Chains expanding in No. Carolinas

Discount Store News, July 6, 1987

A note of caution, however, comes from Dr. Edward Erickson, director of the Center for Economic and Business Studies at North Carolina State University, Raleigh.

Retail sales in the state this year are relatively flat, Erickson said. "At the moment, North Carolina isn't overstored. But with all the new activity, it quickly could become over-stored," specially if the economy softens.

Chains opening new units in the state are banking on long-range growth patterns, Erickson said. "North Carolina has strong historical trends of more people and more affluence," he said.

In Raleigh, Bradlees will be competing with both a nearby K mart, which has about 28 stores in the state, and also a Rose's store.

In Greensboro, Bradlees' new store is going in a shopping center that is about 10 miles away from either the nearest K mart or the Zayre store in the area.

Zayre, Framingham, Mass., operates 10 stores in North Carolina. But it has retrenched, closing all but one of its units in Charlotte, said Connaughton.

And, Heck's, Nitro, W. Va., now in Chapter 11, closed both of its North Carolina stores, in Mt. Airy and Oxford, as part of its survival plan.