Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, November 2, 1993 TAG: 9311020032
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: B-6 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: SANDRA BROWN KELLY STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
That's how much the Lowe's store on Apperson Drive has yielded in taxes, and the North Carolina chain said Monday it will close the Apperson Drive facility when its larger store opens in Roanoke.
Lowe's Cos. Inc. confirmed its decision to vacate the Salem store it has operated for just seven years. It has put the 31,000-square-foot building up for sale. The new store contains 115,000 square feet.
The decision caught Salem officials by surprise, said director of finance Frank Turk.
The loss of the sales tax and other levies will affect Salem "considerably" if all sales move out of the area, he said.
The Apperson Drive store had gross sales of $8.3 million in 1992, according to sales-tax figures.
Salem might not lose all of the business, however, if competitor Moore's Lumber and Building Supply can help it.
James Boutilier, Moore's vice president for human resources, said its Salem store and one on Franklin Road Southwest in Roanoke both might pick up customers because of Lowe's decisions to shut the Apperson Drive store and to convert another store, on Orange Avenue in Roanoke, to a facility only for contractors.
"We're certainly on the right side of town," he said. "But time will tell. We try to be opportunistic."
Moore's stores carry fewer items and are more narrowly focused than Lowe's stores, he said. He also said Moore's has no plans to change its merchandising format but might make changes in its store layouts to accommodate customers better.
Boutilier said he knows firsthand how much customers resent having to drive very far to a building supply store. About five years ago, Moore's closed a store on Brandon Avenue when it opened its Franklin Road outlet.
"I live in southwest county; and when people found out I worked for Moore's, I got scolded," he said.
Lowe's said Monday that employees at the Apperson Drive store will be transferred to the new store, which will be open 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Saturday and 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Sundays.
by CNB