"How's Business" And 2
Years Later A F I Opens
During November of 1963,
Percy B. Ferebee, Mayor of
Andrews, ashed an old flrned
at Cherokee Furniture Com
pany In Brvson City. "How's
Business?"
Two years and a lot of hard
work have passed but the
dreams of many have been
fulfilled. The multimlllion
dollar plant of Andrews Fur
niture Industries Inc. opened
this week for limited produc
tion.
The reply to Mayor Fere
bee s question. "How's Bus
iness ' was, "Too good, we
can t make enough furniture
for the demand."
"Then why don't you build
another factory?*' asked
Ferebee. "Sayl How about
putting one up on the old core
plant site in Andrews 1 once
showed you?*'
Between old friends, it made
no difference that the core
plant had ceased operations
25 years before. Mayor Fere
bee spoke of local money that
could be invested such as the
bank's and the Andrews towns
people.
Of course, any such new
factory would attract a large
number of skilled men. So he
talked of Andrews' new high
school, hospital, sewage dis
posal plant, its reputeldyper
fect water and its quiet, cons
cientious, friendly people.
The self-appointed sales
man of Andrews for a factory
site went home and made his
promises good. He sparked the
formation of theAndrews Dev
elopment Corporation, born
only a month after Ferebee's
chance question on the tele
phone.
A consortium of Andrews
merchants could see the bene
fit to the town's economy of a
large industrial plant. The
corporation raised a substan
tial fund for theproposed And
rews Furniture Industries Inc.
and bought 57 acres of level
land along the Southern Rail
way line behind the District
Manorial Hospital.
"By the spring of 1964, just
lour months after our corpor
ation was formed," says its
treasurer, Lee Nichols. Jr.,
we thought we had the whole
thing sewed up. Little did we
know."
It took exactly one more
year; twelve months of patient
knitting, persuading, proving
and re-proving, to put the five
Pieces of the puzzle together;
the Waynewood Inc. interests.
Andrews Development Cor
poration, Citizens Bank &
Trust Company, the Area Re
development Administration
in Washington and the Small
Business Administration in
Richmond, Virginia.
"1 must have made hundreds
of long-distance phone calls,"
says Mayor Ferebee, "along
with three trips to Washington
and about as many to Rich
mond. I know it couldn't have
been done without the high
level help of Congressman Roy
Taylor."
For weeks legalities, bure
aucratic procedures and nec
essary red tape prolonged
construction commitments.
During the last week of May,
the logjam broke. ARA and
SBA suddenly signed, releas
ing funds to Andrews Furnit
ure Industries Inc. Then the
members of the Andrews Dev
elopment Corporation signed
over their 57 acres by the
railroad.
A "Multimillion Dollar
Bet" on a town and its people
is off and running.
Only 24 months ago it all
began with that old well-wish
ing cliche question, "How's
Business?"
J
Percy B. Ferebee
Old Core Plant
FORTY SEVEN YEARS AGO, on the site of the new Andrews plant, another building stoc
t was called the Core Plant, and they manufactured cabinets for a small company known
he Victor Talking Machine Company. Today this company is better known as RCA Victc
From Radios To Organs, Magnavox
Demonstrates Technological Leadership
ine arsi Dig-picture, no
tube television Instruments
were recently Introduced by
The Magnavox Company,
which three years ?go pion
eered the adaptation of space
communication technology for
public use when it ligroduced
the first solid state radio/ph
onograph consoles.
"Magnavox has again dem
onstrated technological lea
dership by being the first In
the industry to develop and
market BIG PICTURE TV,
using the most advanced solid
state techniques to replace
tubes," George H. F ezell. Vice
President, Sales , Consumer
Products, said.
Solid state models shown
were 21" - the biggest screen
in Television - as well as
24" consoles and combin
ations, and 19" models.
Magnavox exhibited at the
NAMM Music Show in Chicago,
a new line of home enter
tainment products which dem
onstrate further technological
and marketing advancements
in the electronic industry.
"These significant technol
ogical advancements show the
rapid development of solid
state applications in the re
placement of the relatively in
efficient vacuum tubes in home
entertainment products. Vac
uum tubes, whichhavebeen the
very basis of the radio
Industry for more than 40
years, are being obsoleted
rapidly." Frezell stated.
In 1962 Magnavox introduced
the then revolutionary stereo
high fidelity instruments re
placing tubes with solid state
components. These were
labeled Astro-Sonic Stereo
High Fidelity as these tech
niques stemmed from space
sciences where the new solid
state techniques were orig
inally applied.
The solid state television
instruments have 22 transis
tors in place of tubes. These
solid devices with no tube
I elements have instant warm
! up and require one-third the
I power used by tubes. "Normal
life is many times that of
' tube equipment," Fezelll
; added.
He also pointed out that
while the solid state models
are slightly higher in price,
the many advantages, includ
L ing a savings in power con
s sumption and lower service
costs, repay this difference
in a relatively short time.
I
I
I
Solid sute TV models are
priced from $189.50 to $298.50
for the largest 27" console.
In 1962, the first Astro
Sonic Stereo High Fidelity
models ranged In price from
$500 to $800, but with contin
ued advancement In this tech
nology the company Introduced
lower priced models each
year. In 1964, the starting
prices were as low as $299.50
for models ten times as eff
icient as comparable tube
sets. In the company's new
1966 stereo high fidelity line,
all tube models have been re
placed with solid sute
counterparts. Thus comple
tely obsoleting tube phono
graph and tube high fidelity
radio phonograph combin
ations. Solid sute prices now
range from $75.00 (for
portable phonographs) to $850.
for Imperial models which
feature unique total remote
control through which sutlons
can be selected, records rej
ected, and volume controlled,
as well as complete control of
other functions from the con
venience of an easy chair.
New color television models ?
with many exclusive features, 1
producing superior picture
quality, were also introduced.
Most 1966 Magnavox color
models include the exclusive
automatic color feature
which assures optimum pic
ture quality by eliminating
the critical and difficult man
ual adjustments required on
conventional receivers, Fez
ell said. Inaccurately tuned
channels degrade picture
quality. The new line features
Chromatone - electronic cir
cuitry which provides depth to
color pictures and warm sepia
tones to monochrome - and,
QUICK ON " which eliminates
the bothersome wait for pic
ture to appear.
Color models in 21", 23* ,
and 25" sizes were shown.
These models include all the
currenlty available color tube
sizes in the industry.
The entire Magnavox line of
consumer products is price
reduced as a result of the ex
cise ux and in most cases
the reductions passed on to
the consumer amount to sub
stantially more than the excise
mx elimination, F ezell stated.
Reductions in some cases
amount to as much as $200.
Tho Magna vox Carnival, solid stato clock rodio
M*
Tho M<>9navox Hal I yard... Danish Modern in natural walnut
? #41
'he Magnovox Flamenco 24...Mediterranean In Pecan finish
The Mognovox Astro-Sonic Organ...Theater Spinet
? ?
WE PROUDLY JOIN THE
ANDREWS
SALUTE TO
FURNITURE INDUSTRIES, INC
We Are Very Proud Andrews Furniture Industries, Inc. Located Here.
We Take Genuine Pleasure In Saluting You, And May We Add, As A Merchant, We Look
Forward With You To The Growth Years Ahead
*lJour Cjrow tk &Su ccen Witt Be 3n Die Best American Draciition.
IJour -Del lev em en t i WJid lAjale -A ^Major (Contribution Do Die f-^ro^ress Of Our -Area.
Dley Conititute -A Briylt Clapter 3n Die JnJustriaf jCife Of Die fjati
T ion
Khouri't Bargain ft Fabric Cantor
KHouH't of Andrew* - Your Family Dopoctmont Star*
VlinilDI'C Family Dept. Store
miuum o u.u.? *um,-u"
MAIN STREET ANDREWS, N. C.