Roanoke Times Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc. DATE: WEDNESDAY, November 3, 1993 TAG: 9311030079 SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: A-1 EDITION: METRO SOURCE: SANDRA BROWN KELLY STAFF WRITER DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Richard Lynn, chief executive officer of S.H. Heironimus Inc., said The Dunlap Co. of Fort Worth plans to assume ownership this month but will retain the Heironimus name and operate the company as a subsidiary.
Dunlap bought the majority of Heironimus stock from Lynn and his family. Heironimus was founded in Roanoke in 1890.
Lynn said the assured continuation of the company was one reason the Dunlap offer was so attractive, even though it came at a time when he had not thought of selling his interest.
"This for me has been such an emotional roller coaster," Lynn said Tuesday afternoon after he met with managers and corporate staff to tell them of the sale.
Lynn, 52, is a graduate of Roanoke College and has spent his entire career with the company his family has had an interest in since 1892. He became president, chairman and chief executive of the chain in 1982.
Lynn said "except for what would happen in case of death," he had never thought of leaving the retail business until Dunlap contacted him.
He called the offer "a rare opportunity. It's a successful company in an industry that has struggled. It is a good match for us."
Heironimus operates seven Heironimus stores in Blacksburg, Lynchburg, Roanoke and Salem, and four Petite Place stores. The company said annual gross sales are more than $20 million. As a private company, it declined to report profits.
"Our company is in good shape and in good financial condition," Lynn said.
Lynn declined to reveal financial terms of the sale, except that it was a "fair price" that he "couldn't walk away from."
He said the contract with Dunlap is with him and his wife, Glovie Lynn, who are majority stockholders. He said Dunlap also wants to acquire the remainder of the stock.
The sale is to be closed Nov. 15. Lynn said he likely will stay with the company through February, when the company's fiscal year ends.
He said he has made no plans beyond that time.
Dunlap, also a privately held company, operates stores in 10 states under more than 20 names. Among its holdings are M.M. Cohn, Porteous, Steketee's, Marcom's and Kerr's stores. There are Dunlap stores in Arkansas, Louisiana, Maine, Michigan, New Hampshire, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Texas, Tennessee and Vermont.
The company grew out of a family operation that began in Oklahoma when it was Indian Territory, also in 1890. Its headquarters was moved to Fort Worth in 1977.
Tom Hoskins, Dunlap's chief executive officer, said his company was attracted to Heironimus because it was a sound company in a good area.
He said it is Dunlap's style to move into a community as quietly as possible.
"We would rather not even make the news," Hoskins said from his Fort Worth offices. "Our best wishes would be that people feel like it was a continuing business.
"We keep the name, the culture and the environment as best as we can," Hoskins said.
He said merchandise buying for the stores will continue to be done at the local level. He said there are no plans to change the stores' management.
"We encourage our stores to be independent and unique in markets. If a store means a certain thing in a community, we try to protect that," Hoskins said. "Customers wouldn't see the same operation if we brought in different personalities.
"I'm not saying there wouldn't be any changes, but we'll make less changes than anyone else would," Hoskins said.
The company official said he toured the Heironimus stores "incognito" before he offered to buy them.
"It's a good market for us," he said. "We've had the best luck in a community the size of Roanoke."
by CNB