STORES SHARE BUILDING; TOYS R US, HEILIG-MEYERS OFFER EXPERIENCE

Toys R Us, which keeps tabs on children and their toys, and Heilig-Meyers Co., which specializes in home furnishings, will be new to Cape Girardeau this fall, but the two firms combined have more than a century of retail experience.

At 35, Toys R Us is the younger of the two. The company, recognized as the largest toy chain in the U.S., was founded by Charles Lazarus in 1957.

Heilig-Meyers is recognized as the country's largest publicly-held home-furnishings retailer. It was started modestly in 1913 with one store in Goldsboro, N.C., by two Lithuanian immigrants: W.A. Heilig and H.M. Meyers.

The firms will be neighbors at 210 Silver Springs Roads in an 80,000-square-foot building that housed Wal-Mart before it opened its Wal-Mart Supercenter here.

Toys R Us, which is looking to a Christmas holiday season opening, will occupy 30,000 square feet. Remodeling is to get under way Monday.

Heilig-Meyers will occupy 25,000 square feet of the building. It is looking to a mid-September opening.

"We'll start renovations soon," said Ed Helms, senior vice president of the corporate division of Heilig-Meyer. "We're excited about coming into Cape Girardeau and that Toys R Us will be our immediate neighbor in the Wal-Mart building. I think we will complement each other in making this building a major retail center."

Heilig-Meyers Furniture will observe its 80th year in business in 1993, said Helms.

Heilig and Meyers formed a partnership to open the modest furniture operation in Goldsboro. It wasn't until the mid-1930s that the partners expanded by adding three more stores. The firm was incorporated in 1940 and added another 40 stores over the next three decades. It wasn't until the mid-1980s that expansion led to more than 390 stores in 15 states.

In 1983 the company announced that its common stock had been listed for trade on the New York Stock Exchange. Within a year the chain had grown to more than 100 stores.

The acquisition of three furniture chains the 14-store Royal Jackson chain in Alabama, the 74-store Sterchi Brothers Furniture Group and 13 former Rhodes Furniture stores put the Heilig-Meyer chain at more than 270 stores in 11 southeastern states.

Last year, Heilig-Meyers purchased new stores in Indiana, Mississippi, Tennessee and Ohio as well as 39 stores from Reliable Co. Just recently the firm has expanded to two states: Iowa and Missouri.

"We now have more than 390 stores in 15 states," said Helm. "We have started moving more heavily in the Missouri market. We'll be opening new stores at Rolla and Farmington in September.

"We also recently announced a 318,000-square-foot distribution center to be constructed at Moberly," said Helm. "Construction is already under way there."

"Consumers will like our prices," said Bill DeRusha, chief executive officer of the firm. "Because we are a large chain, we can reap the benefits of volume and purchasing power and keep prices low for customers."

The company features a wide variety of furniture lines, including Broyhill and Bassett," said Helm.

Toys R Us became one of the first so-called "category killers," snatching away an entire segment of retailing from department stores and other chains.

"Kids are the same all over the world," said founder Lazarus. "They all know what Nintendo is, they all know what Ninja Turtles are, and they know about Monopoly games and Barbie dolls."

With that thinking in mind, Toys R Us is now known throughout the world. The company racked up sales of more than $6 billion in 1992, capturing more than 20 percent of the domestic toy market.

"Language barriers don't stand in the way of determining young customers' preferences," said Lazarus. "You just watch kids tugging at their parents' coats and you know what they want."

When the firm opened a store in Kashihara, Japan, in January, President George Bush was on hand to help celebrate.

"We're here today because Toys R Us was ready to take up the challenge," said Bush. "We have much to learn from the 3-year battle Toys R Us waged to pry open the $6 billion Japanese toy market. This is the first time a large U.S. discount store has opened in Japan. This has blazed the trail for all kinds of companies."

Toys R Us has 126 toy stores in other countries, including Japan, France, Taiwan, Honk Kong, United Kingdom and Canada.

The company, headquartered in Paramus, N.J., has about 500 Toys R Us stores and 190 Kids R Us clothing stores in the U.S. The firm plans to open approximately 85 stores in the U.S. and internationally in 1992.

"We want to be open in Cape Girardeau for the Christmas market," said Michael P. Miller, senior vice president of the real estate division. "Realistically, we could be open much earlier if everything goes smooth."

A Toys R Us store opened at Marion, Ill., in 1991, along the perimeter of the new Illinois Centre Mall near Interstate 55. The Cape Girardeau store is also on the perimeter of a large mall, West Park Mall.

Toys R Us entered the international market in 1984. During the fiscal year ended Feb. 2, 1991, non-U.S. sales represented 14.1 percent of the company's sales.

Toys R Us sales were up during the first quarter of 1992. The latest quarterly report issued by the firm shows sales of $1.17 billion for the first quarter, a 14.3 percent over the $1.02 billion in sales during the same period of 1991.