OTHER NEWS - Oct. 24, 1996

Waban to Spin Off BJ’s Wholesale Club: Natick, Mass.-based Waban Inc. said it plans to spin off the profitable warehouse stores from the lagging HomeBase home improvement chain. The spinoff to shareholders would create a publicly traded company called BJ’s Wholesale Club Inc. Waban would change its name to HomeBase Inc. Sales at BJ’s stores open at least a year--the company has 79 stores in the Northeastern U.S.--are up a strong 5.8% through September. BJ’s has about $2.7 billion in annual sales and operating income of $95.4 million. HomeBase has annual sales of $1.5 billion and operating profit of $53 million. Shares in Waban rose 3.375 to close at $27.25 on the New York Stock Exchange.