Chick-fil-A made me feel special

A Chick-fil-A location opened in South End about three weeks ago. It was a much-needed fast food joint in that particular stretch along South Boulevard. Plus, our office is in South End so I have a great new place to get to quickly for lunch, which I’ve been doing twice a week since it opened. So I was eating lunch there today and it dawned on me how great of a place this really is. I was sitting at the table (alone but don’t be sad for me, I do it often) eating my traditional #1 combo and making notes on my to-do list (it’s a notepad–I haven’t crossed into the world of PDAs yet, ok). I was done eating so I pushed my tray to the end of the table to make room for my doodling. Then the manager walked up to me and said, “I can take this out of your way,” and proceeded to remove my tray. But before walking away, she also asked me if I’d like a refill of my drink, which I said yes to–my traditional Hi-C fruit punch. For a second, I forgot I was at a fast food restaurant. That was excellent service and I didn’t even ask for any of it. That Chick-fil-A is one classy joint!

Design Within Reach throws big grand opening event

Thursday, May 31st, contemporary home store Design Within Reach (known for its modern and ultra-luxe furniture, lighting, and home accessories from the likes of Philippe Starck, Frank Gehry, Charles Eames, and Arne Jacobsen) is throwing a grand opening party from 6-9 p.m. (4310 Sharon Road). Food and drinks are provided by M5: Modern Mediterranean Cuisine, part of the Harper’s Restaurant Group. Plus, ten percent of all sales between May 21st and June 1st will go to The Mint Museums. To preview some of the studio’s offerings go to www.dwr.com

New Crime Blog, Charlotte mag on the radio

We’ve gone live with our latest blog, Charlotte’s Crime Blog. In the new June issue, we’ve launched a four-part series called Charlotte’s Crime Problem. Authored principally by Melissa Hankins, the series will look at four major aspects of crime in Charlotte. We’ll use the blog to provide between-issue updates and interesting stats and facts, link to other interesting sites (here’s one: CrimeInCharlotte), and, most importantly, tell your stories. We want to hear what you think about crime in Charlotte.

Also, Melissa will be on WBT’s The Jeff Katz show tomorrow (Friday) at 4 p.m. to talk about the first article and the series (that should be interesting). If you miss it live, the show has podcasts.

If the first Crime Blog post isn’t up yet, check back a little later. I believe Melissa is working on it as I type this.

Observer Update-Redux

Earlier today, I posted part of an email from county commish Bill James. He told us that The Observer is operating without a reporter covering county gov’t. Since then, I’ve heard from O honcho Rick Thames, who assures me that is not true: “We’ve already named Emily Achenbaum to the county beat, and Steve Harrison to the Transportation beat. Both of these reporters will be superb in these roles.”

But that’s not the interesting part. Here’s the interesting part: I Googled Emily’s name to learn more about her, and I found this fascinating article by Carl Sessions Stepp from the April/May 2007 issue of American Journalism Review. In it, Stepp, who began his journo career at The O 30 years ago, interviews a bunch of twenty-something Observer reporters, and they have some very interesting things to say. Among them:

“I came here to work for a company that doesn’t exist anymore,” transportation reporter Richard Rubin, 28, who joined the paper in 2001, told me in January. “I’ve got 39 years until Social Security checks start coming in. Is Social Security going to be there in 39 years? Will the newspaper industry be there in 39 years? I’ve started to think about it that way, and it is daunting.”
—and—
“Out of all my friends, single or married, about my age, one of them gets the paper, and he only gets it on weekends,” says reporter Deborah Hirsch, 24, who covers adjacent York County, South Carolina. “Everybody thinks it’s cool to know a reporter, but when it comes to do they really care or are they reading on a daily basis, the answer is no.”

While several still swear by ink-on-paper, most of those I interviewed prefer to read the paper online. Several admitted neglecting or not even subscribing to the paper version. “I subscribe,” says clerk-reporter Emily Benton, 24, “but I’ll be honest. They pile up outside my door on weekdays.”
—and—
Emily Achenbaum, based in nearby Union County, thinks newspapers will eventually become the kind of specialty mementoes “you get through a Vermont country store that tracks down old items.” Belated attempts to lure the young through blogs and entertainment features are “doomed,” she says. “They always feel like the not-cool kids trying to force the cool kids to be their friends.”
—and—
Outside the meeting room, the Observer devotes about 14 journalists full time to the Web, with regular contributions from the paper’s news staff of about 250. Managing Editor Cheryl Carpenter, 49, knows her young staff members would like to see even more energy flowing into the Web. But she is quick to show me a chart showing where the paper’s advertising revenue comes from–far more from print than online.

And there’s a bunch more stuff like that. It’s really a fascinating, rare inside look at The Observer newsroom. My two cents on the article: Neither the young bucks nor the old steeds seem to get it. The young ones want hip, edgy content on Page 1A. The established crowd wants to get on the internets and the blogs, but is afraid of jeopardizing the print product. But I don’t think it’s about being hip and edgy, and the print product has already been jeopardized (The O continues to eke out circ gains, but it would be difficult not to gain as fast as this market is growing). Just produce great journalism, of all types, in whatever medium people want it, then get out of the way.

Observer Update

In the May issue, I wrote a story about The Charlotte Observer (which was picked up by Romenesko), one year after its purchase by The McClatchy Co. After talking with several people, including Walker Lundy, who edited three Knight Ridder papers, and a key industry analyst, I concluded that The O used to be a very good paper, is now a good paper, and in the future will struggle to even be that. Since McClatchy bought Knight Ridder, the newspaper industry has gone into tailspin, and there are now signs that The O, one of McClatchy’s most profitable papers, is starting to be affected. Today, County Commissioner Bill James sent me this email:

“Read your article about ‘paper chase’ and the Charlotte Observer. I don’t know if they are in trouble or not but I can attest that they have no regular county reporter anymore. In the ‘old days’ a reporter would call the leading Democrat or Republican to find out what was coming up or was on the agenda. About a month ago Carrie Levine and her husband/reporter Richard Rubin (AKA “Mr. Traffic”) left for greener pastures in Washington, DC. No one has been slated to replace them. This says something. I don’t know if the other political reporter positions are being consolidated or eliminated. Regards, Bill James (R, District 6), Mecklenburg County Board of Commissioners, Matthews, NC

 

PS – Tell your readers thanks for the award. One man’s ‘blowhard’ is another’s “political breath of fresh air”.”

(The postscript refers to May’s BOB Awards, in which our readers voted him for the Blowhard category)

This is indeed significant. Before Carrie covered local government, her husband Richard did. If true, it’s pretty amazing that a major local daily is operating without a reporter dedicated to covering county government. —Rick Thurmond

Dilsey Coal closing its doors; opening retail web site

Head over to Dilsey Coal (one of Charlotte mag’s Best of the Best winners this year: “Best Place to Buy Jewelry That the Hollywood Set Sports”) through today, May 24th, and receive 20 to 40 percent off all items. The reason for the sale? Owner Elizabeth Johnson has decided to open a retail web site instead featuring all of the same great designer pieces of jewelry she had in-store–Jennifer Meyer, Balboa, Rebecca Lau, and more. Check out the web site

Illegal Immigration

Our April issue included a feature on the crisis illegal immigration is causing locally.  Officials say there are about 58,000 illegal immigrants in Charlotte, and we wanted to know what they’re doing about it, but we wanted to look at the problem, too, from the other side.  We wanted to get an idea of what it’s like to be an illegal immigrant in Charlotte, and a young woman we called Ana told us.  She lives her life here in fear, but she also says she can’t move, because she has to support her young son and sick mother—and she says that if you were her, born in a country with little work opportunity and responsible for your family’s survival, you’d be doing the same thing. 

            Well, a measure of hope just arrived for Ana, not to mention the millions of other illegal immigrants in this country, when the Bush administration revealed a surprising agreement proposing amnesty to all of them.  U.S. Rep. Sue Myrick has called the sweeping amnesty a “slap in the face” to those legally awaiting citizenship, but what the proposed bill is really centered on is big business.  Employers have become a major force in the country’s debate on the topic, due to widespread labor shortages they say could cripple companies if they were to lose their immigrant workers, and the fact that tougher border laws could dissuade new immigrants from coming to the country in search of jobs.  The proposed bill would address both concerns by saving the jobs of illegal immigrants currently working here, and also by revamping the way the government evaluates perspective immigrants: job skills and education, under this agreement, would be valued above other considerations, such as family ties.

            The Senate began debating the controversial proposal this week, and we’d love to hear what you think about it.  After all, North Carolina has one of the fastest growing illegal immigrant populations in the country, and the majority of them live and work right here in
Charlotte. 

Avett Brothers Getting Bigger

We here at Charlotte mag put Concord band The Avett Brothers on the cover of our October 2005 Music Issue and proclaimed them “The Music Scene’s Best Hope.” A year earlier, Charlotte mag was one of the first local media outlets to extensively cover the band, with this story by Lori K. Tate. Since, the band, composed of brothers Scott and Seth Avett and Bob Crawford, has released two critically acclaimed CDs, including this month’s Emotionalism, played the biggest music festivals in the country, and, last week, played the Conan O’Brien Show. I just spoke with Crawford as he was driving the band to a gig in Alexandria, Va. He called the Conan show the highlight thus far in the band’s brief career, but insisted that it’s just another step in the band’s evolution.

For the uninitiated, The Avetts are known for their raucous, celebratory live shows and unclassifiable bluegrass/punk sound. To celebrate the release of Emotionalism, the band played a free show at Manifest Records on South Boulevard, and over 700 fans showed up. The store sold 300 CDs before the band even played, breaking Manifest’s previous single-day sales record (which was 120, of a Jay-Z CD). The band is playing in-stores now to promote the new CD. Bob didn’t know when they might play Charlotte again. Last year, the Avetts headlined an afternoon festival in August or September (can’t remember exactly) at Verizon Wireless Ampitheatre, but Bob said they were having a hard time getting that scheduled this year and might have to move it. If nothing else, they’ll (hopefully) be back around for the traditional New Year’s Eve show.

In the meantime, here’s the first track off the new CD. You’re welcome. —Rick Thurmond

mp3 The Avett Brothers, “Die Die Die”

UPDATE: Did some more Googling. The Avett Brothers were Paste magazine’s Band of the Week last week. Also, here’s a good feature story on the Brothers from a paste issue of Paste. Paste, by the way, is a great music and culture magazine out of Atlanta, GA. Finally, the Avetts were also mentioned in Esquire magazine last month, among numerous other national media mentions, such as The New Yorker (scroll down).

Behind the Scenes with Brooklyn

Our current cover (to the right) featuring Matthews model Brooklyn Decker–best known for her work in the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue and in Jimmy Buffett’s latest video–has generated plenty of conversation around town. Fox News Edge debated whether or not the cover best represented Charlotte (news flash: not our job) on two shows last week. The feedback we’ve received has been overwhelmingly positive–people seem to think it’s just a really attractive cover. Frankly, I’m a little surprised by how positive the feedback has been. In the office, we felt strongly that it was a great cover, but you never know how people are going to react.

Anyway, the cover has generated so much attention that I thought I would share some behind-the-scenes action from our photo shoot. Brooklyn was gracious enough to give us five hours of her time when she was in town for some Wal-Mart signings. Some pics are pasted below. We have some video, too, if we can figure out how to get it online. (By the way, every blog post won’t contain bikini shots.) (Also, here’s an argument between Jarvis and me about who’s hotter: our September 2005 cover model and Miss USA Chelsea Cooley or Brooklyn.) —Rick