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Good things are beginning to brew at Heileman plant
By BRENDA GIBSON
News editor
Good things are really
beginning to brew at the
Heileman Brewery plant in
Perry, and company officials are
looking forward to a busy,
productive summer.
Because of the recent
acquisition of Christian Schmidt
Brewing Company, long-time
plant manager John Lieberman
is expecting to see as much as a
25 percent increase in plant
production in the next year.
“The acquisition of the
Schmidt Brewing Company of
Philadelphia and all the brands
affiliated with that company
could impact this plant’s output
by up to 25 percent,” Lieberman
said in an interview in his office
Rate freeze
means fewer
increases
Insurance 'Commissioner
Warren Evans says property and
casualty insurance rate increases
dropped 55 percent during the 12-
month period ended March 31.
The Commissioner says he has
taken steps “to help make sure this
trend continues.”
The number of rate increases
that went into effect dropped from
1402 for the year ended March 31,
1986, down to 627 for the year
ended March 31, 1987. Evans at
tributes the sharp decrease to a let
ter he sent, on April 3, 1986, to
the presidents of all the property
and casualty companies that write
insurance in Georgia.
In that letter, Evans called on
the companies to freeze rates for
one year. Evans said he “chose to
put this in the form of a letter
because I don’t have the legal
authority to order such a freeze.”
In that letter he asked the insuran
ce company presidents to hold the
line on rates and not file for in
creases unless their financial cir
cumstances made it imperative.
Evans says a reporter from the
New York-based Journal of
Commerce says that he apparently
is the only Insurance Com
missioner in the nation that has
tried to get insurance companies
to voluntarily freeze rates. “But
obviously, it worked,” said Evans.
“Os the six southeastern states we
surveyed recently, Georgia was
the only one to show a reduction
in rate filings.”
Evans said the success of his
April 3, 1986 letter prompted him
to write another letter, dated April
27, 1987, which calls for an exten
sion of the freeze for another year,
to April 3,1988.
In this letter, Evans gives “tort
reform” and “a notable
strengthening in insurance com
pany earnings” as reasons for ex
tending the freeze.
Ribbon cutting
City Councilman Eddie Wilson did the honors Wed
nesday when It was time to cut the ribbon for the
grand re-openlng of the Perry Book Store. Owner
Mml
Wednesday afternoon. “Os
course, this is not something that
will be turned on immediately--it
will be a gradual, steady
increase.”
According to Lieberman, who
has been with the Perry plant
since its birth in 1970, Heileman
Breweries bought out the
Schmidt Company a little over a
month ago, and, in so doing,
acquired all of that company’s
holdings which included
Rheingold, Ortlieb’s, Reading,
Erie, Duquesne, McSorley’s and
Ruppert breweries. Lieberman
noted, however, that Heileman
had not purchased the Schmidt
plants-only the brand names
and labels. The beers will be
brewed in existing Heileman
§ The Houston Home I Weekend
Journal stock report
The following review of select stocks of local interest is supplied
each Tuesday and Friday night to The Houston Home Journal by
Edward D. Jones & Company with offices in Perry. If you have a
stock you would like added to this list, please call Bill Richard at 987-
0801.
DOW closes 50 points up
The semi-raging bull market snorted up nearly 50 points this week
as the Dow closed at 2291.57. Hazy days of summer taking steam out
of market activity as trading volume cools ... Bonds continue to
rebound after panic over prime rate’s obscene movements... dollar up
... investors foaming runway for Lockheed as price drops 3 1/8 after
Ford's pass scorned ... Speculators jumping into bed with Viratek and
ICN Pharmaceuticals in order to get rich on AIDs vaccine continue
to suffer as Virazole comes under attack by House panel... Harcourt,
Brace and Janovich Publishing Co. continues to fight off corporate
raiders as stock price continues epic rise.
ISSUE SYMBOL MONDAY FRIDAY CHANGE
OPENING CLOSING
Atlanta Gas Lt AG LI 22 23‘A +l‘/ 2
Atlantic Southeast Airlines ASAI 11 11 N/C
American Tel 8 Tel T 25'/? 25 3 A +‘A
Bank South Cp BKSO 22*/ 2 22‘/ 2 N/C
BellSouth Corp BLS 36 '/> 38‘A +2
Boeing Co BA 43'A 45 'A +2
Charter Medical Class A CMDA 26'A 27‘/ 2 +1
Citizens 8 Southern Corp CSOU 24 3 A 26 3/8 +1 5/8
Coca Cola Co KO 38 7/8 42 7/8 +3
Coca Cola Enterprises CCEII3/«6 3 /« 17 3/8 +5/8
Delta Air Lines Del DAL 52 7/8 55‘A +2 3/8
First Wachovia Corp FW 39‘A 40 1/8 +7/8
GTE Corp GTE 35 36'A +l>/ 2
Georgia PacCorp GP 42‘/« 42‘A N/C
Georgia Power Co PFD GPE PR 76‘/ 2 77‘/ 2 +1
Gould Inc GLD 17>/ 2 17 1/8 -1/8
Heileman G Brewing Inc GHB 25 7/8 26 1/8 + *A
General MtrsCorp GM 84/4 85‘A +1
Hospital Corp Amer HCA 44‘A 46 5/8 +2 3/8
International Bus Mach IBM 156 5/8 , 160 3/8 +3 3 A
Fuqua (nds Inc FQA 31‘A 33 7/8 +2 3/8
Kmart Corp KM 58 1/8 59 3 A +ls/8
Kellwood Co KWD 30‘A 32 5/8 +2 3/8
Kroger Co KR 30 7/8 31 5/8 + 3 A
Lowes Companies Inc LOW 24 27‘A +3‘A
McDonalds Corp MCD 78 5/8773/.8 3 /. +l/8
McDonnell Douglas Corp MD 64‘A 68 l / 2 +4‘A
Northrop Corp NOC N/A(NCW) 43‘A NEW
PepsiCo Inc PEP 32 7/8 35 +2 1/8
Procters Gamble Co PG 88 91>/ 2 +3'/ 2
Restaurant Mgmt Svcs Inc RESM 10 10 N/C
Sears Roebuck S Co S 50 7/8 51 +l/8
Southern Co SO 23 1/8 23 -i/8
TRW Inc TRW 98 100‘/ 2 +2 /i
Wendys Ints Inc WEN 9 3/8 9 1 / 2 +l/8
Winn Dixie Stores Inc WIN 43 5/8 43 3 A +l/8
Westinghouse Elec Corp WX 58 7/8 59 5/8 + 3 A
Weyerhaeuser Co WY 48 49 +1
A.L,Williams Co ALWC 18'A 18>/ 2 +‘A
Parks Communications PARC 31 30‘A - 3 A
Indu 2243.20 2291 56 +48.36
Gold 449.50 -450.25
Silver 7,58 7.65
plants.
In addition to Heileman’s big
name beers such as Old Style,
Red, White and Blue, Colt 45 and
the like, the brewery will now be
brewing such popular beers as
Knickerbocker, Duke and
Dusquene, Brew 96, McSorley’s
Cream Ale, Rheingold and
Golden Classic among others.
Most of the new brands are
popular in the midwestern and
northwestern states.
“This acquisition is proof that
Heileman wants the business
and that company officials are
working hard to secure business
for this plant,” Leiberman
commented. “The Perry plant
will definitely get a bigger orbit
out of this, which simply means
Cathy Caldwell was Joined by husband, Ben, during
the ceremony. Also pictured Walter Bush, Martha
Whlddon, Arthur Loewen and Mika Gray.
Business^
John Lieberman
Deli helps boost business
at Sing convenience store
By DAVID GRINOLE
Staff writer
If you live in Perry you have
probably been in the store at
least once, more than likely you
visit the store at least once a
week on your way home from
school or from work.
The store, of course, is the
Sing Food Store and Deli at 1205
Main Street. According to store
manager, Tommy Willard, 99
percent of the store’s business
comes from local residents.
“Sing likes to put stores in
residential areas away from the
interstate,” Willard said on
Friday. “We’ve got people who
come in here every day and I
enjoy getting to know the regular
customer.”
What has brought so many
people into the store, especially
within the last year, is the new
deli the store added last year and
the wide selection of
merchandise, Willard said.
“This June will be the first
anniversary of the deii,” he said.
“The sales have increased in the
store every year, but the deli has
given it more of a nudge this
year.”
Prior to completing the deli in
June, the company began
remodeling the store in March.
The intent was to add more
merchandise area and to spruce
up the store, he said.
The deli offers fried chicken,
quartered potatoes, corn dogs,
sandwiches, fried okra and bulk
deli meat and cheese. The Perry
store is one of three Sing stores
being used as test stores to find
out what people want from the
deli.
“We are very proud of our
deli, everything is cut fresh and
cooked or prepared daily,” he
said. “Every time the Health
Department has inspected us we
received a 100 percent rating.
The employees don’t prepare
anything that they wouldn’t eat
themselves.”
The entire store operation is
geared towards people and
servicing their needs. Everything
Willard discussed about the store
and the company’s philosophy
was oriented towards providing
the best possible customer
service.
“We never operate with less
than two people up front and
during the day we always have
more than that,” he said. “We
are about to experiment with
adding another person to the
evening shift so customers won’t
have to wait as long.”
Willard does not believe the
store competes with the other
convenience stores in Perry. He
sees the stores biggest
competition as being the nearby
grocery stores.
we’ll be shipping into more stronger.”
states.”
Another business deal which
has Heileman’s future looking
brighter is a recent contract
sealed with Quaker Oats.
According to Lieberman, the
Perry plant is currently
packaging that company’s
newest product, “Refresh”, a
natural flavored orange drink.
Although no other contracts have
been sealed, the Heileman plant
manager sees future contracting
prospects as bright.
“Indeed, things are looking
much brighter for Perry and
Heileman,” Lieberman said
smiling. “Our company will
continue to grow stronger and
Employees of the Sing Store on Main Street are always ready to serve
their many friends and customers. From left to right: Dorothy Hathcock,
Kathy Haslem, store manager Tommy Willard, gas manager John Peavy,
Michelle Robinson and Bobbie O’Brien.
I
“We compete with the grocery
stores because of the deli, our
prices and our wide selection of
merchandise,” Willard said.
“There are a couple of delis and
convenience stores on Sam Nunn
Boulevard but they are selling to
the interstate clientele.”
Along with the store the
company also runs a gas station
as a separate operation. Willard
runs the store and the deli, while
John Peavy manages the gas
station side of the operation. Like
the store, the gas station has
seen an increase in sales every
year.
Peavy is also geared towards
customer service and making
sure the customer comes back.
“We try to help people on the
self-service island if they need
help,” he said. “If you treat
people right they will come back,
if you don’t they tell their friends
and you may lose them, too.”
Both men said that the Sing
Corporation is an excellent
company to work for. Willard
explained that most companies
give the manager very little
freedom to adapt the store to the
communities’ wants and needs,
but with Sing, the exact opposite
is true.
“When I joined the company,
the vice-president told me that
In the story titled “Man
Arrested in Robbery” which ran
on May 27, 1987 there was an
error.
The story said that a man was
arrested after “he allegedly robbed
a couple at a local hotel.” The sen
Lieberman noted that the
brewery is currently running
from 6 to 7 days a week, 24 hours
a day on certain lines. As
business begins to pick up, he
expects the company to be
running at full capacity. And
naturally, “with an increase in
business, we should require
more employees than we have
now,” Lieberman said.
The Perry Heileman plant is
the second largest of the
company’s 12 plants. With the
acquisition of Schmidt
Breweries, company officials
expect to see Heileman pump out
as much as 17 to 20 million
barrels of beer a year.
this is the closest one could come
to owning a store without any
financial investment,” Willard
said. ‘‘l have the ability to do a
lot of things. The main thing
though is that they let the
managers manage.”
To keep everything running
smoothly Willard manages 13
people and may be adding more
soon.
Willard sees a bright future
ahead for the store and the
company. The company is
exploring the option of opening
another store in the Perry area
once they can determine which
way the city is going to grow. He
explained that because of the
company’s desire to serve the
local community, such a decision
will require a lot of thought.
‘‘l see the store growing in
sales and in merchandise along
with the growth of Perry,” he
said. “Since we depend on the
local population, we have to offer
the best services and products
available.”
The store is open from 6 a.m.
to 11 p.m. Monday through
Friday and 7 a.m. to 11 p.m. on
Saturdays and Sundays. The gas
station is open from 7 a.m. to 11
p.m. seven days a week. The
telephone number for call-in
orders at the deli is 987-0285.
We erred
tence should have read "he
allegedly robbed a couple at a local
motel.”
The Houston Home Journal
regrets any inconvenience or
misconception this error may have
caused.