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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.