Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, November 17, 1993 TAG: 9311170022
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: B-6 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE:
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
Two independent surveys - one done by MasterCard with shoppers and another by Deloitte & Touche with Virginia retailers - indicate that Christmas retail sales will be ho-ho, but also -hum.
The surveys found that consumers probably will spend about the same as or less than they did last year in the holiday period.
MasterCard has Americans spending an average of $423 per person on holiday gifts - $19 less than last year.
Deloitte & Touche didn't get dollar specific, but it concluded that the profile of a holiday shopper is a "value conscious" person who will focus on "practical, medium- to small-ticket items."
The Roanoke Valley is scheduled to get two new stores this week. Pier 1 Imports will open Saturday near Applebee's Restaurant on the Valley View Mall ring road, and the Lowe's superstore is expected to open Thursday near Towne Square shopping center and Crossroads Mall.
Roanoke County taxpayers now can use a Discover card to pay their bills. It was the only credit card Treasurer Fred Anderson could get to participate on his terms.
Anderson said Visa and MasterCard wanted a percentage of what was charged, and that would have made it impossible for the county to collect the transaction fee from residents.
He said he wanted to make paying taxes easier for people, but he didn't want it to cost the county.
Discover agreed to a flat fee - for example, $1 for a charge of less than $200 and $5 for $800 and up - and that information will be provided on county bills.
Also under the plan, Discover cardholders will get a reminder about county taxes in their credit card bills.
Not that they need reminding. Anderson said the county's tax collection rate is better than 99 percent and is "one of the highest in commonwealth."
Sorry, city residents, you can't charge your Roanoke taxes.
The bridal department at the Patina women's store on Virginia 419 near Tanglewood Mall is being enlarged into a full-service bridal store, said owner Bonnie Jackson. She has hired Jane Guthrie, who has worked at Amrhein's Jewelry and Bridal Shop in Salem, to manage the new shop.
Jackson also is making other changes. She closed a shop at Valley View Mall in August and said she will close her Roanoke City Market shop when she finds a replacement tenant.
The 419 store has been drawing customers from the downtown store; plus, Jackson said, she wants to concentrate her efforts in fewer directions.
"I need to do something and do it right," she said.
Jackson owns the building that houses the downtown Roanoke Patina shop and has her offices there, but she said she would like to sell the building.
A tenant, Mason & Hannabass meat cutters, plans to move down Campbell Avenue after the first of the year to the former Wright Furniture building, according to owner Mark Bradbury. He said one reason for the move was an anticipated increase in rent. Bradbury also said the plans are to expand the meat operation to include takeout food.
If you got one of the "extremely urgent notification" letters from Omega Marketing congratulating you for being a guaranteed gift recipient, here's what you learn if you call:
For a one-time fee of $199, Omega will enroll you for a year in the Forget-Me-Not Floral Reminder Service. You provide the reminder people with a list of birthdays, etc., to be remembered, and they will cue you when the events are coming up.
If you sign up the day you call the company, you get $100 in free gifts, said Danka Hoffman, the telemarketing worker. He used to be a construction worker, he said during our chatty-chat time.
Possible prizes included a 32-inch Sony, a $2,500 cashier's check, a new Ford Mustang LX, $10,000 or an Hawaiian holiday. I won the Hawaiian holiday, which I regret to say I won't get to take because I didn't sign up with Forget-Me-Not.
If you think a reminder service is a good idea, contact a florist. Most shops offer a reminder service to customers for nothing, said Donna Tyree, manager of Floral Renditions in Roanoke. She said there's even a computer program shops can use to alert customers to the important dates.
Eventually you will be able to rent the CD-ROM software for a tryout before you buy.
Blockbuster Entertainment Corp. this month began renting and selling CD-ROM entertainment software and hardware (except computers) in 52 Blockbuster Video stores and five company-owned music stores in the San Francisco area. CD-ROM software and hardware will be offered in all company-owned stores by November 1994.
Manufacturers participating in the introduction are Philips Electronics, IBM, Panasonic, Sega and Apple. Software will include hundreds of titles, including games, reference, education, entertainment, business, music and movies.
Software rentals begin at $4 for three evenings.
by CNB