Triad.

• Position: Regional Report - Meshed briefs - Column

WINSTON-SALEM -- Susan Ivey, president and CEO of Kentucky-based cigarette maker Brown & Williamson Tobacco, will assume those titles at Reynolds American, the company to be formed by B&W's scheduled merger this year with R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Holdings. Four of the five executive vice presidents who will report to her are RJR employees. RJR CEO Andrew Schindler will become executive chairman for six months, then nonexecutive chairman.

THOMASVILLE -- Thomasville Furniture Industries is cutting 200 of its about 1,500 jobs here by the end of January. Thomasville Furniture, part of St. Louis-based Furniture Brands International, employs about 5,000 in North Carolina and Virginia.

REIDSVILLE -- Israel-based A.F.G. Wipes, which makes wet wipes, will invest as much as $30 million here to open its first factory in the United States. The plant, scheduled to open in mid-2004, is expected to hire 200 workers during the next four years.

GREENSBORO -- Denim maker Cone Mills laid off 190 here in November. It was the second round of layoffs since Cone filed for bankruptcy in September. In October, it announced that it would lay off 550 in Rutherford County by the end of 2003. After the layoffs, Cone will employ about 2,040 companywide, 1,470 in North Carolina and 1,000 in the Triad.

WINSTON-SALEM -- Charlotte investment banker Erskine Bowles resigned from the board of Krispy Kreme Doughnuts to focus on his U.S. Senate campaign. Bowles, a Democrat, is hoping to win the seat held by Democrat John Edwards, who is running for president and isn't seeking re-election.

GREENSBORO -- Tanger Factory Outlet Centers sold a shopping center in Casa Grande, Ariz., to Phoenix-based G&D Casa Grande for $7.1 million. Proceeds will be used for growth and to reduce debt. Tanger operates 32 shopping centers in 19 states.

WINSTON-SALEM -- Illinois-based Inland Retail Real Estate Trust bought a Wal-Mart building here from The Principal Financial Group of Des Moines, Iowa, for $19 million. The 204,931-square-foot building will continue...