ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Wednesday, May 29, 1996 TAG: 9605290112
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: B-8 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: RICHMOND
The Virginia Conference of the NAACP is urging shoppers to wage a ``selective buying campaign'' in response to what it views as racial discrimination at Circuit City Stores Inc.
The Richmond-based consumer electronics chain is the target of two discrimination lawsuits - one filed in Greenbelt, Md., involving stores in Baltimore, Washington and California, and the second aimed at promotion and transfer practices at its corporate headquarters.
``We have clearly stated it is company policy to base all personnel decisions on ability and performance,'' Circuit City spokeswoman Ann Collier said Tuesday. ``We are contesting the allegations contained in the lawsuits in court.''
But the NAACP, speaking through Salim Khalfani, supervisor of branch operations for the state NAACP, said people should ``take a strong look at where and how they spend their money.''
The organization is not using the word boycott because of legal considerations, he said. The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People plans to follow up with demonstrations and a letter-writing campaign. About 800 blacks are among the 3,500 employees at Circuit City's corporate headquarters, while 11 black people are among the top 362 positions.
Circuit City is a chain of discount electronics and home appliance retail stores. It had net sales of $5.5 billion in 1995, with earnings of $167.9 million. |-Associated Press Crestar to put
branch in Wal-Mart
Crestar Bank will open a branch in mid-July at the new Wal-Mart Supercenter in Rocky Mount. It will be the first branch bank in Rocky Mount to be open seven days a week.
Edward Harris, Crestar's Western Region president, said it will be the Richmond-based company's 378th full-service branch but only the fifth in a retail store. Others are in a Wal-Mart at Culpeper and Kroger supermarkets at Charlottesville, Staunton and Winchester.
Harris said Wal-Mart Supercenters have high traffic volume and give consumers incentives to shop several times a week, because they have fully-stocked grocery departments. He said that makes them prime locations for bank branches.
The in-store branch, with seven employees, will offer traditional services 651/2 hours weekly: 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday, and noon to 6 p.m. Sunday. |-Staff report
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