AROUND TOWN

Don’t worry about Amazon, Walmart and Target. They will survive Christmas. Sears, J.C. Penney, Kmart and Bed Bath & Beyond are struggling. 17 major retailers have defaulted on their debts since the start of 2017, including Sears, Payless and GNC, according to S&P Global Ratings. Consumer confidence has reached an 18-year high, but low unemployment makes seasonal hiring more expensive and difficult for large retailers. Even Santa may not be able to help.

Auto sales down, profits up

It’s a buyers market for new cars. Rising interest rates and higher prices are hurting new car sales. That should make dealers more willing to negotiate prices with you. Dealers remain solidly profitable in a strong economy. Yet fewer vehicles were bought last month than in October last year, according to Edmunds analysts. One reason is that new-vehicle interest rates neared a 10-year high.

• Edmunds and Cox Automotive projected auto sales declines of up to 2.1%.

• Ford sales fell 3.9%, Honda 4.1% and Nissan 10.5%,

• General Motors doesn’t report monthly figures but was likely down as much as 9.4%.

• New vehicle interest rates averaged 6.2%, up 1.3% for last year.

Food drive breaks record

Ameris Bank collected 1,893,871 food items, during its 9th Annual Helping Fight Hunger food drive initiative in October, a record amount. More than 90 food banks throughout 101 communities in the Southeast are impacted by this food drive initiative. In the Midlands, over 658,000 items were collected benefitting The Snacks Packs Program, Harvest Hope and the Palmetto Project. This year, in addition to its annual $100,000 donation which is distributed amongst the receiving local food banks, Ameris Bancorp is donating an additional $50,000. This additional donation will be given directly to food banks in our communities hardest hit by Hurricane Michael.

Local donation to help children

100 Women Who Care Midlands chapter will donate $4,100 to the Dickerson Children’s Advocacy Center. 100 Women Who Care – Midlands SC provides donations to one specific Midlands-based non-profit at each quarterly meeting. “The funds are unrestricted so it will help us with our capacity needs and operations. Those types of funds are critical for varied and balanced resource support framework,” said Dickerson CAC Executive Director Carol Yarborough in an email to the Chronicle. 100 Women Who Care Midlands SC invites women in the Midlands to become 1 of 100 by contacting Leslie Clark at 100wwcmidlandssc@gmail.com .

United Way funds raised

Employees of Lexington Medical Center raised more than $142,000 for the annual United Way campaign. That’s an 11% increase over last year. Justin Harrington, director of Nutrition Services at Lexington Medical Center, led this year’s employee campaign at the hospital. It focused on United Way’s efforts to increase children’s literacy and access to volunteer reading tutors through the Midlands Reading Consortium.

Real Estate

• Garden State Lumber signed a 170,000-square-foot lease at the Lexington County Industrial Park located at 810 Bistline Court in West Columbia.

• Harsco Rail leased 100,000 square feet on Technology Drive in Lexington.