Winston-Salem Journal articles from October 2001

Winston-Salem Journal archives from October 2001

Greensboro, N.C.-Based Cone Mills Corp. to Exit Khaki Business.
October 31, 2001... Byline: Fran Daniel Oct. 31--Cone Mills Corp., a denim-fabrics manufacturer and commission-printer of home-furnishings fabrics in Greensboro, said yesterday it would get out of the khaki business. The announcement was made as Cone...

Wachovia Fires Former Director Who Voted against First Union Merger.
October 31, 2001... Byline: Jane Seccombe Oct. 31--Morris W. Offit, the only Wachovia Corp. director to vote against the bank's sale to First Union Corp. earlier this year, said yesterday that Wachovia fired him as chief executive of its Offitbank...

BellSouth Hopes to Launch Long Distance Service in North Carolina.
October 30, 2001... Byline: Dana Damico Oct. 30--BellSouth took a baby step yesterday to trying to launch long-distance phone service in North Carolina. Officials for the company made their second pitch in four years to the N.C. Utilities...

Stocks Take Dive Due to Pending Economic Reports.
October 30, 2001... Byline: Brian Louis Oct. 30--Stocks tumbled sharply yesterday as investors rushed out of a market that had staged a nice rally recently. "It's pretty ugly today," said Jay Suskind, the director of trading at Ryan, Beck & Co. in...

Canadian Government Asks to Have Decision against R.J. Reynolds Reheard.
October 27, 2001... Byline: Brian Louis Oct. 27--The Canadian government yesterday asked for a rehearing of a decision it lost recently in a federal appellate court in its lawsuit against R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Holdings Inc., in which it accused the company...

Jobless Figures Hold Steady in Winston-Salem, N.C., Metropolitan Area.
October 26, 2001... Oct. 26--The unemployment rate for the metropolitan Triad was unchanged at 4.8 percent in September, while the rate for Forsyth County increased to 4 percent from 3.8 percent the previous month, according to statistics released yesterday by...

Winston-Salem, N.C.-Based Triad Guarantee Reports Rise in Quarterly Income.
October 25, 2001... Byline: Jane Seccombe Oct. 25--Triad Guaranty Inc. increased third-quarter net income by 9 percent to $10.3 million, or 73 cents a diluted share, compared to the same period last year. The profit increase, which included realized...

North Carolina's Biltmore Estate, Lowe's Team to Launch Series of Commercials.
October 25, 2001... Byline: Brian Louis Oct. 25--Two North Carolina institutions, Lowe's Cos. Inc. and Biltmore Estate, recently joined together and launched a series of how-to television commercials that gives viewers a look at how staff members take care...

Greensboro, N.C.-Based Textured-Yarns Maker Reports Slightly Lower Net Income.
October 25, 2001... Byline: Fran Daniel Oct. 25--Unifi Inc. of Greensboro yesterday reported slightly lower net income but comparable earnings per share from a year ago for its fiscal first quarter. Unifi had net income of $2.7 million, or 5 cents a...

Greensboro, N.C., Economic-Development Group Pledges $1 Million to Program.
October 24, 2001... Byline: Kristi E. Swartz Oct. 24--Action Greensboro, an economic-development group, has agreed to put $1 million into a fledgling entrepreneurial program, which will help carry it for five years. The Triad Entrepreneurial Initiative,...

Employment Rose, Wages Rose More in Winston-Salem, N.C., Area in 2000.
October 23, 2001... Byline: Jane Seccombe Oct. 23--Employment in Forsyth County increased an overall 1.8 percent to 181,682 workers last year compared with 1999, below the national average increase of 2.3 percent, according to the U.S. Department of Labor's...

Furniture Market Notebook.
October 20, 2001... Byline: Fran Daniel Oct. 20--COMPANIES CONTINUE TO LEND HELPING HAND: For the first time, Lexington Home Brands, which is celebrating its 100th anniversary, is opening its 90,000-square-foot furniture showroom to the public. "When we...

North Carolina Unemployment Rate Increases to 5.2 Percent in September.
October 20, 2001... Byline: Jane Seccombe Oct. 20--North Carolina's seasonally adjusted unemployment rate increased to 5.2 percent in September from 5 percent the previous month, according to preliminary statistics released yesterday by the state's...

Analysts Cautious in Outlook for R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Holdings.
October 19, 2001... Byline: Brian Louis Oct. 19--Although R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Holdings Inc. beat Wall Street's expectations with its third-quarter earnings yesterday, some analysts were cautious on their outlook for the company and the stock in the wake...

Wachovia to Close Retail Mortgage-Servicing Center in Winston-Salem, N.C.
October 19, 2001... Byline: Jane Seccombe Oct. 19--As part of its integration effort, the new Wachovia Corp. plans to close its retail-mortgage-servicing center in Winston-Salem, displacing 90 employees. The unit's operations, which are in the downtown...

High Point, N.C., International Furniture Market Opens with Extra Security.
October 18, 2001... Byline: Fran Daniel Oct. 18--Furniture industry experts and leaders have been asking for manufacturers and retailers to get back to their normal business routines as soon as possible in the aftermath of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks....

Fed Needs to Balance Rate Cuts against Inflationary Impact, Official Says.
October 17, 2001... Byline: Jane Seccombe Oct. 17--HICKORY, N.C.--The Federal Reserve needs to balance possible additional interest-rate cuts with concern over their inflationary impact 12-18 months down the line, J. Alfred Broaddus Jr., the president of...

Greensboro, N.C.-Based Telecommunications-Equipment Firm Reports Lower Profits.
October 17, 2001... Byline: Kristi E. Swartz Oct. 17--RF Micro Devices Inc. returned to profitability ahead of some expectations. The company's fiscal second-quarter profit fell sharply from the same time the previous year, however. Net income for...

Bristol-Myers to Give Carolina Firm License to Market Acne Drug.
October 16, 2001... Byline: Kristi E. Swartz Oct. 16--Pilot Therapeutics Inc. now has access to a compound that could turn into improved medication for nodular cystic acne, according to its chief executive. Pilot and Bristol-Myers Squibb, a...

Sara Lee Sells Jamesville, N.C., Fabrics Plant and Two Plants in Virginia.
October 16, 2001... Byline: Fran Daniel Oct. 16--Sara Lee Corp. of Chicago is selling a plant in Jamesville in eastern North Carolina and closing two plants near Charlottesville, Va., as part of a restructuring plan for its Liberty Fabrics business. The...

Judge Upholds Dismissal of Suit against R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Holdings.
October 13, 2001... Byline: Brian Louis Oct. 13--R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Holdings Inc. won a sizable legal victory yesterday when a federal appellate court affirmed a lower court's dismissal of a lawsuit filed by Canada that accused RJR of smuggling...

North Carolina Unemployment Office Sees Increase in Applicants over the Year.
October 13, 2001... Byline: Jane Seccombe Oct. 13--"This is my first time," said Carlos Taylor as he waited for Winston-Salem's unemployment office to open yesterday. For the past two years, Taylor, 73, has supplemented his Social Security pension by...

Quarterly Net Income Rises 7.5 Percent at Carolina-Based LSB Bancshares.
October 12, 2001... Byline: Jane Seccombe Oct. 12--LSB Bancshares Inc., the parent company of Lexington State Bank, increased net income 7.5 percent to $2.18 million, or 26 cents a diluted share, in the third quarter compared with the same period last year....

North Carolina-Based BB&T Reports Solid Quarterly.
October 12, 2001... Byline: Jane Seccombe Oct. 12--BB&T Corp., the fourth-biggest bank in the Southeast, reported solid core results for the third quarter yesterday, overcoming tough economic conditions with increased fee income and expense controls. ...

Wall Street Enthusiasm Shows in Large Stock Market Gains.
October 12, 2001... Byline: Brian Louis Oct. 12--It doesn't take long for attitudes to change on Wall Street. Consider: Traders and investors couldn't dump stocks fast enough after the markets reopened after last month's terrorist attacks. Investors...

Electronics Firm to Close Greensboro, N.C., Plant, Move Production.
October 11, 2001... Byline: Fran Daniel Oct. 11--Tyco Electronics plans to close its American Avenue plant in Greensboro, where 600 people work, and move production to its nearby Piedmont Triad Parkway plant. Maryanne Kane, a spokeswoman for the...

Engineer Recommends Winston-Salem, N.C., for Stops on High-Speed Rail Corridor.
October 11, 2001... Byline: Kristi E. Swartz Oct. 11--Winston-Salem can generate the people and the money to justify having stops on the Southeast high-speed rail corridor, according to an engineer with the N.C. Department of Transportation. The rail...

Winston-Salem, N.C.-Area Airport Buys Wetlands.
October 10, 2001... Byline: Kristi E. Swartz Oct. 10--GREENSBORO, N.C.--The Piedmont Triad Airport Authority yesterday approved a $2 million purchase of 510 acres in Rockingham County to relocate wetlands that will be destroyed should the proposed FedEx hub...

Winston-Salem, N.C., Biotech Firm Raising Funds for Cancer Blood-Test.
October 7, 2001... Byline: Kristi E. Swartz Oct. 7--Amplistar Inc., a biotechnology company, has linked up with First Union Securities for help in raising $15 million in its second round of financing. Amplistar, which is developing a blood test to...

FAA Says North Carolina Airport to Stay Within Emissions Requirements.
October 6, 2001... Byline: Kristi E. Swartz Oct. 6--Although the amount of emissions at the Piedmont Triad International Airport is expected to increase with the building and operation of the proposed FedEx cargo hub, the Federal Aviation Administration...

North Carolina Leads Southeast in Textile Jobs Lost in Second Quarter.
October 5, 2001... Byline: Jane Seccombe Oct. 5--North Carolina lost more jobs in the textile industry than any other state in the Southeast in this year's second quarter, according to data released yesterday by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. ...

Blue Cross and Blue Shield Acquires HMO Based in Winston-Salem, N.C.
October 3, 2001... Byline: Fran Daniel Oct. 3--Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina has completed its $202 million acquisition of Partners National Health Plans of North Carolina Inc. in Winston-Salem. BCBSNC bought Partners, the largest...

Economists Say Interest Rate Cut Will Help, But Not Enough.
October 3, 2001... Byline: Jane Seccombe Oct. 3--Economists welcomed yesterday's cut in the benchmark U.S. interest rate to 2.5 percent-the second reduction since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks- but said that it will not be enough to avoid a recession. ...

Krispy Kreme Doughnuts Still 'Comfortable' with Sales, Earnings Estimates.
October 2, 2001... Byline: Brian Louis Oct. 2--Krispy Kreme Doughnuts Inc. said it is "comfortable" with the guidance it gave in August to Wall Street for its sales and earnings expectations for the third quarter and for the full fiscal year. The...