Panera Bread coming to Cotswold Village

A new Panera Bread is headed for Cotswold, according to local restaurant leasing blog Restaurant Traffic.

The store is replacing Blu Basil, which closed recently. Panera has been increasing the number of stores in Charlotte, and recently opened an uptown location on College Street.

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.



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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.

Kurt Seelig reopened the Wolf Camera store in the Arboretum late last year as a Cardinal Camera location, and is hoping to build it into a major hub for local photo enthusiasts. Family-owned Cardinal Camera has 15 locations, and opened in 1937.

"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 Internet and 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.



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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.


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Prom dress store open in Charlotte

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.



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Family Dollar CEO says payroll tax hike a small challenge

Howard Levine, the CEO of Matthews-based Family Dollar, said Monday that the payroll tax increase now hitting American workers is not a major challenge for the business.

The 2 percentage point increase is the result of the expiration of the payroll tax holiday, is expected to have a bigger impact on Family Dollar and other discounters' core customers. They're more likely to be living paycheck-to-paycheck.

Analysts have said this will hurt discount retailers. Levine said on CNBC's "Squawk on the Street" morning program that he doesn't think the tax will be a significant drag on his company.

"We've been through many economic scenarios that were much more challenging than this one," he said, although he added the payroll tax is "certainly not a positive."

Family Dollar's core customer is typically a person whose household income is $40,000 or less per year. The company saw more "trade-down" customers during the recession, when customers with incomes between $40,000 and $70,000 switched some of their shopping to Family Dollar as they sought to save money.

Levine said the trade-down customers are still seeking out Family Dollar, although he declined to break out what percentage of the retailer's customers they are. Levine said the core customers, with under $40,000 in annual income, remain  the majority of Family Dollar's customers.

Family Dollar's latest earnings, reported earlier this month, disappointed investors and left the stock slumping as gross margin fell and the retailer lowered its forecast.

New Kirkland's in Matthews

Home furnishing store Kirkland's is opening a new location in a Matthews shopping center, with a grand opening planned for the weekend of February 2.

The store is in the Ross Plaza Shopping Center on Matthews Township Parkway. The grand opening will include a giveaway of two $50 gift cards and free interior design consultations with local designer Carol Smith.

Building permits from the county show Kirkland's spent more than $360,000 renovating the building.


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Savvy Spaces furniture stores closing

Savvy Spaces, a pair of furniture stores that opened last year, is closing, the retailer announced last week.

The company is holding a going-out-of-business sale to liquidate current inventory. The owners, who also operate Ashley Furniture HomeStore locations, said they are closing the Savvy Spaces locations to focus on their Ashley Furniture business.

 

Inside Savvy Spaces (courtesy the company)

"We’ve enjoyed wonderful growth in sales at Savvy Spaces, but in the end, we had to choose between our two brands. As owners, we simply don’t have the time to oversee and properly manage both companies," said Charlie Malouf, in a statement. He co-owns the stores with Jonathan Ishee. They're in the midst of opening a new Ashley location in Raleigh.

Furniture, clocks, rugs, bedding and other goods are all discounted now at both locations, in Pineville and the Northlake area (The Pineville location was in a former Boyle's furniture store). Rugs are 65 percent off, mattress sets over $499 are $100 off, and accessories are 50 percent off.

No final closing date has been set, and an employee said the stores will remain open until they're sold out.


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