Hey everyone,
In the interest of keeping you posted, I wanted to let you know that this will be the last installment of What's In Store - at least for now, as I'm leaving the Observer to go to law school in Chicago. My last day is Wednesday, so if you have any questions, comments or concerns before then, do let me know. I have so appreciated your readership, interest and feedback, and I will miss writing posts and stories and hearing your thoughts about them. It's also been great to meet and hear from so many merchants working hard to make a go of it in a tough economy. I am not sure how the powers that be here plan to fill my job going forward, so I can't immediately direct you to a successor, but our hope is that someone else will pick up the reins soon. If you have feedback or news about local retail in the meantime, please contact our business editor, Patrick Scott (pscott@charlotteobserver.com).
On a brief personal note, this decision did not come easy: It was agonizing and wrenching, and I'm still not sure I'm doing the right thing. I've loved journalism my entire life and still deeply believe in it. I'm thankful for my nearly six fascinating years here, and it's difficult to contemplate doing anything else. But sometimes, a person needs a change, and so it's with that in mind that I'm heading off for a new challenge - one that I hope will continue to allow me to write and work for good in the world. Only time will tell whether I've made the right choice, and I'm interested in finding out what awaits (aside from a mountain of student loan debt, which, alas, is a given).
Anyway, thank you again. We appreciate your readership, and I hope you'll continue to support my smart, dedicated, caring colleagues as they do their utmost to cover this community. We couldn't do it without you.