Dell postpones closing North Carolina plant again; SoCo's Cissi's Market closes

Dell postpones closing of N.C. facility till 2011

Dell Inc. said Friday that it is postponing the closing of its computer assembly plant in Winston-Salem, N.C., for a fourth time.

Dell announced last fall that it would shut the plant in January, but it pushed back that date to April, then July and then October.

Dell's latest plan calls for closing the plant in January 2011. The plant, which employed 905 workers last fall, now has 400 Dell employees and an undisclosed number of contract workers.

Dell said late last year when it first delayed the plant closing that it was seeing increased customer demand. Since then, companies that track the personal computer market have said that a rebound in PC buying is under way.

REBATE PROGRAM

Report: Calls dropped for most rebate seekers

Most Texans who called trying to get appliance rebates this month had their calls dropped by the contractor who handled the program, The Dallas Morning News reported. Nearly 78 percent of the calls were dropped, the newspaper found.

When the rebate program launched April 7, thousands of Texans could not get through to phone banks or a website set up to handle requests for $23 million in rebates for energy-efficient appliances.

Lawmakers have expressed anger at how the program was handled and comptroller's officials have requested a performance report from the contractor, Helgeson Enterprises, to determine what went wrong.

RESTAURANTS

Cissi's Market closes doors for final time

Cissi's Market, the wine bar and South Congress stop for sandwiches, pastries, coffees and specialty groceries, closed at 4 p.m. Friday, a store employee confirmed.

Cissi's opened in 2007. The market attracted some top-flight wine and food talent in its three-year-run, including chefs Deegan McClung and Rebecca Meeker. Cissi's chef Coi Burruss, who was a contestant on the reality show "Hell's Kitchen," will continue her joint duties at Town Market, another gourmet grocery venture from Cissi's owner Victoria Lynden.