6 SEPTEMBER 1997, Page 26

Acronymous

I AM PLEASED that some investors call- ing themselves Alchemy have come to the rescue of A.G. Stanley (FADS). This oddly- named company had been wilting in the clammy hands of Boots, but I remember it when it was a tightly run store group, hap- pily coating the nation's homes with wallpa- per, emulsion and all the things that do-it- yourselfers needed to do it themselves. What was never explained was the acronym FADS, still to be seen on its shop-fronts. A friend who sold paint to them told me that it stood for Scarcely Any Discount Store (SADS), or something like that.