Newsday from New York, New York • 65

ASS LI Newcomer Is Making Inroads 8b Expectations Soaring With Start of High-Rise Tossing ceremonial dirt with chrome-plated shovels sponsors of midtown next mqjor high-rise predicted yesterday that it would become a "landmark for the 21st in a skyline ruled by 70-year-old art-deco masterpieces Superlatives pelted spectators like the rain during a seven outlets that opened in March and three in October The chain has 5 more LI locations than rivals Target and JC Penney Only 5 mart tops But rivals say their businesses suffered Homegrown for instance said sales dipped 15 to 20 percent for a few months after spring debut but shoppers have returned said William Knapp chief executive of the Patcnogue-based chain JC Broadway Mall store is only a few miles from three locations Yet did not lose sales thanks in part to a stepped-up advertising-campaign said store manager Chas Thompson Although some local experts warned at the time that Long Island was saturated with stores executives said the New York debut has been the best opening ever in a new market executives would not provide exact sales figures for the stores since their openings but they said the locations here are expected to rack up nearly $19 million each in an- nual sales in their first year the same as a mature store does Normally a new store in a new market pulls in 70 to 80 percent of mature store sales in its first year "We are particularly pleased with Long Island and why our October stores opened said chief executive Lariy Montgomery "It was one of 'the best moves we ever success formula? Montgomery said offers middle-market consumers brand-name clothes and housewares at moderate prices It has a fairly new stores which helps boosts its sales and offers wide aisles for moms with kids in tow Also since its stores are free-standing shoppers can park outside and are not forced to navigate a mall By Tami Luhby STAFF WRITER When Randy Bassen needed a new casual-dress wardrobe for work this spring he decided to check out Long newest apparel retailer He dropped $700 in one trip picking up Dockers and other laid-back clothes Now he and his wife Michelle rarely shop at their former favorites like JC Penney Macys and Sears has what looking Bassen of North Babylon said as he picked through a stack of turtlenecks in the Deer Park store on Election Day dose and the prices are With shoppers like the Bassens is having a spectacular year here and around the nation While rivals are lowering earnings expectations the Menomonee Falls Wis retailer has seen same-store sales rise an average of nearly 9 percent over the past five years however may have to work even harder to sustain its sales growth Other retailers have seen spending slow down and many analysts expect an anemic Christmas shop-season Some Llers say they have turned off by long lines at checkout and poor customer 1 service at Also the chain has been dogged by allegations of using sweatshops Nicaragua although officials said the company does not own the Latin American factory and is monitoring the issue Executives said there is an ongoing labor dispute there and that the company is not getting involved onethel ess the aggressive charge into this market has shown early success As part of a 32-store push into New York this year blanketed Long Island with ground-breaking ceremony for the Time Warner Center a multi-purpose twin-tower structure that will be built on the Columbus Circle site formerly occupied by the New York Coliseum Even as the developers and guests gathered for the ritual beginning workers were already doing the real thing blasting huge buried boulders apart in the 34-acre excavation site The 55-etory complex with such tenants as AOL Time Warner CNN a Lincoln Center jazx performance hall a five-star hotel and 203 luxury condominiums will cost $17 billion to build over three years This' creative mix of uses is unparalleled in the landscape of New York said Stephen Ross chairman and chief executive' of The Related Companies LP the key partner in the development Whether it can gain the public acceptance of such venerables as Rockefeller Center and the Empire State and Chrysler buildings all built in the early 1930s remains to be seen But the building seems sure to revitalize Columbus Circle a traffic bottleneck at the southwest corner of Central Park presided over by largely ignored statue of The Navigator ana until recently the dreary 1950s-vintage Coliseum David Childs lead architect for the design that beat out several others in a competition has said the Time Warner Center by its location will "reestablish the city street by moving the focus westward While most buildings are erected in expectation of being filled 60 percent of the Time Warner Center's tenants already are committed Himmel said The project will employ 2300 construction workers under a no-strike agreement between the developers and Building Construction Trades Council The most striking features will be the glass-fronted eighth-floor media center with Time Warner and CNN studios and its $103 million 'jazz center just behind the main entrance with an 1100-seat theater rehearsal studios and a 600-seat performance atrium facing Central Park Private housing will occupy 29 floors of the south tower ana 16 floors of the north above the 20-story 249-room Mandarin Oriental hotel A retail gallery curved to conform to the circle will extend from West 60th Street to West 58th Street GMAC Commercial Mortgage Cora has said its $13 billion loan is the largest ever for a private development project in the United States The Associated Press Poised for Getty Bidding War OIL from A61 ITheiTop'ilOOJp Stock Watch How 7 largest stocks based on market value fared The Nowaday Top 100 Bloomberg Slock Index: ing it to meet higher environmental standards he said He also said he hn increased the number of gas stations by 100 to about 400 Catsimatidis is known not only for his entrepreneurial skills a big player in New York politics and has -plenty of connections In the past year he has hosted fund raisers at his East Side apartment for both A1 Gore and Hillary Rodham Clinton "He gives heavily to Democratic offi- said Neal Rosenstein government reform coordinator fin the New York Public Interest Research Group For the 2001 mayoral election already given Bronx Borough President Freddy Ferrer $4500 the maximum and so too has his he said at Union Refinery and agreed to pay a $1 million fine to Pennsylvania authorities to settle the case More than 100 people were recorded on the tapes Some employees claimed at the time that Catsimatidis was behind the wiretapping a charge he denied company has been involved in other controversies One of his top finance executives was indicted recently on charges of trying to pay off tax officials Catsimatidis denied any responsibility saying it is difficult to keep tabs on 8000 employees Since the acquisition of Union Refinery Catsimatidis has injected about $100 million into the refinery upgrad Jan 1 1997-100 Madden Launches Line Nasdaq Stocks Sent Soaring MADDEN from A61 STOCKS from A60 I Claude Folnik the trade news editor Folnik recalled that which jjj makes and shoes de- signed a line but never launched the product because there was little de- mand He also worried that adding the shoes to Madden stores will per- haps shrink inventory of a shoes and in effect lose core custom- 3 ers not thinking about competi- tion the focus is simply to put out a cool Madden said just prefer this come to an Once the election is decided however analysts said they doubted any significant rally can be sustained "You will still have to contend with a slowing economy possibly rising inflation problems in the Middle East problems with the euro and a grid-locked said Larry Rice chief investment officer at Josepthal Lyon Ross in Boca Raton Fla "The market may be up but the problems are still the celebrity "I realize that the Madden brand name- as prevalent with men but guys have girlfriends sisters and wives that are wearing our shoes so they know our Footwear News an industry trade publication in Manhattan is less optimistic about Madden playing to the male ear "These companies are built around marketing and the Madden brand name has no cachet with said stock rose $363 to $2938 An analyst said he expects the company to announce new products But most of the focus on Wall Street was on Florida The volatility seeing is directly related to whatever comment comes out of the Florida election said Barry Hyman chief market strategist for Weatherly Securities in Manhattan "I think the market is saying.