DATE: Tuesday, November 4, 1997             TAG: 9711040318

SECTION: BUSINESS                PAGE: D1   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY STEPHANIE STOUGHTON, STAFF WRITER 

DATELINE: CHESAPEAKE                        LENGTH:   85 lines

NEW LOOK FOR A NEW OFFICE EMPLOYEE-FRIENDLY DESIGN IS CORE OF COMPANY'S PHILOSOPHY.

Here's something that Dollar Tree's corporate employees will remember every time they enter their new headquarters: Customers who shell out a buck for the retailer's goods made the company what it is today.

That message will be hard to forget as the retailer opens its new office building today in Chesapeake's Greenbrier community. On the first floor, facing the staircase, is a Dollar Tree store stocked with everything from gift baskets to cleaning supplies.

That's not all. As Dollar Tree continues its rapid growth, it has designed its new headquarters to make sure employees and executives alike don't lose sight of the company's culture and small-town roots.

From the light, open design to the special chitchat rooms, the building has been designed to nudge Dollar Tree's staff toward the retailer's goals.

``When we designed this building, we had very specific objectives in mind,'' said project manager Suzan Kaufman, who worked with Dollar Tree and Richmond's RoseArchitects on the building's design. ``We wanted to promote communication, technology and focus on store customers.''

The headquarters' design reflects corporations' growing interest in creating offices that pump up employee morale and promote the companies' own philosophies, local architects said.

``It humanizes the place,'' said Michel Ashe, director of architecture for The TAF Group in Virginia Beach. ``It tells employees that they're not just worker ants.''

While big corporations have led the shift towards ``enlightened,'' employee-friendly building designs, even smaller companies are now asking for improved workplaces, Ashe said. They want amenities such as better lighting, nice landscaping, large break rooms and wide staircases that are featured prominently in the building, he said.

Dollar Tree's $34 million headquarters and distribution center, which will employ a total of 300, does that, with a few more touches.

To encourage more communication, the building's atrium has a ``town square'' feel to it, Kaufman said. It's open and bright, with sunlight filtering in from large windows. The wide stairs spill open in three directions on the first floor, inviting employees to get a small workout instead of taking the elevator.

Downstairs, there's a '50s-style soda fountain with tiling and stainless-steel walls. The fountain - a reminder of the old Norfolk store that helped give birth to Dollar Tree Stores - also is a place where employees can grab a drink and chat.

In addition to building conference rooms, the retailer constructed 12 ``enclaves'' for impromptu meetings.

And though the company has grown from just a handful of stores to more than 800 in about a decade, this apparently hasn't led to inflated egos among the company's top executives.

Many corporations give executives large offices and coveted window views as symbols of their prestige, said Douglas W. Talbot, vice president of the Clark Nexsen architectural firm in Norfolk.

Not so at Dollar Tree.

The retailer's top trio - Chairman Douglas Perry, Chief Executive Officer Macon Brock and Chief Financial Officer Ray Compton - get their own offices, of course. But their views overlook the road - not the more scenic view in the back of the building.

And the offices themselves aren't exactly large and luxurious. Executives got the opportunity to have their own furniture and pick out their own carpets. One executive's electric color choice may blind a few, but in true Dollar Tree fashion, no one picked anything plush.

To keep up with its rapid growth, Dollar Tree also has spent money on technology that will help make its new distribution center run more efficiently. The 400,000-square-foot center, located behind the corporate offices, now boasts an automated conveyor system that helps manage and carry merchandise from the trucks to the storage racks.

The center will be begin distributing to stores in January.

Stephen White, Dollar Tree's vice president of logistics, said employees might have been apprehensive at first. But, he said, the retailer pledged that it would not lay off any workers as a result of the automation. It also loaded workers into buses to show them the new equipment.

``We're concerned with how they'll feel about it,'' White said.

Ashe, of the TAF architectural company, said businesses end up benefiting when they show interest in their employees' working environment.

``If workers feel good about themselves, have plenty of light and amenities, that goes a long way,'' he said. ILLUSTRATION: Color Photos by Lawrence Jackson/The Virginian-Pilot

Dollar Tree's new 400,000-square-foot...

Dollar Tree's Corporate offices in Chesapeake...

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