The Atlanta Constitution from Atlanta, Georgia • 8

The Atlanta Journal The Atlanta Constitution III BRIEF HEWS president of the union's Local 1714. said some progress was made. He Yeigh austere budget CALIFORNIA: The state Assembly on Saturday passed and senf to the governor a budget that would slash aid to the poor, local governments and public schools, but resolve a fiscal crisis that has 4 lingered for two months. i The Assembly still needed to approve 10 related bills to make spe- i ciflc cuts in education, local government and welfare necessary to close an $ll billion budget deficit. It continued meeting Saturday night Republican Got.

Pete Wilson urged the Democrat-controlled Assembly to vote in favor of the $56 billion bill and end the standoff. Without a budget sines July 1, California has Issued more than $3 bil-' lioninlOUs. "--'r; Many lawmakers said they disagreed with the bill but said it was necessary to end the stalemate. MINNESOTA: Jordan's king leaves hospital. Jordan's King said neither side would discuss the negotiations.

The union sents workers at the Lordstown fabricating plant, where worfri; ers were idled by the strike. They walked out Thursday, complaining 9. about job security and health and safety issues. The key issue is GMs attempt to close a tool-making shop and eliminate 240 jobs. PENNSYLVANIA: Man with baboon liver gets infection.

'A 35-year-old man who received a baboon liver transplant has deyeL-; oped an infection, and doctors downgraded his condition from fair to serious, a University of Pittsburgh Medical Center spokeswoman Isaid. The man, whose name has been withheld at his request, devel-. oped sepsis following an X-ray of his bile duct, said spokeswoman: 'jane Duffleld. He received the liver two months ago in a kind operation. He had hepatitis which was destroying his liver: and prevented the use of a human liver as a transplant organ.

MINNESOTA Sculptor brings butter to life. The State Fair is on in Falcon Heights, and for Linda Christensen that means time to jump into a glass-enclosed refrigerator and wow the crowds with a sculpture in butter of the latest dairy princess. Ms. tensen, who has been creating "butterheads" for 20 years, wearra; snowsuit as she carves the 85-pound blocks in a rotating cooler kept: at 38 degrees. The subject, also dressed for the weather, sits next Jo: her.

For some Minnesotans, watching the butter come to life the! whole process takes six to eight hours is a rite of the late summer: fair season. "It's kind of like a tradition; we always have to stop by! and see it," said Krista Willis, Andover. i jj MICHIGAN: Man says, he raped, killed 1 1 women. A home; less crack addict who police say is a serial killer spent 12 hours telK ing police how he raped and strangled 11 women, a newspaper re ported. "I killed all 11 of them so I didn't have to worry about thehlj i pressing charges," Benjamin Atkins told investigators, according id; the Detroit Free Press.

Mr. Atkins, 24, has been charged in tiie; slayings of four women and with attempted murder and rape in an afc tack on a fifth. The dead women were among at least nine whose bod I ies have been found in Detroit and Highland Park since December From our news serWcesX Hussein, walking with a cane but appearing in good spirits, left the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, where he had surgery to remove a cancerous tumor from his urinary tract. Before driving away, King Hussein, 56, held a brief news conference to say he is in "excellent shape" and to praise his care during his 12-day stay. He was diagnosed as having cancer of the lining of the ureter, a tube that connects the kidney to the bladder.

The malignancy was removed along with the king's left kidney during surgery Aug. 20. Awodiwd Pratt How to carve a statue from butter? Linda Christensen (right) chills the room to 38 degrees and wears a snowsuit. Here, she makes a bust of Minnesotan Laurie Schwarzrock. With at least another month left to a fire season already aggravated by six years of drought, wildfires have blackened nearly 600,000 acres of Idaho timber and range.

OHIO: Auto talks will continue today. Representatives of the United Auto Workers and General Motors Corp. said they would meet again today in Lordstown, Ohio, to try to resolve a parts plant strike that has shut down production of the popular Saturn car. Negotiators for both sides met for six hours. Afterward, Dave Kimmel, King IDAHO: Big blaze may burn another week.

Hunein Crews held their own against gusting winds as they I fought to establish 10 more miles of containment lines around a wildfire that' has burned across 257,600 acres. Fire officials expect it to take another week before the lightning-sparked Foothills Fire in southwestern Idaho is contained. To the northwest in the Payette National Forest, fire bosses were ready to declare both a blaze and a fire contained by the day's end. mmm Once the store opening celebrations and promotions subside, Publix will move into its long-term strategy to overpower Kroger. 1 mm ti ML a pi) i ROLEX r- 1 1 Bent The Rolex Price Increase Publix K.yi it S3 stores in metro Atlanta and hca 1 announctJfcVru of The Rolex legacy of excellence is perpetuated in contemporary timepieces of incomparable elegance ana durability, each embodying unparalleled tradition of historic performance.

Shown here the Rolex Datejust his and hers in steel and 18 kt gold. Prices go up September 1st. I 3. JaV.jn fvxt Dr. 1 4.PL-:--.tH:3U.trjawiC-.

133 7.BufcrdH'jSwiyandErLrvT-od.. -V Jwefcn to the South time 1887 Budtod 261-4911 Demur 378-M84 Cumberimd Midi 432-3167 FMlmettr Mill 396-8011 Knox Squire 233-8201 Regbieml Jeweler, Certified Gemologist, Accredited Gem Ubontory, Ametfcui Gem Society 1- 5 Continued from A I coupon thing happening, like when Winn-Dixie started its 'everyday low pricing' concept last year. The price structure isn't as low as it could be, and Kroger will probably be forced to bring it down." The early spoils Receiving the spoils in the early stages of the latest round of metro Atlanta's grocery wars will be residents in the northern suburbs. Publix is opening a store in Cobb, and Kroger's "power alley" store is in Gwinnett "When Publix opens its first store here in November, the average Atlanta shopper probably won't know they're here unless they see it advertised, somewhere," Ms. Wilder said.

"Now, if a shopper is in a neighborhood where thei-e is a Publix and a Kroger nearby, sure they are going to be aware and benefit from Publix's arrival, in both stores. "But I think Publix is tailoring its stores for a particular upscale and that means that this probably won't change the lives of most Atlantans on a permanent basis." Publix's mammoth stores ranging in size from 47,000 to 65,000 square feet will offer many of the products already available at local supermarkets. But it plans to differentiate itself in its service and the layout Of its, stores. For example, employees in the bakery, deli and meat department prepare food in clear view of the shoppers, in an effort to build rapport with customers. A rapport Publix insists it wants to have with the entire metro "We are looking at all four quadrants of the Atlanta area tor opportunities in all communi-" Ed Crenshaw, vice president of Lakeland, Publix's Atlanta division.

"Though it may seem right now we are concentrating on one area, we have identified 30-plus sites all over Atlanta. We just announce the sites that construe-, gon Has been started on or is rjeady to begin." Long-term commitment Supermarket competition, he said, is often waged neighborhood by neighborhood. "But it's too early to say we're concentrating on a particular or particular kind 1 of neighborhood," Mr. Crenshaw said. "We are making I long-term commitment to the entire.

Atlanta area, and with the shopper's approval, we hope that we will influence the overall grocery shopping experience." So far, Publix has confirmed seven metro area store sites. In addition, it is opening units in Valdolta, Brunswick and Athens. Publix and Kroger first butt-fid heads on Georgia ground last fear when Publix opened its Savannah store. "We've competed against Kroger, and Winn-Dixie before in Florida," Mr. Crenshaw sajd.

"We basically know what they're about anfhow to com- 30Off Custom Drapery Save 30fc Off fabric am labor on Aero custom dnperies-beautlfully designed, carefully sewn, meticulously hung. With Shop-At-Horoe convtniewe, and aUvork guaranteed "Everybody wants me to say that when Publix comes in we're going to slash prices and we're going to do this and we're going to do that," he said. "We've been coming up with Ideas and better ways to serve our customers all along. And as long as we're serving our market to the best of our ability, and are successful, why should we all of a sudden do something different because someone wants to challenge us?" i To hold on to its leading stake: in the city's grocery market, ana-lystssay. I It's a market that is becoming more attractive to less conventional grocery outlets, such as warehouse stores like Cub Foods and membership clubs such as Sam's Club, a unit of Wal-Mart Stores Inc.

Cub senior vice president Preston Slayden said recently that the chain is changing direction into more developed areas, the first being a new Johnson Ferry Road store to open next year in the vicinity of Kroger and a Publix under construction. And Brenda Lockhart, public relations director for Sam's, said it is adding meat sections, produce departments, bakeries and delis to many of its new units and has already done so in its Austell store. Meanwhile, Harris Teeter, a Matthews, N.C-based chain, is opening its first metro area store on Peachtree Road in spring 1993, and Salisbury N.C-based Food Lion has a store in Snellville and plans others in the metro area. 'Vv-Some fallout. "With all of the commotion going on in the grocery market, at the top and on the fringes, there could be some fallout, among those in between," said Alf Nucifora of the Nucifora Consulting Group in Atlanta.

"And less competition could mean higher prices. "But I haven't seen any num bers that say the Atlanta population can't handle the stores here or on their way," he said. "For now, the shopper is sure to benefit." That's good news for people like Clair Baxter of Cobb County. "I know Publix from when I used to live in Florida and I think they're going to shake things up," she said as she left the Shal-lowford Road Kroger, which is less than five miles away from the first Atlanta Publix. "I don't know if they'll do a better job here than Kroger, but as long as they both pull out the stops for my dollar, I'm happy," she said.

"And I'm ready to compare." t- an Aero tradition for more thai 45 years. ERIC WILLIAMS Staff Kroger apparently will rely on new in-store features, such as this video rental department in its new Snellville store, to maintain its dominance in the Atlanta area, -7' 2f 1593) STAFF to try and outmatch the new entrant" Lyle Yates, vice president of merchandising for Cincinnati-based Kroger, would rather not go into that plan. He even denies a Publix-motivated strategy exists. Instead, Yates would rather show off the chain's new store on Five Forks Trickum Road in Lilburn, which features Kroger's new "power alley" concept at the entrance. Neon signs direct customers to the huge food court of international prepared items to go, bakery products and flowers as they walk in.

And as customers explore the immense Kroger, they'll And the new in-store drugstore concept and a scaled-down version of a neighborhood video rental store. "This, you could say, is what we're doing to fight Publix," Mr. Yates said. "Getting better and better with each store. Please caU to set up a free consultation: (404) 242-0209 50 Off Carousel Cellubr Shades 40 Off LonerDrape Verticals 40 Off TlmberlineWxxl Blinds 60 Off Aero Mini Blinds tavlnti it off refular HMe IWptlca.

OflmeipiK scpicniocr ly, lyyj, Aero' pete against them." This is the first time, however, that Publix has entered an area outside of Florida with the intent of not only competing, but garnering a sizable market share. It's even looking for a place in metro Atlanta to build a distribution center, which will service a minimum of IS stores. Kroger's market Kroger, which currently holds about 40 percent of the market share, is not expected to sit back and watch such an effort take place. "This is Kroger's market," said Fred Allvine, a marketing-professor at Georgia Tech. "Though there may be a good number of people who've moved here from Florida or have vacationed in Florida and experienced Publix, Atlantans know Kroger.

They are smart players in the supermarket game and I'm sure they've got dynamic plan nr-'V Custom Window Fashtons.