
                         THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
                 Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: MONDAY, June 20, 1994                    TAG: 9406200214 
SECTION: BUSINESS WEEKLY                     PAGE: 26    EDITION: FINAL  
SOURCE: Short 
DATELINE: 940620                                 LENGTH:

RETAIL: NOTHING FLASHY, BUT SLOW SALES GROWTH IS STILL GROWTH

{LEAD} When local consumers pulled out their credit cards and checkbooks last year, it usually was for the big stuff: cars, furniture, stereos and other things they had put off buying for a couple of years.

That kind of spending pushed retail sales up 7.4 percent in 1993 - a decent increase considering all the uncertainty about defense cuts.

{REST} Meanwhile, the retail landscape took on a new look. The Tennessee-based Proffitt's department store chain took over five locations from the faltering Hess's chain. Home Quarters Warehouse built a giant prototype store in Chesapeake and began building others in Virginia Beach and Newport News.

While slow growth in the region's economy may cool the pace of consumer spending in 1994, continued growth is expected.

{KEYWORDS} CONSUMER SPENDING ALMANAC

by CNB