Spared from wrath of Andrew, chains focus on relief efforts; some units hit, but most escape fairly unscathed - Hurricane Andrew

Discount Store News, Sept 7, 1992

Discounters took some of the punishment that Hurricane Andrew dished out in southern Florida and western Louisiana. But preliminary reports indicate they came out fairly unscathed from the worst hurricane to hit the United States since 1935, in comparison to residents, allowing them to concentrate their efforts on relief.

In Cutler City, the Miami suburb that lost about 90% of its homes to winds as high as 174 miles per hour, the storm leveled a Pace club under construction. Sot to open in November, the club won't be open now until the first quarter of 1993.

Out of 30 Kmart stores in the hurricane-hit area between Miami and Naples, only one unit in Kendall sustained any serious damage, although five stores were closed two to four days, mostly for lack of electricity. In Miami, three of the six Circuit City stores sustained damage, including one that reportedly was looted.

Two of 18 Marshalls stores in-the-Miami market were severely hit, with window fronts blown out and considerable water damage.

Marshalls' primary concern was the well-being of its employees, a spokeswoman said. It established a hot line for employees to call in for help.

In Louisiana, where the hurricane struck lightly populated marsh and farmland and small towns west of Baton Rouge, two Wal-Mart stores sustained structural damage. One lost its roof, another the store front. In comparison, two Wal-Marts south of Miami received only minor damage and were back in business as soon as power was restored.

Luria operates half of its 50 units in the south Miami area. All key executives were meeting at presstime to assess damage to their showrooms, so details were lacking.

Mike Perlman, vice president of Miami-based BrandsMart USA, said that "things are crazy around here. There's been a lot of looting, and you see people walking around the streets with guns to defend their property. One Circuit City store was cleaned out, but we got lucky. All three of our stores are open for business, although the Miami store had some damage."

Winn Dixie and Publix supermarkets are well-stocked, he said, but a lot of people can't get to an open store. "The distribution of food and water is pathetic," he said.

To aid in disaster relief, Dayton Hudson donated $100,000 to the Red Cross in the names of Target and Mervyn's. No Target store sustained damage, but the Mervyn's store m Cutler Ridge and another near Miami International Airport were severely damaged.

In all 493 Target stores around the country, associates have put out collection boxes to accept donations of checks from both customers and associates, said Tom Lee, senior community affairs representative.

To meet the most pressing need, drinking water, D-H rounded up two semi-trailer loads of bottled water--10,000 gallons--from Target store

shelves and from a bottler who donated water, and the truckloads were sent south for the Red Cross to distribute.

In addition, D-H is collecting a third truckload of critical supplies, infant formula, diapers and flashlight batteries to donate to the Red Cross. It was planning to collect other items, such as ice and basic toiletry items, Lee said.

Kmart donated $20,000 to the Red Cross and gathered 800 cases, or a truckload, of disposable diapers and quantities of blankets to donate, spokeswoman Mary Lorencz said. In addition, individual stores in the affected area were donating bottled water.

In the 130 Florida stores outside the affected area, associates through their store Good News Committees are mounting relief fundraisers and collecting clothing, canned food, diapers and bottled water. The 138 Texas Kmarts were mounting similar efforts to collect relief supplies for Louisiana.

The storm destroyed an estimated 63,000 homes and apartments in Southern Florida alone, making about 250,000 people homeless.

In the five days following the storm that killed 15 in Florida, Kmart collected 16 semi-trailer loads of clothing, canned food, diapers and bottled water and sent them on their way to Florida. Some loads went to Jacksonville Naval Air Station, and the Navy flew the supplies to Miami.

In the days immediately after the storm, bottled water was the main need, said WalMart spokeswoman Jane Arend.

"We're shipping trailer loads of water to both Florida and Louisiana," she said.

Other goods Wal-Mart is rounding up include non-perishable food, chain saws and portable generators.

Wal-Mart is donating some goods, such as the water, and is working with vendors to obtain reduced prices on other disaster relief merchandise to be sold cut-rate to customers in the disaster areas.

In addition, Wal-Mart is collecting checks to donate to the Red Cross, Arend said.

BrandsMart is planning to offer replacement appliances at significant discounts to those who lost them from the storm, Perlman said. "We're planning on high demand for replacement appliances," Perlman said, although the possibility of depressed sales exists. "A lot of people lost everything they own, he said.

"We may do a lot of business, but it's not good business. Good business is where only your competitor loses. When you see these people coming in who have lost everything, it's painful."