THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, April 4, 1996 TAG: 9604040468
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: D1 EDITION: FINAL
LENGTH: Medium: 52 lines
Dollar Tree Stores Inc., the Norfolk retailer that sells merchandise for $1, said its first-quarter sales jumped 75 percent, mainly because of its January acquisition of a Chicago-area chain. Sales rose to $85 million in the quarter ended March 31, from $48.7 million in the year-earlier period. Same-store sales - revenues at stores open at least a year - increased 12 percent. The company's earnings will be reported later. (Staff) Charles Schwab enters the 401(k) business
Charles Schwab Corp. is hoping to capture a bigger share of the $650 billion 401(k) retirement market. The nation's biggest discount broker has introduced a ``bundled'' 401(k) product called the SchwabPlan that helps companies set up retirement plans, gives them access to hundreds of mutual funds, and provides record keeping and other administrative services. It also gives customers 24-hour automated access to account information, the company said. Schwab has a challenge. Its main rival, Fidelity Investments, has established a foothold in this market through aggressive decade-long marketing. (Bloomberg Business News) Nichols Research to buy naval architecture firm
Nichols Research Corp. agreed Wednesday to acquire Advanced Marine Enterprises Inc., an Arlington-based naval architecture firm for an undisclosed amount. Nichols Research is a Huntsville, Ala.-based provider of information systems and technical services. Advanced Marine's primary businesses include ship design, and engineering and information technology services. Nichols Research will operate Advanced Marine as its subsidiary. About 90 percent of Advanced Marine's business is defense related and 10 percent is in the commercial marine simulator business. (Dow Jones News Service) Virginia companies buy into wireless telephones
Ten independent telephone companies from Virginia, led by CFW Communications Corp. and R&B Communications, agreed to pay $16 million for a portion of the radio-wave spectrum reserved for ``personal communications services.'' The seller, a partnership called PCS Prime-Co, includes Bell Atlantic Corp., owner of Virginia's largest local telephone company. The purchase gives the independent companies a portion of the spectrum that PrimeCo bought last year in a public auction by the federal government. The partnership won the license to serve the Richmond-Norfork trading area. (Knight-Ridder News Service) by CNB