DATE: Friday, July 4, 1997                  TAG: 9707040532

SECTION: BUSINESS                PAGE: 1D   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY STEPHANIE STOUGHTON, STAFF WRITER 

DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH                    LENGTH:   53 lines

HAYNES MOVES UP(SCALE) AT THE BEACH OUTLET WILL COMPETE WITH STORES LIKE ETHAN ALLEN AND WILLIS WAYSIDE.

Haynes Furniture Co. plans to debut ``North Carolina Company,'' touting it as an outlet that offers upscale furniture at discounted prices, in the Hilltop area.

``This is the last piece of our strategy in this market,'' said E.J. Strelitz, president of Haynes, a family-owned business based in Virginia Beach.

Haynes, the market leader in Hampton Roads, operates a 300,000-square-foot building off Virginia Beach that houses the company's main offices, a warehouse and a showroom. It also owns The Dump, a discount center in Norfolk.

North Carolina Company isn't a new concept for Haynes. The retailer converted one of its two Haynes stores in Richmond to the Carolina format in late 1993.

The switch worked, and Haynes officials began looking at the Hampton Roads market.

``There's no question that this area has a rap for being a hamburger town,'' Strelitz said. ``But we think there is a good market on the high end.''

Hampton Roads trails Richmond and other southeastern cities in per capita income. But the region's size - 1.4 million people in the 1990 U.S. Census, compared to Richmond-Petersburg's 900,000 - and busy furniture sales encouraged Haynes officials.

Furniture and sleep equipment sales in Hampton Roads totaled $341.9 million in 1995, according to a study by the magazine Sales and Marketing Management.

With those revenues, the Hampton Roads region ranked No. 38 nationwide - ahead of the Richmond area. The Richmond-Petersburg area was No. 47 with $248.1 million in revenues.

In Virginia Beach, North Carolina Company will move into the old Leggett Outlet Center in Hilltop Plaza, which also houses Scan-World furniture and a Sears hardware store. Haynes' 60,000-square-foot store should open in late fall or early winter.

At the new store, customers can expect to find furniture offerings comparable to those found at Willis Wayside Furniture Co., a Virginia Beach business that boasts some of the region's most upscale furniture lines, Strelitz said.

The new Haynes store will carry items from Century and Hickory Chair, known for its antique reproductions, among others.

Competitors weren't sure what to make of Haynes' new store.

Lisa Webb, manager of upscale Ethan Allen Home Interiors in Virginia Beach, said she's sure locals will want to check out Haynes' new store. But she believes her 3-year-old furniture store will hold its own.

``Everybody likes to try new things,'' Webb said. ``But I don't know whether we'll be affected. Unless we fail our customer base in some way, I think they'll stay loyal.''

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