ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Tuesday, October 15, 1996 TAG: 9610150100
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: B-6 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: GREG EDWARDS STAFF WRITER
THE EMPLOYEES at Salem's L'eggs distribution center brought in a new business when L'eggs decided to move.
The strong work ethic of employees at Sara Lee Corp.'s distribution center for L'eggs hosiery products in Salem has convinced a Chicago-area book distributor to take over the operation after it closes Nov. 22 and give preference to hiring L'eggs workers.
Levy Home Entertainment of Hillside, Ill., said Monday that it will begin operations Jan. 1 at the L'eggs building on Intervale Drive.
The company is believed to be the country's largest distributor of books to retailers, including discount giants Kmart, Wal-Mart and Target. It is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Chas. Levy Co. of Chicago, which also distributes magazines and operates a trucking company.
Levy Home Entertainment serves all 50 states and has 1,500 workers. The company distributed 45 million books last year with a retail value of $175 million, a company official said.
The L'eggs building will become Levy's second book distribution center, giving the company better access to the mid-Atlantic, Northeast and Southeast, said Howard Reese, vice president and general manager.
Levy plans to assume the remaining seven years of Sara Lee's lease with building owner Shelton Industries of North Carolina, Reese said. Levy eventually plans to exercise a $2.8 million option to buy the 140,000-square-foot building and eight acres, he said.
Reese said that Levy could have found the same type building in many other communities. It was the L'eggs employees who drew the company to Salem, he said
Sara Lee attracted the attention of Levy and other potential buyers for the center with a six-minute locally produced video that stressed the quality of the L'eggs work force and starred L'eggs workers. It was the sincerity of the workers that "really reached us," Reese said.
John Higgins, director of operations of the L'eggs center in Salem, said copies of the video were sent to roughly 300 companies. A former L'eggs employee in Salem, who is now a manager for Levy, helped make the connection with the Illinois company, Higgins said.
Eventually, three companies, including Levy, showed an interest in the Salem building, Higgins said. Levy had been looking at sites in central Pennsylvania before turning its attention to Salem, said Dave Johnson, Levy's vice president for operations.
In addition to the quality of the existing work force, the offer of worker training assistance by the state and the center's closeness to the United Parcel Service distribution center in Roanoke were factors Levy took into account when it made its decision, Johnson said. Most of the books the company sells will be shipped by UPS, he said.
Sara Lee employed 132 workers at the L'eggs center last October when it announced that it would be closed July 1 and the packaging and distribution work done there moved to a hosiery dyeing and finishing plant in Florence, S.C.
The closing has been delayed until the week before Thanksgiving. Currently, 92 people work in the center; some of those who have departed took early retirement or transferred to other Sara Lee operations.
Levy officials said the company will put 75 people to work within two months after opening the book operation and reach a full employment of 125 by the end of 1997. Pay and fringe benefits will be very similar to what Sara Lee has provided its workers, they said.
Workers at the L'eggs center will be given applications for work with Levy beginning today, Johnson said. Because the hosiery and book distribution operations are similar, any training that will be offered employees will probably focus on the difference in the business, he said.
Levy, Johnson said, had some concerns about coming to the Roanoke Valley because of its low unemployment rate and large presence of similar distribution operations competing for workers. But the company provides a good working environment and believes it can retain workers, he said.
"We're very excited about this," said Carol Parker, a L'eggs computer operator. "To give you an opportunity of going with another company in the same building, that's great.''
Beth Doughty, executive director of the Roanoke Valley Economic Development Partnership, said Higgins was instrumental in finding Levy as a replacement for Sara Lee. And Higgins can't say enough about his workers and those in the valley in general.
"It's a testament to Levy Home Entertainment that they're wise enough to recognize such a fine work force," he said.
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