DATE: Friday, April 25, 1997                TAG: 9704250575

SECTION: BUSINESS                PAGE: D2   EDITION: FINAL 

                                            LENGTH:   68 lines

LOCAL SCENE

VIRGINIA BEACH

HANNAFORD TO OPEN SUPERMARKET IN VIRGINIA BEACH: Hannaford Brothers Co., a Scarborough, Maine-based grocer, will open a 55,000-square-foot supermarket Saturday in Virginia Beach. Located at the corner of Princess Anne Road and Lynnhaven Parkway, the grocery store includes a bakery, deli and ready-to-eat foods, as well as a full-service bank. The chain currently has three stores in Hampton Roads. It plans to open another in Newport News this summer. The grocer spent about $6 million developing the the Princess Anne supermarket, which will employ about 180 workers.

BEALE OPENS FINANCIAL SERVICES OFFICE: Catherine N. Beale, an investment representative with Edward Jones, opened an office in the Pembroke area last month on Professional Circle, which is off Independence Boulevard. Beale has been with the company since last September. Prior to that, she served as regional manager for the Norfolk, Richmond and Raleigh markets at Entertainment Publications.

VIRGINIA

ALBEMARLE DECLARED DIVIDEND: Albemarle Corp. declared a regular quarterly dividend of $0.07 a share on the common stock of the corporation. The dividend is payable July 1, 1997, to shareholders of record June 16, 1997.

AMF Bowling Centers Inc., a Richmond-based wholly owned subsidiary of AMF Group Inc., said it has completed the acquisition of American Recreation Centers Inc. of Rancho Cordova, Calif., for approximately $70 million, including the repayment or assumption of certain debt and the purchase of related joint venture interests. American Recreation Centers, with 43 bowling centers in six states, significantly increases AMF's market presence in California and further expands its current U.S. operations in the Midwest and Southwest. As a result of this acquisition, AMF Bowling Centers operates 401 bowling centers worldwide, including 317 in the United States.

HAMPTON ROADS

PORT REPORTS STRONG MARCH TONNAGE: The state-owned marine cargo terminal in the port of Hampton Roads had a strong March, posting a 9.2 percent gain over March 1996, Virginia International Terminals Inc. announced. VIT manages the Virginia Port Authority terminals in Portsmouth, Newport News and Norfolk. According to VIT, those terminals handled 844,000 tons of cargo in March, up from 773,000 tons a year earlier. Most of the growth came in containerized cargo, though break-bulk gained 12.5 percent to 54,000 tons. So far, they have handled nearly 2.2 million tons of cargo, up from 2 million in the first three months of 1996.

NORFOLK

NATIONSBANK NAMES EARLEY TO SENIOR BANKING EXECUTIVE: NationsBank Corp. has named Lin Earley its senior banking executive in Norfolk. Earley, a senior vice president, has been responsible for commercial business and community development in Hampton Roads. He joined a predecessor of NationsBank in 1969 as a management trainee in Norfolk. He replaces Steve Gibson, Charlotte-based NationsBank said. Earley is on the advisory board for the DePaul Medical Center, serves as director for the Hampton Roads Economic Development Alliance and is involved with the United Way of South Hampton Roads.

NEWPORT NEWS

DEMER NAMED DIRECTOR AT PROFESSIONAL AND TECHNICAL SERVICES FIRM: Robert J. Demer was named director of Delta Research in Oyster Point Park. He was a founding partner with the former Smith Demer Normann Engineering Consultants in Hampton, operating as SDN. MEMO: To submit an item, send it to Local Scene, The Virginian-Pilot

Business News Department, 150 W. Brambleton Ave., Norfolk, Va. 23510.

Photos are welcome. Or fax your submission to 446-2531. ILLUSTRATION: Beale

Demer

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