Textile publication calls it quits

Southern Textile News, founded in 1945, printed its final edition Monday.

The popular trade newspaper, which focused on the region’s textile industry, decided to call it  quits after 64 years in business  due to declining advertising revenues and unprecedented deterioration of the US textile industry since the 1990s, according to The Spartanburg Herald-Journal.

Chip Smith, owner and president of Mullen Publications Inc., the newspaper’s parent company, said the economic downturn has exacerbated the woes of US manufacturers, particularly in textiles.

“That really is the whole crux of it,” he told The Herald-Journal. “We’ve seen rough spots before, but we realize now that the textile industry is not going to revive. We don’t have the resources to continue to do it.”

Hundreds of Southeastern mills have been closed over the past couple decades as jobs have moved overseas. 

Charlotte-based Southern Textile News was published as a weekly for 58 years before switching to a biweekly format in 2003 in response to an industry downturn that resulted in waning support.

It has seen its reader base cut in half over the past decade, to about 3,800 paid subscribers, The Herald-Journal reported.

Congaree Bancshares trims losses

Congaree Bancshares pared its losses during the second quarter to $213,688, from more than $900,000 during the same period in 2008.

The Cayce, SC-based parent of Congaree State Bank, which began in 2006, actually recorded no provisions for loan losses during the three months ended June 30, according to information filed with the US Securities and Exchange Commission. That represents a marked contrast from the second quarter of 2008, when Congaree recorded more than $400,000 in loan-loss provisions.

However, Congaree issued a caveat regarding loan losses, stating that because of the company’s youth the loans in its portfolio are of recent origin and haven’t had as much time to “season,” or show signs or credit deterioration.

“Because our loan portfolio is new, the current level of delinquencies and defaults may not be representative of the level that will prevail when the portfolio becomes more seasoned … ” the company stated.

Stock in Congaree is trading for $5 a share.