Dog Park

Has anyone been to the Ramsey Creek Dog Park recently? We haven't been to the park since the spring time. Have Charlotte Mecklenburg's new Dog Park guidelines taken effect? Are the parks free or do we still require a token for access.

I don't agree with CharMeck's decision to let the dog parks be open access because the registration requirement kept the park clean and safe with all dogs vaccinated and such.

If you want to know more about the Ramsey Creek Dog Park then read my earlier post: click here.

Otherwise, let me know how the dog park is faring.

Birkdale Village New Urbanism Case Study

What a neat looking map of the Birkdale Communities? I found this map on a website that posted a UNC Watershed Assessment of the Birkdale Village Community. Some interesting facts are that Birkdale has 6.2 Units per acre (really 7.2 units per acre if one discounts the fact that 7.4 acres are dedicated as McDowell Creek watershed. Overall, the study was favorable of Birkdale's high density walking community. It's one critique of the site plan is that Birkdale Village's 8 acres of parking lots creates significant run off that can be easily contaminated with oil and other pollutants. What was interesting is the note that someday (not before 2010) the parking lots may be built on for additional store fronts and apartments. That would be interesting especially if more parking was added in semi-hidden parking structures.
I wonder if or when that would happen. Would the town let it?

Anyways, enjoy the map and the knowledge that the case study's author thinks that Birkdale Village is a great success.

Pier One Kids Bankrupt Too

After researching what's happening to Bombay I wondered about some other recent closures in Birkdale. It seems that Pier One Kids met the same fate as Bombay. It seems that Pier One has been losing money for more than a year. $56 Million in this latest quarter. Here's the press release announcing the closure of the Pier One Kids stores:

FORT WORTH, Texas — Pier 1 will close all 33 of its Pier 1 Kids stores by Oct. 31
and its 24 clearance stores by July 31 to focus on its full-line units, the retailer’s president and CEO said today. In total, the company will close 100 stores this year, Alex Smith said in a conference call with securities analysts.
“We need to focus 100% of our attention on our core business, the Pier 1 Imports stores,” said Smith. He made the comments while discussing Pier 1’s earnings for the first fiscal quarter ended June 2, which included a net loss of $56.4 million, compared with a loss of $23.2 million a year earlier, and sales of $356.4 million, down 5%.
In addition to closing stores, he said the company will exit its e-commerce and catalog sales activities by Oct. 31, although it will keep its pier1.com Web site for marketing purposes. The moves will leave the company with 1,020 stores in the United States and 80 in Canada.

I am amazed the Pier One didn't try to sell its kids stores to another brand. Maybe they wanted control over their own destiny? Or maybe no one would buy them because they were not making money? At least Pier One still has its main store in Birkdale. I like the store although I must admit that we haven't bought much in this one either.

So now the question is what would make a good fit for this former Pier One Kids space? It seems too big for a boutique. I think it would make a good fit for a Kid's Time - a short term daycare place for parents that need to run an errand, grab dinner, or whatever. Rumor has it that the one over by Target (on the other side of 77) is always full and pretty much requires reservations. I also heard another rumor that Dicks might be leaving Birkdale as well. Wow, that is a big space.

Anyways, I am sure that there are plenty of retailers angling to get into Birkdale. When I spoke to th enew property management company, the said that they bought Birkdale in May ( I heard that they paid $99 Million) and that they would start this fall really analyzing the spaces and trying to fill new tenants in the now five open stores. I imagine that the other tenants are not too happy because all of those empty stores could be filled and attracting more shoppers rather than sitting empty and weighing the place down. Well, let's see what happens.

What do you think should go into the former Pier One Kid's space?

Bombay Going out of Business

I was surprised to see Bombay holding a going out of business sale in the village this week. Actually, I wasn't too surprised. I didn't really know anyone who shopped there. The store seemed to have cool items but I don't know if cool was enough to fill people's homes. Anyways, I stopped in and asked an employee what was going on. The employee said that the entire company went under so this is not a uniquely Birkdale event. I went to the website which has been discontinued and then I went to a business news site where the last update was that the Bombay Company had secured $10 Million in financing at the end of September. Apparently, that was not enough and so this month they are going out of business. It must stink to be the Bombay company founder. Seeing the company that he/she created and expanded fall apart. On the other hand, now that it is a publicly traded company, he/she probably cashed out a significant chunk of wealth at the time of the IPO. Anyways, bankruptcy is a neccessary evil for our market economy.
I think that this might be a good thing in the long run because that is a prime location that could draw additional shopping traffic to Birkdale. Was Bombay a destination store? I was thinking that it would be a great location for a Panera Bread. It has a great outdoor setting between Banana Republic and what is now Bombay. Unfortunately, I don't have the $7.5 million net worth required to startup a Panera Franchise. Seriously though, we're considering a New Style Bakery/Deli somewhere in the village. I wonder if it would work in that location. Anyone for good bagels? Italian Bread?

Any other ideas for what would be a good fit in the Bombay location?

Bank of America 500

We also went to the Bank of America 500 this past weekend at the Lowe's Motor Speedway. We had great seats on row 7 between turns 1 and 4. I'm not a NASCAR fan but it was a lot of fun to be so close to the race track. At one point we got splattered with oil form a wreck right in front of us. I know that someone reading this is thinking, how scary. But it is exhilarating to have the cars going past at 180 MPH so close together. The fans are protected by a mesh fence that is about 20 feet high and hangs over the track. We paid $85 (really $95 after the fees) but the seats were well worth it.

We left for the race at about 4 PM and after about an hour of traffic to actually get a parking space, we walked about a mile to the stadium. It was a beautiful day and the traffic was not as bad as I expected. Lowe's Motor Speedway sits 220,000 people. That is not a typo! 220,000 people is a lot of people. Its crazy how people park everywhere and anywhere to include the medians and shoulders of the primary roads.

Once we got there, we checked out the experience booths outside the stadium. I got shaved with a Gillette razor, we checked out the Dell plasma, got free toilet paper (no idea why), looked at the Jack Daniels tent, and so on. If you go to the All Star Race (May), the Coca Cola Race (May), or the Bank of America Race (October), go early in the day to experience the whole carnival like atmosphere. Its amazing how many locals come out for this event too!

Carolina Renaissance Festival

We went to the Carolina Renaissance Festival this weekend. What a cool place. I was pleasantly surprised by how much stuff they have going on. It really is geared toward kids and I am looking forward to our son being old enough in a few years to really enjoy the place. It is amazing that the organizers are able to get that many characters and actors in once place to make the whole event neat.

We tried the crepes, the king size turkey legs, and the bakery near the entrance. The town drunk was funny and the tree (like a character from lord of the rings) was great. We all though the tomato insulter was the best. Basically, you pay a few dollars to throw tomatoes at a guy hanging out of a wall while he hurls insults at you. Its harder than it looks and the guy in the wall was hilarious. He tortured this poor soccer mom.

Anyways, if you get the chance, definitely go to the Renaissance festival. The Carolina Renaissance Festival is a medieval amusement park, a 10-stage theater, a 20-acre circus, an arts and crafts fair, a jousting tournament and a feast -- all rolled into one non-stop, day-long family adventure! It is on Poplar Tent Road between Huntersville and Concord, just North of Charlotte. It is open from 10 AM to 5:30 PM and it runs on weekends through the middle of November.