Charlotte Prom, a store dedicated to selling prom dresses and renting tuxedos, is hosting a grand opening this weekend on South Boulevard with a fashion show.
The concept, co-located with New York Bride & Groom, is geared towards (obviously) high school students, and special steps are taken to ensure girls get unique dresses. Each dress sold is registered, and the store says it will only sell each dress to one student per school.
"Prom is the beginning," owner Tracy Burke said in a statement. According to the grand opening announcement, Burke believes prom is, "Much more than simply a school sponsored dance...one of the key rites of passage that helps girls blossom into ladies and boys mature into gentlemen."
The prom store has 15,000 square feet of retail space, along with a tuxedo department that features samples of available styles. Lines of designer dresses include Sherri Hill, Tony Bowls, Flirt, Blush, Paparazzi, Flaunt and Mac Duggal.
Sunday's grand opening and fashion show start at 3 p.m. A free prom dress and a free tuxedo rental will be given away at the event.
View Larger Map
19 Şubat 2013 Salı
Prom dress store open in Charlotte
Second Walmart Neighborhood Market coming?
Walmart could be lining up a spot in east Charlotte for its second Neighborhood Market, following on the heels of the concept's debut here late last year.
The city's first Walmart Neighborhood Market is gearing up for a grand opening on Independence Boulevard.
But an inquisitive reader let me know that a 4.72 acre site near Albemarle Road and East W.T. Harris Boulevard was acquired by Wal-Mart Real Estate Business Trust in October (Deed here, Java required). Property records show the land was purchased for $1.35 million. Wal-Mart also purchased the adjacent 1.7 acre parcel for $1.45 million.
The spot used to be the site of a movie theater, but that was demolished in 2006. The parcels appear to be too small to be a Walmart Supercenter, but could be the right size for a Neighborhood Market, which are about the size of a traditional supermarket.
Perhaps the most interesting detail, this same inquisitive reader pointed out, is that the Neighborhood Market on Independence Boulevard is store #4149. Property records list the parcel on East W.T. Harris as "c/o Wal-Mart's Property Tax Department (#4148-00)." And a project listed online at the Mecklenburg building permit website shows "Charlotte (Harris), NC #4148" for the address, though no permits have been issued yet.
So, you can believe in coincidences, or believe the successive numbers (4148 and 4149) likely indicate a project linked to the existing Neighborhood Market.
Walmart didn't respond to a question about whether the land they've acquired will be a new Neighborhood Market site. They currently have about 200 Neighborhood Markets nationwide, and are looking to expand the number of stores. Expanding the number of grocery stores in Charlotte could make sense for Walmart, as the company has been aggressively targeting Harris Teeter in its price comparison ads.
View Larger Map
Lowe's hiring 45,000 seasonal workers for spring rush
Mooresville-based Lowe's, Inc. is hiring 45,000 temporary workers to help staff its stores for the spring rush, the company said Tuesday.
Spring is the equivalent of the Christmas season for home improvement retailers, that magical time when everyone is motivated to rehab their yards and finally start some of those projects they've been putting off during the frigid winter months.
Lowe's also cut back some of its full-time employees last year in favor of more flexible, part-time workers to increase staffing at busy times. The company laid off about 1,700 middle managers in its stores, or about one per location.
In its news release, Lowe's said: The permanent part-time positions include store associates focused on direct interaction and expertise for customers. Employees in the permanent positions will be scheduled to work during peak weekday shopping times.
“We are focused on providing customers with outstanding service,” said Scott Purvis, vice president, human resources, operations. “We are looking for candidates who are experienced in any of the home improvement trades, and, most importantly, those who are committed to providing Lowe’s customers an exceptional service experience.”
You can see and apply for available jobs here.
Wal-Mart readies Charlotte's first Neighborhood Market
Workers are building shelves, stocking goods and preparing Charlotte's first Wal-Mart Neighborhood Market to open, as the mega-retailer continues to push for more of the region's grocery market.
 |
| The store's interior |
The store is a fraction of the size of a SuperCenter, and carries a full line of grocery items, along with a bakery, deli, pharmacy and other supermarket services.
 |
| Signage coming soon |
Wal-Mart has more than 200 Neighborhood Market stores. That's a small fraction of its more than 3,000 SuperCenters, but Wal-Mart has been opening Neighborhood Markets at an accelerating rate. Wal-mart opened 27 in fiscal 2012, up from two the year before and five in 2010.
 |
| Talk about low prices! |
The company recently opened its first Neighborhood Market in North Carolina in Cary, and is also building a store in Greer, S.C.
A look at Wal-Mart's annual report from 2012 shows how important grocery items are to the business. Grocery items made up 55 percent of Wal-Mart's total sales for the year, up from 53 percent in 2011. No other category of items came close. The other categories are entertainment (12 percent of sales), hardlines (10 percent), health and wellness (11 percent), apparel (7 percent), and home (5 percent).
At the Independence Boulevard location, Wal-Mart has hired about 90 people. The company is spending more than $3 million renovating the store, according to county building permits.
Wal-Mart has been going after the region's former grocery market leader, Harris Teeter, with an agressive advertising campaign that includes side-by-side price comparisons for a basket of goods. The company overtook Harris Teeter in 2011 as the No. 1 grocer in the region. Food Lion comes in at No. 3.
The Wal-Mart Neighborhood Market is the newest entrant to Charlotte's grocery market, which has seen a slew of new stores over the past several years. Publix is building stores, Whole Foods is finally open, Harris Teeter debuted its 201central stores and is rebuilding other stores throughout Charlotte. Family Dollar has added hundreds of food items, and Target has overhauled its stores to greatly expand their grocery selections. Food Lion is overhauling its stores and trying to win customers back.
They're all competing for a share of your food dollars, and with razor-thin profit margins and more competitors than just three years ago, don't expect the competition to slow anytime soon.
View Larger Map
Walmart Neighborhood Market opening Wednesday
Charlotte's first Walmart Neighborhood Market, a smaller store from the world's largest retailer, is holding its grand opening Wednesday on Independence Boulevard.
The store is set to open at 7:30 a.m., with a ribbon-cutting ceremony. There will also be product samplings and giveaways at the store throughout the day.
 |
| Store manager David Thomas inside the new Walmart Neighborhood Market |
Although Neighborhood Markets account for just a small fraction of the more than 3,000 Walmart stores nationwide, there are now 230 of them. For perspective, that's more than the total number of Harris Teeter stores.
The store on Independence Blvd. is the second Walmart Neighborhood Market in the state. The first was opened last year in Cary, and Walmart plans to open more in the future across North Carolina. Walmart has hired about 90 people to work at the new Charlotte store. The store will be open daily from 7 a.m. to 11 p.m.
View Larger Map
18 Şubat 2013 Pazartesi
Cardinal Camera seeks to build on Wolf legacy at Arboretum
When Ritz Camera shut down and liquidated its operations, including the Wolf Camera stores in Charlotte, Cardinal Camera saw an opportunity.
"That's really become my second-best store out of the 15," said Seelig. This Friday and Saturday, the store is holding a camera buyback event in conjunction with used-camera dealer KEH, where they'll offer cash for old cameras. Last weekend, KEH bought back $40,000 worth of old cameras in Richmond.
Seelig said he chose the Arboretum location over the Wolf Camera SouthPark store because shopping centers have lower overhead than malls.
Claire Schweitzer, who works for Cardinal Camera management but doesn't have a formal job title, said customer service is the secret to Cardinal's continued survival in the Internet age.
"I don’t make them wait, because they can go on the Internetand buy something quickly," she said of customers. "At 10 o'clock Christmas Eve I was driving a canvas to someone's house because it got misplaced."
The company does old-school services such as developing film and printing, but also carries the latest photo equipment.
"Customers are surprised," said store manager Tony Ulchar. "We still have phone calls saying 'Do you develop film?'"
And remember, the Wolf Camera at Birkdale Village has also reopened under new ownership, meaning that in the end, Charlotte only lost one of its remaining camera stores (the Wolf Camera in SouthPark) and gained two new ones.
View Larger Map
Panera Bread coming to Cotswold Village
A new Panera Bread is headed for Cotswold, according to local restaurant leasing blog Restaurant Traffic.
Mecklenburg building permits show the upfit for the Cotswold Village location is costing more than $180,000.
An Italian eatery, Blu Basil closed last year. Panera was founded in 1981, and has more than 1,625 stores in 44 states. The company has seven stores in Charlotte, about Panera's stated mission is "A loaf of bread in every arm," which is also a registered trademark.
The company has been a Wall Street darling, with its stock rising from about $34 a share five years ago to $163.51 on Friday.
View Larger Map