Ledger-Enquirer from Columbus, Georgia • 31

Ledger Enquirer Business riday August 30 1996 C7 Kmart face lift leaves several wrinkles Company plans to renovate all 2150 stores some shoppers find new store confusing unfriendly Knight Ridder Tribune News Service GAITHERSBURG Md Like a proud parent Kmart is showing off its newest store design here this week with high hopes it will renew shopper interest and inspire sales at the discount retail 2150 stores The Troy Mich based company spent big money here to shed its old image and make itself attractive to customers especially women with young children Kmart plans to repeat the trick again and again during the next three years spending an average of $500000 to remake each of its stores across the nation in the image of this glossy outlet in the suburbs of Washington DC or Kmart the effort is a big but necessary gamble The third largest retailer for years has posted disappointing earnings and been dogged by persistent rumors that bankruptcy might be near But its new chairman loyd Hall a former chairman of garget is deter mined to reshape Kmart some suggest in image Not unlike Cinderella Kmart has been seen as dowdy disheveled disorganized dingy even and des perately in need of a make over And it has been overshadowed by the more popular and flashier Tar get and Wal Mart or that reason customers like Melanie Wilson shunned Kmart up my family never shopped here Kmart just have the right says Wilson the mother of two daughters who runs a home based business This store about 25 miles outside Washington is definitely not the Kmart people have come to expect The aisles are wide the lighting bright and signs big Clerks seem to be everywhere and the shelves are stocked to overflowing On many shelves are items you expect at Kmart: frozen pizza canned peas and corn pet food bird feeders and milk The focus is on three departments: convenience store products such as soda and crackers that consumers replenish regularly the apparel and toy department and which includes linens dinnerware appliances and other items most prized addition: a up my family never shopped here Kmart just have the right Malania WHaon pantry section filled with 2500 food and grocery items never before found at a Kmart Kmart shoppers can buy sugar or boxed pasta or other advertised specials that change weekly and are stacked on large pallets near the front of the store The section is a big hit with Cynthia Posey a 43 year old mail handler and mother of two was the dumps she says Her shopping cart is filled with fruit juice picture frames ash trays sugar and Tide buy she says is a five pound bag of Domino sugar selling for $149 which would sell for more than $2 at a nearby grocery store me one stop shopping any she says So far 67 Kmart stores on the East Coast have been redesigned to provide a better one stop shopping opportunity These stores are show ing a 10 to 15 percent boost in sales says William Gryson Jr a Kmart vice president took reporters on a tour of the newly remade store here At that rate he predicts increased store sales could largely pay for the cost after one year of business It will take time for regular customers to get used to new layout Store clerks here are plentiful but on this day most are stocking shelves and not offering assistance to customers wandering the store is still groping and is probably six months or more away from getting things right in these new said Walter Loeb a retail analyst for Discount Store News Whether pantry section wide aisles and rearranged layout can turn infrequent visitors like Wilson into frequent shoppers is far from certain This is first time to this store since it was made over and frankly a bit dazed and confused get used to it and figure out where things she says But Kmart may face a more basic challenge here at Target are more helpful at Kmart no one ever smiles or asks to help says Sandra Derge a mother of two who works as a cashier at a grocery store wfmid have to chTnge before I'd shop at BRIELY Bizacts A burger fries and a drink Averaqe price of these items at fast food chains in selected cities 1 996 AngelZ Toronto moo igg ills SOURCE: RunzfiiMii Ss I nternatlonal1 research by PAT CARR KRT Via Paris $683 1 London $580 ill NATION Door manufacturer to plead guilty to price fixing pay fine WASHINGTON A Michigan door manufacturer agreed Thursday to plead guilty and pay a $155 million fine that would wrap up a 2f2 year investigation of price fixing of home doors The agreement with Michigan Birch Door Manufacturers Inc would push the total criminal fines from the Justice Department investigation to $85 million Six cases were filed as a result of the antitrust investigation of the $600 million residential flat door industry Michigan Birch of Chesterfield Mich was charged in US District Court in Burlington Vt with participating in a price fixing conspiracy throughout 1993 The government charged that Michigan Birch conspired with others to agree not to compete on prices of doors sold in the northeast and mid Atlantic states Asian order for Boeing 747s total $55 billion paper says NEW YORK Boeing Co has orders from Asian carriers for more than 30 of its new larger and longer range 747 jumbo jets at an estimated value of more than $55 billion The Wall Street Journal reported Thursday The orders could grow to 50 planes by the time Boeing announces the launch of the new models expected at the biennial arnborough Air Show that begins Monday in Britain the newspaper said citing executives familiar with the sales Japan Airlines Malaysian Airlines and Singapore Airlines have already agreed to place orders for what will be largest planes All Nippon Airways of apan and Cathay Pacific Airways of Hong Kong were still negotiating with Boeing Deliveries of the jets would begin in the year 2ooo Ingersoll Rand drops license for exclusive use of Knight WASHINGTON The Justice Department approved Ingersoll Rand acquisition of Zimmerman International Corp after Ingersoll agreed Thursday to give up its exclusive license to use a third technology to produce air balancers Zimmerman based in Madison Heights Mich 1 is the largest US manufacturer of air balancers pneumatic safety devices used to lift and move heavy objects on assembly lines like those in the auto industry To win government approval of the deal Ingersoll Rand will give up an exclusive license to produce air balancers under its own brand name using the technology of Knight Industries the second largest producer of the devices The government said elimination of the license resolved its concerns that the original 1 deal would have lessened competition in the manufacture and sale of air balancers Knight will be free to license other companies that might want to enter the industry Market tumbles over home sales Dow falls 64 points from fears of increased interest rates IN Associated Press WASHINGTON New home sales unexpectedly surged in July to the highest level in five months continuing the powerful economic momentum of the previous three months and feeding new fears of higher interest rates The reports of a 79 percent jump in home sales after an annualized 48 percent second quarter economic growth rate the biggest in two years were welcome news to President Clinton just before he accepted the Democratic nomination for a second term But they also sent financial markets tumbling in the belief the ederal Re serve would raise interest rates to brake the economy and prevent any acceleration of inflation The Dow Jones industrial average ended the dy down 6473 points at 564765 Bond prices also fell are no signs (the economy) is slowing appreciably in the second half of the year as the (ederal Re serve) has been said econ omist Stephen Roach of Morgan Stanley Co in New York ed is going to have to move unless it gets a really disappointing (employment) report next riday from the Labor he pre dicted The Commerce Department re ported Thursday that new home sales totaled 783000 at a seasonally adjust ed annual rate highest since 784000 last ebruary Most analysts expected a slight dip The 79 percent surge was the steep est since an 88 percent gain last Janu ary All regions except for the North east shared in the advance At the same time Commerce said the revised gross domestic product in the second quarter was even stronger than the 42 percent growth rate initially reported a month ago The advance in theGDP the total output of goods and services in the United States was the largest since the second quarter of 1994 when the economy expanded at a 49 percent rate The GDP had advanced 2 per cent in the January March period Clinton attributes the robust econo my to his policies But Republican presidential nomi nee Bob Dole says his opponent inher ited a good economy which he con tends has and needs proposed tax cuts to revive Many analysts and ed officials have been expecting the economy to slow during the second half of the year But ed Chairman Alan Green span had said if signs of deceleration do not appear quickly the central bank will be forced to raise rates ed policy makers next meet on Sept 24 Economic signals have been mixed recently including data on the hous ing industry Although new home sales surged in July they had fallen in the two previous months Existing home sales have fallen for two straight months Still housing activity remains at high levels despite 30 year fixed rate mortgages that had topped 8 percent from April through July TV 16 pushes for TeleCable service Low power station needs cable company's help to develop following By Mick Walsh Staff Writer Despite an avalanche of radio attack ads urging TCI TeleCable subscribers to switch their cable allegiance to a competitor that carries WCGT TV management of largest cable company is in no hurry to add the low power station to its lineup I heard the ads on TCI TeleCable gen eral manager John Anglin said Thursday I do know we had many calls requesting us to put the station on the WCGT was purchased March 1 by McClure Broadcasting from Dr Steven Hollis for approximately $100000 In the ensuing months the company has waged an intense campaign to land a spot on TCI lineup WCGT even lobbied Columbus Council to adopt a non binding resolution requesting TCI TeleCable to carry the station A resolution was passed last week WRCG AM talk show host Jerry Luquire has been urging listeners to drop TCI TeleCable in favor of American Cable Co because American carries WCGT The Chuck McClure family owns both the radio and TV station Ameri can Cable general manager Wayne Kellstrom said his compa ny has picked up several TCI Te leCable customers recently but added: think more because of our lower prices than the TV 16 Charter Communications which recently acquired Cablevision also carries TV 16 Both American and Charter were under different man agement when decisions to carry TV 16 were made believe that TeleCable z'B VW 1 MM BSP'' Donnie iegle monitors the control panel at the studio of TV 16 Allen Home Ledger Enquirer and ourselves are said WCGT general manager Wayne Bishop realize they are under no obligation to carry us but I do think we provide viewers with solid local programming Natural ly I think we should be on their system And I'll continue to request that they carry As a low power station one which services a strict geographi cal area while operating with limited wattage WCGT needs to land spots on area cable systems merely to build an audience whole idea behind awarding li censes to low power stations was to encourage community program ming in a limited geographical said Nancy Horne president of the Cable Television Association of Georgia the intent was not for them to wind up on cable The WCGT transmitter now located on Hamilton Road but soon to move to Cusseta Ga sends out an over the air signal that reaches approximately 12000 15000 house holds But by virtue of being on American Charter and Phenix Cable TV 16 has a potential audi ence of 40000 By joining the TCI TeleCable lineup the low pow er station which features a daily talk show by Doug Kellet Johnny Outlaw and the Him gospel show could reach an additional 37000 homes we get on TeleCable we'd be able to invest in the equipment necessary to televise such things as hockey games from the Civic said Bishop want us to show proof that we deserve a spot on their system I think we're doing Anglin says a of shelf has kept him from putting TV 16 on the air space does open up we feel it is more important to add cable channels such as ESPN2 and the History Channel instead of TV 16 Viewers by far want those kind of channels instead of a low TV station But who is to say that in the months and years to come when we all gain additional space on our sys tems that we add a channel like TV 16 certainly consider Vi Group campaigns to educate union members of dues rules WASHINGTON A group that opposes mandatory union membership began a campaign Thursday to let workers know they have to finance their political activities The National Right to Work Legal Defense effort targets the AL plan to spend $35 million promoting pro labor issues during the presidential campaign Most workers know that allowed to ask that their union dues be applied only to activities directly related to collective bargaining and contract administration said Reed Larson president of the foundation of American workers are being forced to pay tens of millions of dollars to support political candidates and ideas they Larson said at a news conference rom wtX reports I I.