Never On Saturday

Amazing Savings has moved, but it is still closed on Shabbat.

Trade Deficit Hi

STEVE STEIN STAFF WRITER

0

n any Saturday, a constant store being closed on Saturday,"
stream of cars whizzes Mr. Singal said. "The vast major-
along Orchard Lake Road ity of our customers — Jews and
in Farmington Hills and gentiles — are very understand-
West Bloomfield. Parking lots for ing and they respect us for what
shopping centers, restaurants and we're doing."
movie theaters are packed from
While much of the area is
morning til night.
aware of Amazing Savings' hours,
But one major business doesn't Mr. Singal said other merchants
take advantage of this beehive of in the Hunters Square shopping
activity. By choice.
center have told him it's not un-
Amazing Savings, a Farming- common for many shoppers to
ton Hills store where cus-
tomers can buy closeout
items for below-wholesale
prices, is closed Saturdays for
Shabbat. Of the 13 stores in
the 7-year-old national chain,
only four (the ones in Chica-
go) are open on Saturday.
"No extra hours can make
up for being closed on Sat-
urday. But we're still a
strong, profitable company,
and we have faith in God,"
said Sam Friedland, the
founder and president of
Amazing Savings, during a
telephone interview from
the firm's headquarters in
Monsey, N.Y.
The Amazing Savings
store in Farmington Hills is
believed to be the only De-
troit area retail outlet that
does not cater exclusively to
the Jewish community
which closes on Shabbat and
other Jewish holidays.
Sandy Singal has been the
manager of the Amazing Sav-
ings location here since it
opened in September 1992. The
store's hours are perfect for
him.
"It's great to be home on
Shabbat and not have to wor-
ry about what's happening at
work," said Mr. Singal, 39, an
Orthodox Jew. "I can relax and
enjoy being with my family."
Getting a chance to relax is
very important for Mr. Singal.
During the winter holiday sea-
son, he says he works about 80-
100 hours per week. That
number only drops to about 60
hours during the "slow" times.
Mr. Singal's store is open
from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Sun-
day and 9:30 a.m. to 9 p.m.
Amazing Savings isn't a fancy place.
Monday through Thursday.
During the winter, it is open
from 9:30 a.m. until around 5 p.m. walk up to the store on a Satur-
Friday. Summer hours are 9:30 day and wonder why it isn't open.
a.m. to 8 p.m. Friday.
The store is located off Orchard
"In the 2 1/2 years we've been Lake Road just south of 14 Mile.
open, I can remember only two It is a few doors west fium its orig-
customers complaining about our inal spot, the result of an exten-

-- $1 EQUALS 3.0220 NIS {shekels) - Close Nice 2f

sive renovation of the shopping
center.
During the move, Amazing
Savings was closed for a few
weeks last year during the end of
August and the beginning of Sep-
tember.
Even though the store was shut
down during a portion of the busy
"back-to-school" period, Mr. Sin-
gal says sales have been strong
since the re-opening.
The new location is 96,000
square feet, about the same as the
original store, but it is further
away from the traffic on Orchard
Lake Road.
Mr. Singal and Mr. Friedman
say Amazing Savings' strengths
are quality merchandise and
rapid turnover.
"Our regular customers know
they'd better buy something when
they see it because it may not be
here next week ... or even the next
day," Mr. Singal said.
The Farmington Hills branch
of Amazing Savings is modest by
any standards, not just its neigh-
bors on upscale Orchard Lake
Road. There's nothing fancy about

Left:
Mary Osipova stocks shelves at
Amazing Savings as Sandy Singal
watches.

The trade deficit in Israel
soared 59.5 percent last month
to a record $1 billion as exports
shrank 6.8 percent and imports
jumped 13 percentAtie Central
Bureau of Stati$44 reported.
Ex-ports fell. fa $1,37.hitti
from $1.47 billion
lr
while imports rose -

EI Al, American

El Al Israel Airlines has
signed a reservations system
agreement with American Aft--
lines.
Under the terms of th.e deal,
El Al will be linked with the
worldwide American Airlines

comPuterized reservations sYs"
tem.
This means the clients of
eni4
acti
hc company can be auto ()
a~ erected
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the other w
nations.

Jeru

Jerusalem will host, about 2,
gswen from around the

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Atr:*

Aiwa

(TDB
MB Secretary Carlos Ferdi-
nand met with Israel central
bank officials recently to over-
see preparations for the con-
ference,
Dozens of finance ministers
and central bank governors will
participat,e, as well as major in-
ternational financial companies
such as Merrill. Lynch.,

Jim

agri <
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Israel's em
bank has

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ing iiiiikram tot al
lion, with dish
amounting to $3.5 b

Aladdin Buys Software Protection

Israel Supervisor of Monopo-
lies Yoram Turbovvicz has ap-
proved Aladdin Knowledge
Systems' purchase of Eliashim
software protection for $1.44
million.

Aladdin's U.S. subsidiary
has withdrawn its bid for the
software protection division of
Utah-based Micro Security Sys-
tems.

Harper Collins Makes A Deal

U.S. publishing giant Harper Eduself.
Collins will distribute a mul-
Eduself estimates sales of
timedia product for the hear- the product will comprise 15
ing and speech impaired percent of its total sales over
developed by Israeli company the next three to five years.

More Are Seeking Jobs

the walls, aisles or shelves.
This modesty — though the
new location "looks more like a
store" than the original spot, ac-
cording to Mr. Singal — helps
keep overhead costs down. El

The number of job-seekers in
Israel rose about 2 percent last
month compared with Decem-
ber, after adjustment for sea-
sonal factors, the Labor and
Social Affairs Ministry an-
nounced.

Some 104,700
tered at Employment 0f is
branches for work in January
up from 99,300 in December;
After seasonal factors, the.41#0.
bers were set at 99,200
ared tYr 97,

