Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, March 11, 1994 TAG: 9403110077
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: A-7 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: MICHAEL STOWE
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Advance Stores Co. Inc. alleges that the disk - packed with important trade secrets and addressed to its Monroe, N.C., store - was mistakenly delivered to an AutoZone Inc. store in the same town.
"The computer diskette contained confidential and proprietary information . . . which would have significant economic value to competitors of Advance, including AutoZone," according to the suit in U.S. District Court.
An AutoZone employee signed for the Jan. 28 Federal Express package and the Memphis, Tenn., based auto-parts retailer has refused to return the disk, the lawsuit says.
Advance officials are afraid AutoZone "may use the proprietary information on the computer diskette for its own business and economic gain," it says.
Officials with the Roanoke company wouldn't talk about the case or reveal what kind of information is on the disk.
AutoZone, in a prepared statement, denied ever having the disk and called the suit "harassing and frivolous."
Advance is asking the court for undisclosed compensatory and punitive damages, as well as a permanent injunction barring AutoZone from using the disk.
The suit was originally filed in February in Roanoke Circuit Court, where a judge issued a temporary order to keep AutoZone from using the disk.
The case was transferred to federal court this month, at Autozone's request, because the companies are in different states and the amount of requested damages is expected to be more than $50,000.
Advance, a private, family-owned company started in 1932, is one of the largest companies with headquarters in Roanoke. It operates more than 300 stores in eight states. Its corporate offices are in the Wasena section of the city.
Automotive Marketing, a trade publication, ranked Advance the 10th-largest U.S. auto-parts retailer, based on the number of stores it operated at the end of 1992. The magazine estimated the company's sales at $320 million in 1992.
AutoZone has 848 auto parts stores in 24 states. Automotive Marketing ranked it the largest U.S. auto-parts retailer, with $1 billion in sales in 1992. Its three Virginia stores are in Martinsville, Danville and Hopewell. Lesley Hartney of AutoZone said stores are under construction in Roanoke on Williamson Road and in Salem on West Main Street.
by CNB