BUSINESS MEMO: MORE PEOPLE WEARING FURS

More people are wearing fur coats again.

Furs sales increased in 1997, reaching $1.27 billion, according to a survey of the U.S. fur industry.

The survey also noted that larger fur retailers reported a 12 percent increase in the number of customers who took fur coats out of storage in 1997. This indicated more people were wearing fur coats.

The survey, which is conducted for the Fur Information Council of America, showed fur sales had increased slightly during six of the past seven years, from $1 billion in 1991 to the $1.27 billion last year.

Fur sales from 1991: 1991, $1 billion; 1992, $1.1 billion; 1993, $1.2 billion; 1994, $1.1 billion; 1995, $1.2 billion; 1996, $1.25 billion; 1997, $1.27 billion.