THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, July 14, 1995 TAG: 9507140534
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: D1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY STEPHANIE STOUGHTON, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH LENGTH: Medium: 51 lines
Avis Inc., the nation's No. 2 car-rental company, is considering opening offices in Virginia Beach - a move that could mean up to 500 jobs and more than a $10 million investment.
The Garden City, N.Y.-based company has been looking at a city-owned property just south of Interstate 44 in the Kempsville community, city and industry sources said. As part of the deal, the city would give Avis a 12-acre site. The company would build a 150,000-square-foot office building.
Virginia Beach Mayor Meyera Oberndorf and Donald Maxwell, the city's economic development director, declined comment. An Avis spokeswoman would not say whether Avis is looking at Virginia Beach. But she indicated that the car-rental company wants to add to its New York headquarters and Tulsa, Okla., reservation center.
``I know we're seeking a site to augment our facilities, and I know we've been looking for quite some time,'' spokeswoman Demetria Mudar said.
Although the company has looked outside Virginia, it appears to be serious about Hampton Roads. In May, it placed a ``help wanted'' advertisement in The Virginian-Pilot and The Ledger-Star seeking clerical workers.
``We are establishing a new, modern Service Processing Center in the Norfolk/Virginia Beach area,'' the advertisement stated.
Avis had been considering both Norfolk and Virginia Beach until this spring, sources with both cities said. But Norfolk economic officials were notified that Avis was working towards acquiring the Virginia Beach property.
Just because Avis is talking to Virginia Beach does not mean it will settle on the Kempsville site. Avis had been talking to economic development officials elsewhere, but it's not clear whether the company is negotiating with them.
Sold to its workers eight years ago, Avis has since been hurt by high fleet costs, tough competition and its own pricing decisions, according to a recent article in the Wall Street Journal.
Avis - which is second only to Hertz, a unit of Ford Motor Co. - essentially is privately owned and does not release full financial statements. But the company said its U.S. sales were more than $1 billion and worldwide revenues were more than $3 billion last year.
General Motors has a 25 percent stake in the company, said George Hoffer, an automobile analyst. GM provides 70 percent of Avis' average fleet of 180,000 vehicles, he said. by CNB