THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, October 22, 1994 TAG: 9410220315
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: D2 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: STAFF REPORT
DATELINE: CHESAPEAKE LENGTH: Short : 36 lines
OfficeMax, the office-products chain owned by Kmart Corp., wants to open a 23,500-square-foot store next to Chesapeake Square Mall, a city official said Friday.
The store's zoning already has been approved, but the Chesapeake Planning Commission still must approve the site plan, said Gregg Harrell, a city planner.
Construction should begin within the next four months, and the store probably will open next spring, said James Bradford, a land planner with Chesapeake-based Hassell & Folkes.
OfficeMax could not be reached for comment.
If approved, it will become the company's seventh store in Hampton Roads. The retailer now has three stores in Virginia Beach and one each in Chesapeake, Norfolk and Hampton.
OfficeMax is owned by Troy, Mich.-based Kmart, which has reported disappointing sales and profits in recent quarters. Last year, Kmart cited OfficeMax as part of the problem.
But so far this year, OfficeMax's sales have strengthened. Sales for the first six months of the year rose 30 percent to $780 million from $600 million in the last half-year.
Operating income was $9 million for the six months ended July 27, up from a loss of $6 million in the year-earlier period. by CNB