Tuesday, November 02, 1999
INDUSTRY NOTES: RETAIL
Stores open after tornado renovations
BY LISA BIANK FASIG
The Cincinnati Enquirer
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LOCAL WEB WATCH
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• Fuse, Cincinnati Bell Telephone's Internet service and the area's largest Internet provider, has more than 40,000 subscribers in the Tristate.
• In a year-old random telephone survey of 800 residents, Bell estimated that 34 percent of Cincinnati households had access to the Internet.
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After seven months of rebuilding what a few minutes of a suburban-bound tornado undid, T.J. Maxx at Harper's Station is to reopen Nov. 14, along with a new HomeGoods store.
The 26,300-square-foot T.J. Maxx store is among several that were temporarily closed in Symmes Township after a tornado ripped through Blue Ash and Symmes Township in early April. Also damaged was the Shops at Harper's Point, where Hamilton County authorities had condemned 11 of 25 stores.
Since then, both centers have re-emerged. Several stores, including Thriftway, Steinmart, Donato's Pizza and Provident Travel, returned to Harper's Station. New stores opening in the reconstructed site are Burrito Joe's, Huntington Learning Center, Cellular Connection and the 30,000-square-foot HomeGoods.
Mark Fallon, director of leasing and brokerage for Jeffrey R. Anderson Real Estate, which owns the shopping center, said rebuilding after the tornado has cost roughly $10 million.
Tiffany, other retailers offer electronic gift cards
Next to diamonds, gift cards are a girl's best friend. Especially now that Tiffany & Co. is joining other retailers in offering electronic gift cards.
The cards start at $25 and work like debit cards. The holder keeps using it until the credit amount is used up. Other retailers offering such cards include Saks Fifth Avenue and Lazarus.
The gift cards can be bought at Tiffany stores, including the location at Fifth and Vine streets, downtown.
Kroger one of 7 chains named best of century
Kroger Co., a retailer that has survived a full century, is one of seven chains to be named “The Best of the Century” retailers by trade publisher Lebhar-Friedman.
Kroger earned its title under the supermarket category. Also honored: Wal-Mart (discount); Walgreens (drug); Home Depot (home improvement); McDonald's (restaurant); Sears Roebuck & Co. (department store); and Toys “R” Us (hard goods specialty).
“It is a solid company with strong, aggressive operations and superior performance,” Murray Forseter, editor of Chain Store Age, said about Kroger in a statement.
Kroger is actually the only retailer of the seven to operate stores for more than 100 years, since 1883. Sears was a catalog company only until 1925, and Walgreens was founded in 1901.
Editors of Lebhar-Friedman chose the winners in a poll. They will be awarded at a black-tie affair March 30 in New York.
Lebhar-Friedman magazines include Chain Store Age, Nation's Restaurant News, Discount Store News, Drug Store News and National Home Center News.
Ohio's largest Hallmark celebrates 40 years
DeClark's Hallmark Card and Gift, said to be the largest Hallmark store in Ohio, is celebrating its 40th anniversary.
The family-run business opened in Easttown Shopping Center in Dayton but relocated to Town & Country Shopping Center in Kettering. The location expanded four times from 1982 and 1992, including once, in 1987, when it had to rebuild after a fire burned it to the ground.
The store is operated by Dan and John DeClark. It employs 70 people.
Online store of the week
SecureRite.com, a division of security products wholesaler Clark Security Products, is offering its site for use by independent retailers if they use its branded products, signage and display.
How it works: Online users of SecureRite.com are linked to the nearest affiliated locksmith after making purchase choices. The locksmith receives proceeds from the sale, and SecureRite.com handles shipping. The locksmith is then billed the wholesale cost of the product.
Kroger to buy 74 stores from Winn-Dixie
Welch to exit GE very carefully
INDUSTRY NOTES: RETAIL
TRISTATE MARKET SPOTLIGHT
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