Detroit Free Press from Detroit, Michigan • Page 54

ir ir'i BRIEFLY I dv- I SECTION Michigan Memo, Page 2 Business People, Page 2 Call Business: 222-8765 Detroit Jfxcc Vtczs Dollar stabilizes; Dow gains Luff 1(41 As the dollar steadied itself after a wobbly week in currency markets, stocks rebounded. The Dow Jones average of 30 industrial stocks rose 14.59 points to 3,246.81, recouping a chunk of the 100 points lost in recent sessions. For more on stocks, see 3E. THE DOW Mutual Funds, Page3E NYSE, Page 4E 7 -miiTi'itnijirn r-n- Andrew claims flooding in Insurance companies already are swamped with claims as the damage toll rises in Florida and Louisiana from Hurricane Andrew. Aetna Life Casualty Co.

received more than 1,000 calls and ITT Hartford Insurance Group was anticipating more than 2,000 claims by Tuesday night. Travelers Corp. had received about 1,500 claims on Andrew. Some insurers fear the devastation could exceed Hugo's $4 billion rampage. fj, 5 tngier aetenas loser automaker Fighting words from William Odom, an adviser to Democratic presidential nominee Bill BY DAVID J.

MORROW Free Press Automotive Writer fl era Howell used to drive 111 good glimpse of a Sat-I I urn sedan. Days later, she grounded the Volvo and persuaded her husband, Don, to open his checkbook. He bought two. "I won't drive another import," said Vera Howell, a registered nurse in Detroit. "We wanted an American car that was jazzy and easy on the pock-etbook.

And that's exactly what we got." After two years of showroom struggles, Saturn is fast becoming a bona fide American hit. Sales this year are up 247 percent, enough to hurl General Motors newest division past the Honda Civic and onto the bumper of the Toyota Jul Press Clinton: Detroit's top auto execs are "three loser businessmen from losing automobile companies," he told CNN. Republican Gov. John Engler flew to their defense, chastising him for "an assault on our Bill Clinton Vera and Don Howell of Detroit liked the Saturn sedan so much that they bought two. SOLD ON SATURN John Engler The Small Car Shootout Once a laggard in U.S.

sales, Saturn now leads the pack. automakers." Back came the Dems, saying Engler was using "diversionary tactics" after failing to help Michigan's hard-hit auto industry. "Last I heard, unemployment in Michigan was 9.4 percent," said Clinton's deputy press secretary, Bob Boorstin. Stay tuned. Toyota income down again Stalled sales in Japan and abroad sliced net income at Toyota Motor Corp.

by 44.9 percent in the past fiscal year and the lousy returns will mean 20 percent bonus cuts for managers. It was the second year in a row that Japan's largest automaker reported a large profit decline and shows the difficulties faced by Japan's auto industry amid the economic slump. Net income for the automaker and its 43 subsidiaries fell to $1.9 billion. Bill's millions to Stanford i 1 SATURN TOYOTA Corolla HONDA Civic smmn 26- Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Source; Ward's Automotive Reports Detroit Free I 24 19 2 si les i i thlusahds 1 14 nJ-LlLL I 1 I I I i Bill Gates, the founder and chairman of Microsoft has given Stanford University $6 million for a new computer sciences building. Gates isn't an alumnus but said he's making the gift "because I want to invest in the future of the industry." Smart move, since the industry has made him a billionaire.

U.S. says prove it or lose it on drugs Ingredients must work, FDA urges By Richard L. vernaci Associated Press WASHINGTON The Food and Drug Aclministration said Wednesday hundreds of ingredients in over-the-counter medications don't work, and products making those claims will have to change their formulas or labels. Some of the remedies are pretty common every medicine chest in America has probably held a bottle of calamine lotion, for instance. Mom said it was good for bug bites and poison ivy.

It'll make the itch go away. Prove it, says the FDA. Calamine is among 415 ingredients that the agency says are not shown to be effective. Under the agency's proposed rules, calamine, a pink mixture of zinc oxide and ferric oxide, could be sold as a "skin protectant" but not as an "external analgesic." In other words, it may protect the skin, but it doesn't make it feel any better. "We are taking this action because no proof has been submitted to FDA that shows the ingredients are effective for the conditions claimed," FDA Commissioner David Kessler said.

This is the third and largest sweep of over-the-counter products that the FDA has conducted in the last couple of years as the agency roots through the nation's medicine chest to throw out stuff that doesn't live up to its claims. Many of these have been around since before 1962, when federal law started requiring manufacturers to prove products were safe and effective before putting them on the market. Two years ago the FDA made a similar move against 223 ingredients for which it had no evidence of effectiveness, and a year ago it banned another 111 products. Wednesday's action could take effect in 60 days, giving interested parties time to send their corn-See FDA Page 7E Entire FDA list available The FDA has released a long list of ingredients in over-the-counter drugs. The agency maintains the additives don't do what they say they do.

Want to check what's in your medicine cabinet for products that contain things that don't work? Here's how. Free Press Plus, our new information arm, is offering the full FDA listing. It's available on our new fax-on-demand line, 1-900-737-5001. Punch it anytime on a touch-tone phone, fol-' low the prompting and you can have the document faxed to any machine imme- diately. Cost is $1.95 per minute it'll show up on your next phone bill as "Speak Out." The line also offers a couple of other fax docu-' ments a primer for pre-' paring your house for sale and a list of useful phone numbers from the Free Press Travel section.

Free Press Plus serves your information needs with information when you need it and is only in the Free Press. Bill Gates Ohio strike threatens production Saturn's '93 Lineup Vehicle Price SL Sedan $9,195 SL1 Sedan $9,995 SL2 Sedan $11,495 SCI Coupe $10,995 I SC2 Coupe $12,795 SW1 Wagon $10,895 ') SW2 Wagon $12,195 Source: Ward's Automotive Reports WILLIAM DEKAYDetrort Free Press ilies and jocks. "Saturn is intercepting people who were moving toward Japanese brands," said George Peterson, president of AutoPa-cific, a consulting firm in Santa Ana, Calif. "They're also gaining a lot of people who had bad experiences with imports or others who just want to bash the Japanese." How did Saturn do this? "By listening to our customers," said Saturn President Richard (Skip) LeFauve. "When we did our research, they said they didn't want rebates or haggling over the car.

We just implemented what they asked for." Saturn prices are standard nationwide, so there's no dickering at the bargaining table. Customers like the uniformity, and the invitation to browse See SATURN, Page 7E "If that stops, we must stop building," he said. "It would significantly halt production if there is a work stoppage. "We won't speculate how long it might take to affect us." The strike would immediately cripple Lordstown-based production of the Chevrolet See LORDSTOWN Page 7E added Schiffer jA and ads. the color-cosmetics market which includes lipstick, nail enamel and eye and facial makeup rose from 15.6 percent in the first quarter of this year to 16.3 percent in the second three months.

Nielsen notes that Maybelline and Procter Gamble's Cover Girl fell by nearly one percentage point apiece. As for profitability, analysts say that while Revlon makes money on an operating level, it does not on a pre-tax level because interest expense outweighs operating profit. See REVLON, Page 2E Detroit Free GMs star car climbing past popular imports Saturn's surge should continue, adding more strain to its assembly line in Spring Hill, Tenn. Right now, Saturn can't build cars fast enough. Some buyers are waiting as long as a month before driving their Sat-urns from the showroom, and the delay may grow longer once the rush for 1993 models begins next month.

It may very well become a stampede. Saturn introduces a station wagon and a downscale version of it coupe this fall. The coupe is positioned to young, entry-level buyers, while the wagon is meant to corral fam bour, a Detroit-area industry analyst. A United Auto Workers five-day strike letter expires today. Some 2,300 Lordstown stamping plant workers will walk out if various labor issues remain unresolved.

"We do operate on a just-in-time system. We depend on incoming parts," Saturn spokesman Bill Betts said. of America's most recognized and enduring brand names while charging less for many products. The plan generally receives praise, but some experts caution that by concentrating on selling in the likes of Wal-Mart, Kmart, Kroger and Safeway, Revlon could sacrifice some of its trademark glamour. Yet Revlon's strategy is showing signs of paying off.

Revlon says net sales rose by 10 percent to $365.2 million in the first quarter of 1992 from $332.2 million in the corresponding 1991 period. According to Nielsen Marketing Research, Revlon's share of i hi Mhm Gambling with nature Apparently the breathtaking splendor of the Grand Canyon isn't enough for some people. For the vacationer who wants the look of natural grandeur and the chance to gamble, Circus Circus Enterprises Inc. has the answer: a Grand Canyon theme park in Las "Vegas. The five-acre, $75-million Grand Slam Canyon will hover on a cliff overlooking the company's casino.

Scheduled to open next July, it'll include 140-foot peaks, a 90-foot Havasupai Falls and a coursing river all covered by a vented pink, climate-controlled dome. Durable goods orders plunge Orders to U.S. factories for durable goods plummeted in July for the second time in three months, raising new doubts about the health of the economy during the home stretch of the presidential election campaign. Most of the 3.4 percent drop the biggest in seven months was attributed to a decline in orders for aircraft, but other key categories, including industrial machinery and primary metals, fell as well. Spud light Scientists at Monsanto Co.

have developed a genetically altered potato that absorbs less oil in cooking, resulting in less-fattening french fries and potato chips. Biologists in St. Louis, say chips made from the new Russet Burbank potatoes contain about 20 percent oil, compared to 36 percent with standard spuds. Muppets get in a party mood Revlon hopes make-over revives sales BY LORNET TURNBULL Knight-RkJder Newspapers LORPSTOWN, Ohio Saturn dealers and corporate officials have eyes trained on Lordstown, where a strike deadline looms today, threatening to halt production of the General Motors showpiece. "Saturn will die immediately all its small stampings are in Lordstown," said James Har Press been to remove products bearing the Revlon brand name from higher-priced department stores and sell them only at lower-price outlets like pharmacies, Kmart stores and supermarkets.

The idea: to reach a younger group of shoppers. For example, the company's Outrageous Lip Color lipstick that would have sold for $16 or $17 in a department store will sell for about $7.50 in the mass-merchandise outlets, said Jerry Levin, Revlon's president. Revlon says that despite the price cuts, its profits on Revlon-brand products will rise because of increased volume and because the company is saving on paying for display space and beauty consultants in bigger stores. Revlon products bearing other brand names, including fragrances like Nautica and Ellen Tracy, are still being sold at department stores. Revlon intends to make a bigger impact in what its executives call "Middle American" stores.

The company is studying methods to improve its product displays. Because there are no beauty consultants in these stores, it is crucial for Revlon to communicate to shoppers about its products. The company is considering using a computer that can answer common questions from shoppers. Revlon's new sales and marketing strategy borrows from the nation's most successful packaged-goods companies. The idea is to introduce a wider audience to one Talk ahout name A jg recognition: 98 percent of kids can correctiv identify Miss Piggy and Kermit the Frog.

Playing on that popularity, American Greetings Corp. is launching a new line of greeting cards, wrapping paper, party goods, stickers and more By Jon Friedman New York Times Ronald Perelman went all out when he attempted to take Revlon Inc. public this summer. The company's executives made 53 presentations to prospective investors in 17 U.S. and European cities.

An elaborate road show included a Revlon video featuring models Cindy Crawford and Claudia Schiffer. The highlight came July 22 at the Waldorf-Astoria in New York. Many of the 300 people in the audience burst into applause. The cheering stopped just eight days later. After all of the hard work, Perelman, Revlon's owner, postponed plans to sell 11 million shares of the New York-based cosmetics giant.

Investors balked at his prospectus price of $14 to $15 per share and said the offer represented too great a risk in a beleaguered new-issues market. The failure of that initial public offering has increased the sense of urgency at Revlon to remake the company on Wall Street and on Main Street. Perelman now faces the difficult task of proving to skeptical investors and cost-conscious shoppers that there is, as he is fond of saying, "a new Revlon." In fact, much is new at the cosmetics giant, which has been selling glamour to women for 60 years in the forms of lipsticks, nail enamels and other products for facial and eye care. A big part of the new strategy this year has 1 Miss Piggy featuring the Muppet characters. Miss Piggy and the rest of the gang hit the shelves this month.

Edited by Nancy Laughlin from staff and wire reports YOUK MONEY Many college students get credit cards without taking Credit 101 and end up in financial trouble. Page 3E..