Content deleted Content added
m ISBNs (Build J/) |
Vchimpanzee (talk | contribs) →Name change and headquarters move: Clearer description of name changes and exact dates |
||
Line 12:
== Name change and headquarters move ==
R. J. Reynolds Industries, Inc., which began as [[R. J. Reynolds Tobacco Company]] in [[Winston-Salem, North Carolina]] in 1875, and
In August 1986, the RJR Nabisco board announced that [[F. Ross Johnson]] would replace J. Tylee Wilson as head of the company effective January 1, 1987. Soon after that, Johnson, believing "bucolic" Winston-Salem did not have the right image for a "world-class company", began looking at other possible headquarters cities. The company decided against [[New York City]] and [[Dallas, Texas]]. [[Atlanta]] was selected because it was "nouveau riche and overbuilt".<ref name=Bucolic>{{cite news|url=http://extras.journalnow.com/lostempire/tob27a.htm|title=Chapter 27: Honk If You're Bucolic|last1=Tursi|first1=Frank|last2=White|first2=Susan E.|last3=McQuilkin|first3=Steve|work=[[Winston-Salem Journal]]|date=1999|accessdate=2012-03-20}}</ref> On January 15, 1987, the RJR Nabisco board approved a headquarters move from Winston-Salem to [[Cobb County, Georgia]], north of Atlanta, where the company had rented space. The move would affect 250 to 300 employees, while Winston-Salem would still have 14,000 people working for the company. RJR Nabisco donated the 519,000-square-foot World Headquarters Building to [[Wake Forest University]] but continued to use it until the September 1987 move.<ref name=NYTimes>{{cite news|url=http://www.nytimes.com/1987/01/16/business/company-news-rjr-nabisco-plans-to-move.html|title=RJR Nabisco Plans to Move|work=[[The New York Times]]|date=1987-01-16|accessdate=2012-03-20}}</ref> Later, RJR Nabisco's [[Planters]]-[[Life Savers]] Division moved to the former headquarters building.<ref name=Bucolic/>
| |||