THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT  
              Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: Saturday, January 27, 1996             TAG: 9601270354
SECTION: BUSINESS                 PAGE: D1   EDITION: FINAL 
SOURCE: BY STEPHANIE STOUGHTON, STAFF WRITER 
                                             LENGTH: Short :   46 lines

IF GATEWAY IS HERE, AN OUTLET COULD WELL FOLLOW NO COMMITMENTS, BUT THE COMPUTER MAKER SAYS IT MIGHT DO IT.

Computer maker Gateway 2000 Inc., which is building an $18 million manufacturing and distribution center in Hampton, may open a retail store in Hampton Roads, a company official said Friday.

``If you take a look at places where we have facilities in the United States - North Sioux City, S.D., and Kansas City, Mo., we have factory outlet stores nearby,'' said James R. Wharton, Gateway's investor relations director.

Gateway factory stores typically sell returned, repaired and reconditioned computers at discounted prices.

The company has no immediate plans to build a store in this region and has not chosen a site, Wharton said. But, he added, ``I think it would be a safe assumption to say there's a possibility of an outlet down the road.''

The outlet probably would be on the Peninsula. But South Hampton Roads is a possibility, Wharton said.

``We look for high visibility, big traffic counts and easy access,'' he said.

An economic official said he was not aware of Gateway's interest in opening a retail outlet, but would be more than happy to have it.

``We wouldn't mind that at all,'' said Bud Denton, president of the Virginia Peninsula Economic Development Council. ``I imagine that would be very nice for us.''

Gateway, a Fortune 500 company based in North Sioux City, is now focusing on building its plant by Interstate 64 and Hampton Roads Center Parkway. The plant, which will bring about 1,000 jobs, will ship desktop personal computers to customers east of the Mississippi. It should open this year.

The company opened its first factory outlet near its headquarters and a second in a strip shopping center in Kansas City, Mo.

Gateway would not release employment figures or the size of its outlets. But computer merchants near the outlets say they tend to be small - nowhere near the size of a CompUSA or Best Buy superstore. by CNB