Detroit Free Press from Detroit, Michigan • Page 27

INSIDE: 01 Section Opponents of Comerica's headquarters deal plan to protest on Friday. Page 2C, Thursday, Sept. 6, 1990 Mutual funds, Page 2 NYSE, Page 4-, Amex, Page 5 Call Business: 222-8765 Detroit 4frce CAW names Ford as strike target Trading brightened by energy stocks lead in Canadian auto contract talks. CAW contracts with the Canadian subsidiaries of Ford, Gen AUTO Till NO The union also is demanding a percentage increase from the current base wage rate plus cost-of-living allowance of $15.35 (U.S.) for an assembly line worker, White said. The union chose Ford as targejt because Ford is financially better off than either GM or Chrysler, ancl because Ford has not been target since 1976.

1 IKUIO quickly would affect operations at U.S. assembly operations that are exclusively supplied by 3.8-liter V6 engines from Windsor: Lincoln Continental in Wixom, Taurus and Sable in Atlanta and Chicago, and Thunderbird and Cougar in Lorain, Ohio. Also affected would be the supply of full-sized Lincoln Crown Victorias and Mercury Grand Marquises, which are assembled only at Ford's St. Thomas, Ontario plant. The CAW struck Chrysler for six days during the 1987 round of contract talks over the issue of cost-of-living increases for pensions and then settled without a strike at Ford and GM.

Frank McAnally, chairman of the CAW's Ford council, said the union wants to improve income Energy issues led the way as the stock market posted a moderate gain in a quiet 'session. The Dow Jones average of 30 industrials rose 14.85 to 2,628.22. Stocks gaining in price outnumbered decliners by about 5 to 3 in nationwide trading of New York Stock Exchange-listed stocks. In Tokyo, the Nikkei Stock Average of 225 selected issues Wednesday lost 750.77 points, or 3.01 percent, ending at 24,156.87. In London, the Financial Times-Stock Exchange 100-share index was up 4.2 points to 2,152.2.

Big Blue Machine: International Business Machines Corp. unveiled its eral Motors Corp. and Chrysler Corp. covering 59,000 Canadian autoworkers expire along with UAW contracts on Sept. 14.

McKenzie refused to talk about specific proposals, but said the company is interested in maintaining quality and efficiency and dis-1 cussing absenteeism. Ford employs about 12,600 workers in Canada, about a third of them at engine and casting plants in Windsor. A Canadian strike 1 1 i it 2,62822 I Market details, Page4C DOWJOflES QlXHCAli For stock updates call Each call costs 95 cents per minute. Touch-tone phones only. Yugo first new line of giant computer far.

The main computers' ability information business users who previously mainframes' rigid YlIGO MAY GO: venture mainframes in five years and the maker's most powerful machines so feature in the new line is the to exchange and process according to requirements set by a marked improvement for users had more or less to adapt to older operating functions. Yugoslavia's financially troubled six-year-old for exporting low-priced Yugo cars v. I I It to the United States is unlikely to last another two years under current conditions, a top Yugoslavian government official says. "I don't believe the Yugo project will last the next two BY CECILIA DECK Free Press Business Writer TORONTO The Canadian Auto Workers union Wednesday named Ford Motor Co. of Canada as its 1990 strike target and hinted strongly at a shutdown that could cripple Ford operations in the United States as well.

"It will be difficult to do without a strike," CAW President Robert White told reporters at a news conference announcing the union's choice. Observers said that at an earlier meeting with union leaders, White privately predicted a strike over such issues as more time off the job and increased income security for laid-off workers. Donald McKenzie, Ford of Canada's vice president of employee relations, said the company welcomed the opportunity to take the Auto sales nosedive in August BY RON STODGHILL II Free Press Automotive Writer Car and truck sales plummeted 17 percent in August compared with the same month last year, but automakers said economic uncertainties stemming from Iraq's invasion of Kuwait weren't the main reason. Instead, they said, a general economic downturn kept automakers from matching the go-go sales climate during August 1989, one of the best months last year. U.S.

and offshore automakers said they sold 1.19 million cars and trucks during the month, down from 1.44 million in the same period last year. Car sales were down 17.6 percent to light truck sales declined 15.7 percent to 390,946. "Consumers seem to be taking a wait-and-see attitude, and the automotive market has been much more stable than might have been expected under the circumstances," Robert Rewey, vice president of sales for Ford's North American operations, said, referring to Iraq's Aug. 2 invasion of Kuwait. But one automotive consulting firm said the turmoil played a greater role in the slump than automakers are willing to admit.

A study by Integrated Automotive Resources of Wayne, said customers initially will postpone a purchase decision and then look for more fuel-efficient cars when they do purchase. "People were delaying their buying decisions because of all the uncertainty in the world," said Thomas O'Grady, of Integrated Automotive Resources. "Not just the allocation and the availability of oil, but what's happening throughout the economy." August Sales years under the current situation," said Kazimir Zivko Pregl, vice president of Yugoslavia's Federal Executive Council. BRIEFLY: Honda Motor Co. raised the base price of its 1991 Accord by $200 or 1.6 percent from the 1990 model, putting its cheapest Accord DX four-door sedan with five-speed manual transmission at $12,545 The New York Post says it is losing $25 million a year and could close unless its unions agree to cost-cutting measures by a Sept.

15 deadline. In Michigan WILLIAM ARCHIEDetrolt Free Press Nancye Radmin's the Forgotten Woman store will open today in Birmingham. Forgotten Fashion security for laid-off workers by moving up eligibility for supplementary unemployment benefits from 10 years seniority to five. The improvement would help many of the 800 workers expected to lose their jobs at a Windsor engine plant slated to close late this year, he said. The CAW also wants more time off work, either in the form of additional vacation time or paid personal holidays, McAnally said.

The union never regained 52 hours of time off it gave up in concessions in 1982, he said. A union official who spoke on the condition of anonymity said the time-off issue is the most likely to lead to a strike, because Ford is so strongly opposed and workers are so eager to make gains. McKenzie refused to comment. 3Cf son she discovered no one sold anything but polyester pull-on pants and floral-print tent dresses for large-size women. "I know I'm not the only forgotten woman in America who wants to wear gabardine and silk," she told her husband.

0 At first, Radmin had difficulty finding designers who made clothes for large women in the quality and styles she sought, so she began manufacturing her own lines in Brazil and the Far East. Eventually, however, she convinced many designers to begin making fashions in large sizes. Now her stores carry designer merchandise ranging from $60 blouses and $115 dresses to $220 suits. Now, with the help of former Bonwit Teller executive Beau James, a few of Radmin's stores are adding couture dresses, suits and gowns from such designers as Bob Mackie and Nolan Miller. Some are priced as high as $10,000.

But James cautioned, "Everything is not $10,000. We do have the bread and butter." the carbureted 5.0-liter V8 is replaced by a standard 1991 fuel-injected version that gets 30 more horsepower 170 instead of 140. With the extra power, Cadillac hopes, more of the 65 percent of Brougham buyers who usually get for the optional 5.7-liter engine will choose the 5.0-liter instead. The 5.7-liter Brougham is, along with the Allante two-seater, one of Cadillac's two gas-guzzler models. But the 1991 version gets 30 more horsepower and pays the lower gas-guzzler tax $650 a car instead of the $850 levied on the 1990 version.

But that's as far as it goes. Grettenberger said Cadillac has no intentions of downsizing its models as it did in the early 1980s. ill i 1 I "Another reason was not to complicate U.S. negotiations" between the UAW and GM, the company targeted by the U.S.. union, White said, but he added that he did not consult with UAW President Owen Bieber on choosing a target company.

A strike against GM in the United States would quickly cause widespread layoffs among the company's 36,500 Canadian workers. Overhaul of firm unveiled Handkman calk, merchandising key BY JOANN MULLER Free Press Business Writer Trying to restore shareholder confidence after a tumultuous year, Handleman Co. executives Wednesday outlined new directions for the Troy-based distributor of music, videos and books. Faced with disappointing earnings last fiscal year and a sinking stock price, the company announced a strategic plan that includes more attention to merchandising and tighter controls on expenses. Also, Chairman and Chief Executive David Handleman, 74, Said after the meeting that he is preparing to hand over the CEO's job "within the next year" to Stephen Strome, a 12-year employee.

Strome was named president in March after former President and CEO Frank Hennessey quit in a dispute with the chairman. Handleman and Strome Reclined to discuss the circumstances of Hennessey's departure. Strome received a warm ovation from shareholders after describing steps the company was taking to avoid a recurrence of fast year's problems, which led to a 12 percent drop in earnings and sent Handleman's stock price from about $22 a share to less than $11. On Wednesday, it closed at $1 1.25, up 50 cents. Strome said company officials in recent years paid too much attention to computerized ordering and distribution systems and not enough attention to old-fashioned merchandising skills.

I i To change that, a new management structure was put in place, including a new senior vice president of merchandising, to concentrate on improving sales at ihe store level. One reason for Handleman's poor performance in recent months was the unusually high level of returns of unsold videos and music. See Handleman Page 2C Dennis Conner's on board I v. t. 1 A I tJ I.

for By Joann Muller Free Press Business Writer Nancye Radmin had any doubts about whether larger Detroit-area women would shop at her new boutique in Birmingham, those doubts disappeared last Sunday. The Forgotten Woman wasn't scheduled to open until today, but a woman who spotted employees working inside begged them to let her in to buy a dress for a family member's wedding. "She spent $1,400 in the basement stockings, too!" Radmin said Wednesday. Such pent-up demand among large-size women is the reason Radmin has been able to turn a $10,000 loan from her husband into a 25-store chain with an estimated $50 million in annual sales. "These women were absolutely starved to death for fashion," she said.

The Forgotten Woman's newest store, and the first in Michigan, opens today at 555 S. Woodward, the site of the former Hattie boutique, which catered to equally chic, albeit slim- Store fills need for chic styles in larger sizes mer, women. That store closed in May, the victim of owner Hattie Belkin's messy divorce. Radmin's Birmingham shop will be different from her others, she said, because she wants it to look less like a store and more like someone's home. "The public is tired of walking in and looking at rounders and rounders of she said.

"I think they ought to be able to look into nooks and crannies and find jewels whether they're jewels that you wear or other kinds of jewels." For this reason, the Forgotten Woman's accessories are displayed not in traditional jewelry cases, but in antique bird cages. Frustration drove Radmin to open her first store in 1977, when after gaining weight following the birth of her second "Selective and demanding, oriented to imports, as interested in functionality as luxury, and as likely to be female as male, the baby boom represents a market that Cadillac must conquer," said Cadillac general manager John Gretten-berger. The Middle, East crisis has spurred Cadillac to include fuel economy numbers in 1991 advertising. Its new 200-horsepower 4.9-liter V8 engine, standard on its front-drive Seville, El Dorado, De-Ville and Fleetwood lines, gets 20 more horsepower and 1 m.p.g. better fuel economy 26 m.p.g.

on the highway, 16 m.p.g. in the city than the 4.5-liter V8 it replaces. For the rear-drive Brougham, 1. METALWORKING NEWS FOLDS: The weekly trade paper Metalworking News has folded after 30 years of publishing. Kenneth Moore, the paper's editor-in-chief, blamed a weaker economy and lower advertising levels for the closing of the paper, which tracked equipment and material orders placed by steel-intensive companies like carmakers.

It employed 18 people in Detroit. WIRED STOCK: National-Standard stock was the biggest percent gainer on the New York Stock Exchange, increasing 75 cents, or 23 percent, to $4 a share. The Niles-based company on Tuesday announced a joint venture with Japanese companies to build a wire weaving facility. PERRY PROFITS UP: Perry Drug Stores Inc. reported that third-quarter pretax earnings rose 9 percent to $924,000 from the year-earlier period.

Sales fell 3 percent to $159 million because of the sale and closure of some drug stores. Comparable store sales in Michigan increased 6.5 percent. BLUES CONTRACT VOTE: Results are expected today on the United Auto Workers' vote on a new contract with Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan. Some 3,400 clerical workers from around Michigan voted Tuesday and Wednesday on the contract, which calls for a $1,500 ratification bonus and 3 percent wage increases in the second and third years. GM ENGINE PLANT TO CLOSE: General Motors Corp.

plans to phase out production of its four-cylinder, 2.5-liter engine at a plant in Pontiac, eliminating 2,200 jobs, a union official says. A battle is heating up between GM and the UAW over the move, said Dick Long, president of UAW Local 653. He said the automaker could cut 700 jobs in May and 1,500 more by 1992. GM won't comment on the plant's future. Long said the local was prepared to ask UAW officials to authorize a strike to pressure GM to bring more work to the plant.

Old Detroit To Chicago: oid Detroit Brewing Co. has introduced Old Detroit Amber Ale to the Chicago market as part of an expansion through the Great Lakes region. BRIEFLY: Zenith Data Systems, a division of Groupe Bull, says its Heath Co. electronics business based in St. Joseph is for sale PVH Veterinary Hospitals will open its 13th facility at 16361 Mack in Detroit Polar Molecular Saginaw, has entered into an option agreement with an unnamed major refiner to license its patented fuel additive technology DurAlt Fuel Conditioner.

Wolohan Lumber Saginaw, reported August sales increased 10 percent to $29.96 million from a year ago. CARS Company No. chg. GM 255,128 Ford 159,469 Chrysler 66,276 Honda 78,069 Nissan 39,901 Mitsubishi 9,673 -f 13 Toyota 86,885 5.3 Mazda 23,091 TOTAL 802,757 TRUCKS Vf GM 143,289 Ford 121,430 Chrysler 58,228 Nissan 15,937 Mitsubishi 2,494 -141 Toyota 32,232 Mazda 11,681 2.8 TOTAL 390,946 cars And 1,193,586 Cadillac, Conner try new marketing tack BY JANET BRAUNSTEIN Free Press Automotive Writer Stars and Stripes skipper Dennis Conner is the new pitchman for Cadillac's fleet of 1991 models. In return, General Motors luxury division will put $3 million toward Conner's 1992 America's Cup yachting campaign.

Cadillac, which introduced its 1991 models Wednesday at the Palace of Auburn Hills, believes the three-time Cup winner will reach younger as well as more traditional Cadillac buyers. The message Cadillac wants to stress: Better performance, hightech ride and handling, and higher fuel economy go hand in hand. And it wants the message heard by 35-to 55-year-old buyers. Includes Acura, Infiniti and Lexus divisions. Note: Chart includes domestic and imports.

Totals include automakers not listed separately. Percent change based on daily selling rate; there were 27 selling days, compared with 27 the same month last year. Tapping a popular retirement investment is one way to help pay higher-education expenses. Page 3C. new Cadillac campaign..