News-Record.com

Dell has always said it needs to be close to its suppliers. It's newest plant in Winston-Salem takes the mandate to the extreme by locating a space for an outside logistics firm to handle the millions of parts streaming in and out of it within its walls.

Today the computer giant picked EGL Global Logistics to manage the 175,000 square feet of warehouse space within the cavernous 730,000 square foot plant.

Twenty people work in the warehouse currently; EGL says it plans to add 10 more by the end of 2006. Positions include logistics center supervisors, customer service managers, information-technology support technicians and drivers.

EGL already manages suppliers for Dell at other plants.

The jobs picture is murky from Guilford County to the Greater United States. The U.S. economy created only half -- 56,000 -- of the jobs predicted in the past month, the Labor Department said today.

Blame hurricanes Katrina and Rita, which held back hiring due to rising fuel prices.

Meanwhile, Guilford County's jobs for September were up 3.3 percent over September last year, at 230,733. But the unemployment rate has barely budged from around 5.5 percent in two years. And initial claims for unemployment are up more than 7 percent. That's twice the growth rate of the employment base.

Still, retail sales are strong locally and it looks like a good Thanksgiving ahead.

JP CEO Dennis Glass told Buzz in an interview recently that it is always a challenge making sure the best leaders stay with a company during a merger.

Here's a little bit more of what Lincoln CEO Jon Boscia told media and analysts in an earnings conference call recently:

What we're doing in fact right now is developing on a concurrent basis the next level down, both in terms of organizational design, the competencies to do the job, the candidates for the jobs, identifying which candidates would be part of the ongoing Lincoln candidates are critical to retain as we go through the integration and closing process.

We will be communicating as we get more and more of this information with individuals specifically about their status. Clearly, whenever you have a combination of companies like this, and we've been open with our employees in saying there will be people who will lose jobs, you know you have to put in place retention programs to keep your key talent and motivate people you want on an ongoing basis, and lots of focus, including at the highest levels, myself and Dennis Glass, is being applied to that.

Experts said it was inevitable.

Discount airline Independence Air, which offers three flights a day from Piedmont Triad International Airport, has filed for reorganization under Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.

The one-year-old Virginia airline started flying out of PTI about a year ago with around 11 flights. But has steadily cut into that number.

The company says that flights should function without any disruption.

Analysts said that the company would be weak because its ambitious plan to use smaller jets drove up costs despite its discount strategy.

The name isn't very sexy -- Terrorism Risk Insurance -- but it could keep companies like Duke Power from financial ruin in the event of a major terrorist attack.

A federal program guaranteeing that insurance is set to run out Dec. 31. A friend of mine who works for Business Insurance magazine in Washington is reporting today, however that new legislation will be introduced Wednesday to extend the program.

That's what Barron's (a pay site not connected with THIS Barron) says about Dell's stock these days.

Shares have dropped by close to 30 percent, rival Hewlett-Packard is rising. And now Dell's revenue has grown less than predicted.

Analysts are wondering if Dell can hit its 2008 sales target of $80 billion a year.

This comes as home PC buyers are gravitating toward the no-frills models that sell for less than $500. They're not big profit-builders.

And hot markets like China don't fit with Dell's mail-order concept. They like to touch and play with computers before they buy.

The business-computer market looks strong, through, many analysts say. Good news for the new Winston-Salem factory that makes business computers.

U.S. households likely will spend about $466 on average on holiday gifts this year, down about $10 from last year's estimate, the Conference Board, a nonprofit group, reported today. The high rollers, spending an average of $568, are in New England, and North Carolina falls into the second tier - households planning to spend an average of $484.

About 32 percent of households plan to spend $500 or more on holiday gifts, and 30 percent plan to spend less than $200.

Perhaps most interesting is the continuing upward trend in online shopping. The Conference Board reports that 34 percent of all consumers will buy holiday gifts online, with 45 percent of those planning to buy books. Clothing, shoes, toys, games, DVDs and CDs also are at the top of the list for online shoppers this year.

Rantin' and ravin' James Cramer, stock prognosticator of thestreet.com and CNBC, was asked today whether it's time to get back into the stock of Krispy Kreme. His answer was predictable, given that it seems unable to file financial documents and each announcement is another retrenchment.

I am still not recommending Krispy Kreme because there is just too much trouble at this company. Krispy Kreme managed to invent one of the greatest snacks in history, but it couldn't execute on the business side of things.

American households spent 6.3 percent more, in average, in 2004, according to survey results released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics today. The stats show that the consumer spending increase last year was much more dramatic than that in 2002 and 2003 - 2.9 percent and 0.3 percent, respectively.

In fact, the change in consumer spending between '03 and '04 outpaced the rise in the annual average consumer price index (which tracks the prices of goods and services and basically provides a measure for inflation) during the same period. The index saw a 2.7 percent increase during that time.

Among the most significant spending increases: Food sales went up 8.3 percent, apparel sales saw a 10.7 percent increase and healthcare expenditures went up 6.5 percent, according to the survey. The Department of Labor also reported a 3.6 percent increase in housing expenditures. During the prior period - '02 to '03 - spending on food and apparel actually declined.

The labor stats bureau didn't speculate on the reasons for these spending hikes.

So, this is kind of silly. But 80 percent of companies plan to hold holiday parties this year - up for 70 percent last year - and 23 percent of these are increasing the budget for their fetes by five to 20 percent, per a recent survey of 100 HR execs.

I don't really know how statistically significant the findings from aptly named outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas are, but their tips for how to safeguard an office party where alcohol's being served might be worth noting. After all, the firm's survey found that 54 percent of the companies hosting holiday parties this year plan to serve booze.

The firm's tips include ...

Sales for existing homes in the state were 11 percent higher last month than they were during Oct. 2004, the North Carolina Association of Realtors announced today. During the past 10 months, nearly 111,000 homes have been sold - marking a 15 percent increase over the first 10 months of 2004 - at an average sales price of $208,869.

Of the areas that saw positive growth, the Triad was one of the least impacted. A total of 1,357 existing homes sold here during October - just a 2 percent increase over the number sold a year before - yielding more than $240 million in sales. That's an 11 percent rise from October of last year. And the average sale price for Triad homes went up 8 percent from October 2004 to October 2005, clocking in near $177,000 last month, the association reported.

The greatest sales growth happened in the mountains and along the coast, with the largest price appreciation for the past 10 months taking place in Carteret County and Wilmington, the association reported. Carteret also had the near-highest average home sale price in the state - $286,057 - second only to home prices in the Outer Banks, which, on average, were near $547,000.

The state's largest total sales in October were in the Charlotte market (nearly $726.7 million), with the Triangle coming in second, the Triad in third, and Wilmington following with more than $164 million in sales. Nearly all areas of the state saw a decline in total homes sold from September to October.