
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: TUESDAY, August 30, 1994                   TAG: 9410120016
SECTION: BUSINESS                    PAGE: C8   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: SANDRA BROWN KELLY
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Short

CATALOG CENTER PICKS UP STEAM

The Tweeds Inc. catalog fulfillment center is expected to be in full use by the end of September, as Hanover Direct Inc. continues to move operations to the Roanoke Valley, anticipating a 20 percent growth in employment.

Only 20 percent of the facility in the Jack E. Smith Industrial Park on the Roanoke-Botetourt county line was being used when it was purchased last year by Weehawken, N.J.-based Hanover Direct.

Employment is now 250 and should at at 300 soon, said Hanover Direct spokeswoman Linda Heinberg. Workers are handling orders for four of the mail order company's catalogs - Simply Tops, Silhouettes, One 212 and Essence - in addition to Tweeds, and there are more to come, she said.

Also, Hanover Direct began construction in April of a $12-million center in Roanoke County to handle orders for the company's Domestications home furnishings catalog. Completion is expected in the spring.

The center is expected to provide the equivalent of 325 full-time jobs.

by CNB