Highwoods Properties said today that DirectBuy, a home improvement and furniture club, has leased 75,000 square feet in one of the company's industrial properties in Greensboro.

The 125,000-square-foot warehouse on Burnt Poplar Road is now fully leased, the Highwoods said.

DirectBuy has more than 130 locations in North America.

Highwoods owns more than 4 million square feet of office and industrial space in the Triad, making it the Raleigh real estate investment trust's third largest market behind Atlanta and the Triangle.

The Triad portfolio was 89.4 percent occupied at the end of last year, according to regulatory filings.

Highwoods sold six industrial properties in the Triad in the second quarter of last year.

Young rugby enthusiasts in the Under-10 through Under-14 age groups will hit the pitch for a tournament this weekend in the Triangle.

The Raleigh Rattlesnakes, part of the Raleigh Rugby Football Club and the N.C. Youth Rugby Union, will host the Carolina Cup on Saturday at the Raleigh Rugby Complex at 7414 Poole Road, about four miles east of the beltline.

American Express plans to close a customer service center in Greensboro, cutting hundreds of jobs and dealing a blow to the Triad's economy.

The credit card company announced this morning that work handled from the Greensboro facility will be shifted to other locations in the U.S. The cost-cutting effort also will transfer some work from a service center in Madrid to sites in the U.K. and Australia.

In an e-mail to community leaders, American Express stated it has about 1,900 employees in Greensboro, the Greensboro News & Record reports. The company estimates that 400 employees will remain in North Carolina, working at home or virtually, after the service center closes. The other employees will be offered jobs at one of the company's other U.S. facilities.

TIMCO Aerosystems plans to add 275 jobs in the Triad over the next five years, as it opens a facility to make seats for passenger aircraft.

The Greensboro-based company will receive state grants worth as much as $2 million if it meets hiring goals, as well as more money in local incentives.

The new jobs, in the Davidson County town of Wallburg, about 100 miles west of Raleigh, will pay average annual wages of $34,728. Gov. Bev Perdue's office announced today. That's more than the Davidson County average of $29,640.

Parent company TIMCO Aviation Systems already employs 1,182 people in Greensboro. TIMCO maintains, repairs and overhauls airplanes.

The news is another boost for the state, which has been trying to attract more manufacturers and aerospace employers.

Visit TIMCO online for more information about the company and job opportunities.