Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, July 14, 1993 TAG: 9307140020
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: A-4 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: By CELESTE KATZ STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
The company won't be able to prevent this weekend's distribution of circulars containing ads for Bunker Hill canned meats. The ads prominently feature Allison's picture and signature, according to Bob Culver, the company's senior vice president for marketing and sales.
Published before Allison's death Tuesday, the ad already had been printed and sent to several major newspapers.
"It's a real tragedy," Culver said. "We knew him as a friend. We don't want people to think that we're taking advantage of the situation."
Others were not quite as reserved in their reaction to Allison's death after a helicopter crash in Alabama. Fans of the man who drove Car 28 formed long lines at stores such as Racing Image, a NASCAR souvenir store, looking to buy Allison merchandise before it goes out of production.
Racing Image employees found dozens of customers waiting for the store to open Tuesday morning in a scene mirroring the one after the April death of race car driver Alan Kulwicki. Nearly all Allison merchandise - T-shirts, mugs, model cars - was sold out by noon.
Wayne Corprew laughed in disbelief as Jamie Scruggs totaled his purchases to $391, including a glass-encased $180 model of Allison's transport truck and racing car.
"The transport is mine. I'll share the rest with friends and people who couldn't make it out today," said Corprew of Roanoke.
"I've been a fan of the whole Allison family, starting with the father, Bobby, for a long time," said Delane Cochran of Roanoke, standing in line with his hands full of memorabilia. Cochran plans to put his Allison and Kulwicki memorabilia in a glass case at work.
Robert Mills, 6, cradled in his arms a snap-together model of Allison's car, which he said he won't take out of the package "because [Allison] is dead." Robert's been a Davey Allison fan since he became interested in racing at age 3, according to his mother, Joanne Mills of Roanoke. "My other child's favorite driver was Al Kulwicki," said Mills. "I don't know what's going on here."
Most of the shops at Happy's Flea Market on Williamson Road had the usual slow Tuesday, but at Race Mania, a NASCAR store, Steve Johns "sold out of Davey stuff in about an hour."
"A lot of people are buying for their collections or for investment," said Johns. He added that after existing merchandise contracts expire, no more Allison cars or shirts will be produced, and their value probably will rise.
While people like Martha Bryant of Roanoke, so stricken by Allison's death that she was given a day off from work, probably will hang onto their treasures, several people at Racing Image said they planned to sell the items to collectors if their value rises.
by CNB