Tampa Bay Times from St. Petersburg, Florida • 58

8e -sr prrcHSBURtrnivttS" "Monday: may 986 RETAILING by Gayle Rosenberg Joel 'n Jerry's Discount dealers don 't let quantity sales get in the way when it comes to old-fashioned, personal touch in business. 4. i CASH CM 1 fi Our service people do not hide within a faceless "department." When work is completed on your Mercedes-Benz, a service manager or tech- J0' n'c'an Sl9ns tne wor orc'er' X. HA sponsibility and pride. I .1 St.

Petersburg's Only Factory Authorized Mercedes-Benz Dealer. fWflEurocars0 5151-34th St. N. (U.S. 19) St.

Petersburg, Fla. Phone 522-841 1 Temporarily located in Nissan Service Department mr INVEST IN THE WORLD. With the PrjdentiaJ-Bache GotaJ Fund, sophisticated investors hae a world of investment opportunity. The Qofcaf Fund is an open-end mutual fund GLOBAL FUND 24.38 Total Return The woman seemed unhappy with the hurried attitude of the cashier who rang up her sales at a St. Petersburg discount store.

The customer brought her problem to the man standing in the aisle. "She was hurt," Joel Fisher recalls. "I tried to explain that the cashiers are busy and they try as hard as they can. I smoothed it over, and the customer walked away with a smile on her face. "She had talked to somebody." Somebody, indeed.

Joel Fisher and partner Jerry Finland own the Joel 'n Jerry's general merchandise discount store the woman shopped in. The two men also own three other outlets in Pinellas County and will open their fifth store in Tampa's Carrollwood area next month. The partners house their offices above their first store, at 1500 66th St. N. But Fisher and Finland visit all the outlets frequently.

Often they stroll through the aisles in their shirt-sleeves, greeting people and helping customers find some of the 25,000 cleaning, household, cosmetic and grocery products the company sells at discount prices. "We really are different," says the 42-year-old Fisher, who is the privately held company's president. Finland is vice president. "There's no Mr. Family Mart," Fisher says, referring to a competitor, "but there is a Mr.

Joel and a Mr. Jerry." The pair met while working for another discount chain, Distributors in Detroit, owned by Fisher's aunt and uncle. Finland, 35, began working in the stockroom part-time while he was in high school. Fisher soon joined him. "Jerry and I have done everything from sweeping floors to unloading trucks," Fisher says.

When they left 16 years later, Finland was in charge of opening new stores while Fisher bought all the merchandise. "We were tired of doing it for someone else. We wanted to do it for ourselves," Fisher says. The two left in 1983 and began scouring the country for a booming area that needed discount stores. "We wanted an area that would allow us to grow," Finland says.

A friend who lived in Pinellas County suggested the Suncoast. "We came down here on his hunch," Fisher says. Adds Finland: "We obtained general demographics, looked at the competition and stayed here a few weeks." i SL Petersburg Time KATHLEEN CABBLE Joel Fisher, left, and Jerry Finland put the shirt-sleeves approach to customer satisfaction to work at their general merchandise discount stores. which seeks long-term capital appreciation and income from a portfolio of both foreign and domestic securities. You get continuous professional management, diversification, liquidity, and the option of automatic reinvestment.

And, there's no initial sales charge. To learn more about the Global Fund, just call us or send in the coupon. Total return for the period 1 23 185 through 33 186 includes the change in share price and the reinvestment of af dividends and distributions. Total return since inception of the Fund (51684 through 33 186 is 90.23. Although currently experiencing favorable market conditions, past performance is no indication of future results.

"A contingent deferred sales charge may be imposed upon redemptions of shares held for less than five years. The Fund is also subject to an annual distribution fee. Pn iHpnrial-Rarh Securities, 2536 Countryside Clearwater, Fla. 33575 I ATTN: KEVIN McBARRON, ACCOUNT EXECUTIVE 813-796-3866 or 1- 800-282-5551 prospectus on the Prudential-Bache Global Fund contain Please send me The partners opened their first Joel 'n Jerry's in March 1984. The store had 16,000 square feet of selling space.

Other stores followed in Largo, St. Petersburg and Brandon. "We put every nickel we had into this," Fischer says. "We mortgaged our lives." The pair also raised money from several silent partners. Although they won't reveal sales or profit figures, Finland and Fisher will say that each store cost more than $l-million to open.

The rapid growth comes from low prices, the partners say. "We buy heavy (quantities) and we buy large (sizes)," Finland says. "And every bit of extra savings goes into the selling price." That means you won't find as much variety at a Joel 'n Jerry's as you would at a full-price store. "We buy from deal to deal," Finland says, explaining that the company takes advantage of special promotions from "This month it might be Northern (paper products), next month it might be Scott," Finland says. The company buys large quantities to insure that no shortages occur while Finland and Fisher look for the next good deal.

The partners store merchandise in a warehouse. Huge inventory, Fischer says, is a normal cost of business in a discount operation. Fischer, who handles most of the purchasing, recently bought 500 cases Of toilet tissue at a special price of $22.80 a case instead of the regular $25.55. The $1,375 savings was augmented by a 50-cent-a-case advertising allowance the partners received for running a newspaper ad that featured the product, and a 2-cent discount for paying cash within 10 days of delivery. Joel 'n Jerry's passes those discounts on to consumers, Finland and Fisher say.

The outlets will Please see DISCOUNT 9-E ing more complete information, including all charges and expenses. I will read the prospectus carefully before I invest or send money. Address Name State Phone I Zip City Clients, please give name and office of Account Executive. Follow a leader. Prudential-Bache Securities" 1988 PaKMntl-Bcn Secuf MmW SIPC.