STRICTLY BUSINESS: TEENIE BEANIES ARE BIG, BIG, BIG

Make no beans about it, Teenie Beanies are big, Big, BIG.

And Ronald McDonald couldn't be happier.

When it comes to ideas for bringing in customers, McDonald's doesn't clown around.

The restaurant chain regularly capitalizes on popular trends as Happy Meal premiums, and this time it has hit the Big Mac of premium jackpots.

The Teenie Beanies are proving just as popular as their bigger (regular-size) Beanie Babies.

McDonald's Restaurants have been swamped everywhere, with parents and children looking for the "Mini Beanies."

"We haven't reached the shortage point yet," said Lynn Petzoldt, a supervisor for Rich House Inc. in Cape Girardeau, a group that owns a number of McDonald's Restaurants in this area.

But it's getting close, said Petzoldt. With four McDonald's in Cape Girardeau and one at Jackson, the company is passing out a lot of Teenie Beanies.

"It's a great promotion," said Petzoldt.

In some areas, McDonald's restaurants have been so swamped with parents and youngsters looking for the products that their entire five-week supply was almost exhausted after just five days, say a spokesman for the Oak Brook, Ill.-based fast-food chain.

"People are buying them like there is no tomorrow," said spokeswoman Lisa Howard.

It hasn't happened in Cape Girardeau, but Howard says the chain is selling out in Chicago, St. Louis, Kansas City and other Midwestern cities, along with New York in the East.

Order of 100 million

McDonald's had ordered 100 million of the toys -- its largest order ever for a promotion.

When word the company was offering shrunken versions of the colorful beanbag animals with each Happy Meal, it set off a buying frenzy.

The company has recommended to its owner-operators that they limit the sale of Happy Meals, to 10 per customers.

In some St. Louis areas, people were buying as many as 50 Happy Meals.

McDonald's had a contract with the toy's maker, Ty Inc., to make 10 different animals.

Two animals were to go on sale each week until supplies ran out, but different restaurants sold different versions, and some parents reported they spent much of the weekend driving around to get all 10 versions for their collections.

Ty spokeswoman Anne Nickels said the popularity of the miniature Beanie Babies is no surprise to Ty Inc., which has been making the full-size toys the past two years. The Beanie Babies made their debut in late 1994. Sales have soared, and stores are consistently running out of stock.

In all, there are 103 Beanie Babies on the market, with a suggested retail price of $5. But they often sell for more, and every six months or so, a few Beanie Babies are "born." But for every new one, an old one is retired.

The company has stopped production on 26 species. Beanie fans call these "extinct," and collectors are paying some big bucks for them.

Teenie Beanies have joined a long list of fast-food prizes that attract young buyers.

Parents and their children have pulled into many fast-food restaurants over the past two decades to collect various kiddie-meal toys -- Barbies, Power Rangers, dolls, Pocahontas, Star Wars, Lion King.

Burger King found big success with such toys as "Pocahontas" figures and "Grandmother Willow," the talking tree, in Pocahontas. And Burger King handed out more than 50 million toys in "The Lion King" promotion.

One of the hottest "giveaways" last year was that by Taco Bell, with a series of Star War figures.

With the event of Star Wars Triology Movie, youngsters of today will be seeking Star Wars collectibles for a long time to come," said one antique-collectible dealers in Cape Girardeau.

Fast-food toys have been around nationally since McDonald's first offered Happy Meals in 1977.

Other fast-food chains have followed suit.

"They realized they could generate a lot of sales with premium toys," said Jerry Davis, president of the local McDonald's group.

All this is a good deal for customers, who get quality toys and a meal, too. Basically, some of these toys go for $2 to $3, even more, at stores.

Days Inn, a motel group, has also joined the toy giveaway scene, offering a "Travel Pack" featuring the Flintstones. The packet includes a small toy with a Flintstone character and an activity map with puzzles, mazes and games for the youngsters.

Congrats...

U.S. Senators Christopher "Kit" Bond and John Ashcroft have sent their congratulations on hearing the news that Procter & Gamble Co. will construct a new, $350 million facility in Cape Girardeau County.

"It was great to hear the news of the expansion taking place at the Procter & Gamble plant at Cape Girardeau," said a note from Bond. "This is testimony to the partnership that hard working Missourians, community leaders and Procter & Gamble have forged through the years."

"This is absolutely terrific news for Cape Girardeau," said Ashcroft in his note. "Procter and Gamble expansion in Cape will be a major boost for the economy. Federal and state government have no more important task than to support and encourage economic growth and good jobs for our people. I commend Procter and Gamble for its well-placed confidence in Cape Girardeau."

Charter 100 bonds;

no cost to taxpayers

On the subject of new industry, Section 100.010 to 100.200 of the Missouri Revised Statues allows cities or counties to purchase or construct projects with bond proceeds and to lease or sell the project to a company.

This is the situation for the new, $350 million Procter & Gamble tissue and towel plant to be built in Cape Girardeau County.

Under Chapter 100 bonds, it is possible to exempt most of the real and personal property tax of buildings and machinery financed by the bonds. This is due to the city or county being the owner of the and the company being the lessee.

In other words, P&G would not have to pay the taxes for 30 years.

P&G insisted on paying, however, and will pay some money annually, in lieu of taxes, said Cape County Presiding Commissioner Gerald Jones.

The company also passed on a couple of other tax credts. P&G will not utilize the TIF or Enterprise Zone tax credits on this project.

In the case of Procter & Gamble's expansion, the Cape Girardeau County Commission authorized and approved $550 million -- at no cost to the taxpayers -- for industrial development in accordance with Section 100.050 of the Missouri Revised Statues.

The bonds will be sold to Procter & Gamble Co., headquartered in Cincinnati.

The plan includes acquisition, construction and equipping of an expansion facility for P&G. It also includes some improvements to road, rail, electricity, natural gas, water and sewer treatment facilities for the expansion.

The project will be leased to the company by the county in accordance with a lease agreement for a term of 30 years.

B. Ray Owen is business editor for the Southeast Missourian.