This move might be a shore thing.

• Author: Martin, Edward
• Position: TAR HEEL TATTLER

Chuck Hayes, the fiery-tempered executive who wrenched Guilford Mills Inc. into the big time, must be rolling over in the grave at Lake Lure where they laid him three years ago. That they've dropped Mills from the name--just call it Guilford--would be enough to send him spinning like the yarn his company used as the world's largest maker of warp-knit fabric. Add to that the news they're moving its headquarters from Greensboro to Wilmington.

Guilford--the company, not the county--is getting $400,000 in incentives, half from Wilmington, the other half from New Hanover County. But for a company accustomed to profits and losses in the multimillions--it made $43 million in 1997, its best year, and lost $160 million as it sank into bankruptcy in 2002--that's just icing on the cake. These days, in the age of e-management, the headquarters can be wherever the boss wants it to be. "There's a proclivity for CEOs to locate headquarters where they're comfortable," says Carl Dyer, a UNC Greensboro professor who is an expert on the textile industry.

Spokesman Doug Galyon says Guilford is moving about 35 executive and administrative jobs--average salary, about $158,000 a year--to temporary quarters in Wilmington this fall. Insiders expect Shannon White, who became CEO in May, to move the rest of the Greensboro staff, about 40 employees, to the Port City when a new building is ready.

Galyon says the move will consolidate management near its largest plant, an 800-employee operation in Kenansville...