lowest price, mindful that the association is funded largely by a special-district city tax that collects about $50,000 yearly from Williamson Road-area businesses.
The machine didn't work and nobody answered the toll-free number for assistance printed on the back of the unit, she said. She fooled around with the problem for two weeks, then finally returned the unit to the store. She took her business to a small Williamson Road office machine and electronics dealer, which delivered a different unit Wednesday.
"I should have done what I tell people all the time: 'Go down the street and buy from a local dealer,'" she said. "I've wasted all this time to try to get this piece of equipment to work."
Mullis, 27, who grew up in Fincastle, is no stranger to the business district she represents. She said one defining feature of Williamson Road is its concentration of car and truck dealers, which is the result of the road having once been the main route to and from Roanoke at one time. Even though Williamson Road is no longer so prominent, 20,000 to 25,000 vehicles travel Williamson Road daily, Mullis said.
The association's short-term goals include installation of more sidewalks and landscaping to upgrade the area. In addition, the association is discussing the need for road repairs and the effectiveness of the current mix of businesses.
Mullis conceded the Williamson Road area's businesses have lost sales to malls and discount retailers that have opened nearby. But that hasn't taken anything from the area's inherent neighborliness or the motivation of many people to return and repeatedly patronize its businesses, she said.
Mullis comes from a background in organizational work that seems likely to serve her well. She was programming coordinator at Hollins College, a job that involved ensuring that students had a rich and fulfilling social life. In that position, she advised the student government, booked bands and served as a live-in residence hall director. Because of her close ties with the students, she is continuing to live in her residence hall apartment until the end of the current semester.
LENGTH: Medium: 67 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: WAYNE DEEL/Staff You probably won't find Lucy Mullis inby CNBone of the big discount stores. color