THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, January 13, 1995 TAG: 9501120181
SECTION: VIRGINIA BEACH BEACON PAGE: 10 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Cover Story
SOURCE: BY STEPHANIE STOUGHTON, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Long : 147 lines
STEVE FOX ADMITS his job is an unpopular one. He's the liquidator, the tough guy who helps convert companies' assets into cash after they fold or go bankrupt.
But now, he divides his time between his asset-recovery company, Virginia Beach-based Fox & Associates, and a charity that benefits the Children's Hospital of The King's Daughters.
It's a strange sight: Normally, the fast-talking, hard-bargaining businessman is surrounded by pointing and shouting. But with a somewhat milder persona, Fox walks among the goodies he's corralled to be sold at the hospital's newest thrift store.
The reason is his 2-year-old son, Luke.
The hospital's doctors saved his son's life two years ago.
``I owe them and I will owe them for every day he is alive,'' Fox said.
On Aug. 25, 1992, six days after his birth, Luke's skin turned blue. He was rushed to the hospital, where doctors told Fox and his wife, Elizabeth, that Luke's heart had stopped working.
Doctors operated on Luke, and he returned home with his parents Sept. 4.
The boy, with gold hair and blue eyes, is healthy now. He's a ``happy little guy,'' as his proud father often says.
Now, Fox is trying to repay the debt the only way he knows how: by helping raise money for the hospital.
Fox became the ``brains'' behind the Business Thrift, one of 13 area thrift stores that benefit the children's hospital.
After his son recuperated, Fox met with his partners in Fox & Associates and hospital officials to discuss a new kind of store.
They noted that one problem with the regular thrift stores was that they carried some pieces of office furniture but couldn't sell them.
``They had desks donated, but people weren't coming there looking for desks,'' Fox said. ``They were looking for clothes, knickknacks, etc.''
The Business Thrift would be an entirely new concept.
While the traditional thrifts targeted the bargain clothing shopper, the Business Thrift would aim for start-up businesses that want to pare down their opening costs.
The idea sold, and over the summer the Business Thrift opened in a white brick building off Arrowhead Drive.
The new thrift has a showroom for office furniture, another room set aside for computer and specialty equipment and a warehouse in the back. It carries everything from china sets to dental equipment.
``It has a lot of volume,'' said Rick Knox, the hospital's chief financial officer. ``It could be a big moneymaker for us.''
Sales figures at the Business Thrift aren't available now because it has been open for only a short time. But the hospital's regular thrifts generate hundreds of thousands of dollars for the regional medical center in Norfolk.
In fiscal year 1993, they raised $625,681, up 9.8 percent from $569,968 in the previous year, Knox said.
The Business Thrift gets its products from residents and companies who want to donate or consign.
McDonald's Restaurants, for example, recently gave 40 chicken fryers and holding containers. The fast-food chain benefits by taking a charitable-donation tax break. And a new mom-and-pop restaurant might save by getting a bargain and cutting its opening costs.
But the thrift also hunts for businesses that fold or liquidate. They are gold mines for the Business Thrift.
``Unfortunately, we benefit from someone else's loss,'' said Chris Welch, the general manager.
For example, when a computer software retailer in Hampton Roads folded, the Business Thrift got the software. It also managed to find ophthalmology equipment at a practice on the Peninsula.
Finding these troubled businesses is Fox's specialty. He already has the contacts through his company, Fox & Associates, which also holds real estate auctions to liquidate assets.
``When someone asks me what I do, I always begin by saying `asset recovery,' '' he said. ``I'm in the business of converting assets to cash as quickly as possible while realizing the highest possible gains.''
Fox doesn't have a formal title at the Business Thrift, but the closest fits might be founder, salesman and marketer, or a combination of all three.
``He's the mind behind it all,'' said Welch. ``He has a lot to do with selling the thrift to people so they want to come and purchase or donate.''
Already, the Business Thrift has attracted its share of regular customers.
Edward Suyak, for one, frequently scouts for furniture and office supplies. The regional manager and owner of Design Enterprise, a Virginia Beach perfume wholesaler, fronts start-up costs for new independents who will sell the company's products.
``We're starting off people who usually don't have any money,'' Suyak said. ``It helps us out a lot. We can furnish their office with desks, filing cabinets and chairs. We save a bundle.''
Suyak might be looking in other places, but he feels drawn to the store by more than good savings.
``It's not like you're shopping in someone's garage or something,'' he said. ``It's for a good cause. You're helping someone.'' ILLUSTRATION: [Cover]
Recycling Gratitude and Office Equipment
Arzell Bostick, left, and Roosevelt Chambers load a file cabinet
onto a truck. The store carries everything from china sets to dental
equipment.
Several makes and models of adding machines are on sale at the
store, which has a room set aside for computer and specialty
equipment.
Staff photos by CHARLIE MEADS
Steve Fox and his young son, Luke, sit in a forklift at the Business
Thrift store. Doctors at Children's Hospital saved Luke's life in
1992 with heart surgery. That prompted Steve Fox, who runs an
asset-recovery company, to help the hospital set up a thrift store
devoted solely to office furniture and supplies.
ABOVE: Margie Boelte and her husband, Henry, check out the office
furniture in the thrift store's showroom. LEFT: Chris Welch, general
manager, works a copy machine that's for sale. Residents donate or
consign items to the store, but the thrift also hunts for businesses
that fold or liquidate.
Children's Hospital Thrift Stores
The Children's Hospital of The King's Daughters opened its first
thrift store on Little Creek Road in Norfolk in 1986. It now has 12
traditional thrift stores, including two in Virginia Beach, three in
Norfolk and one each in Portsmouth, Hampton, Newport News and
Williamsburg.
The hospital's regular thrift stores, which carry mostly used
clothing and some appliances, also have expanded to Franklin,
Gloucester and Elizabeth City.
In fiscal year 1993, the thrifts raised $625,681.
Thrift stores are located at:
1. 1356 E. Little Creek Road, Norfolk
2. 795 Monticello Ave., Norfolk
3. 6159 E. Virginia Beach Blvd., Norfolk
4. 2717 Airline Blvd., Portsmouth
5. 550 First Colonial Road, Virginia Beach
6. 6528 Indian River Road, Virginia Beach
7. 4113-A W. Mercury Blvd., Hampton
8. 11049 Warwick Blvd., Newport News
9. 218 Monticello Ave., Williamsburg
10. Hayes Stores Shopping Center, Unit D, Hayes
11. 1100-128 Armory Drive, Franklin
12. 1511 W. Ehringhaus St., Elizabeth City, N.C.
13. The Business Thrift, 5801 Arrowhead Drive, Virginia Beach
KEYWORDS: THRIFT STORE BUSINESS OFFICE by CNB