Economy & Downtown
Chapel Hill's downtown has long benefited from its proximity to a captive audience of University students without cars. While downtowns around the country have been failing, ours has survived fairly well. However, we have seen an increase in the number of chain stores locating downtown, and instability in the Downtown Economic Development Corporation. In the near future, we will see new Town-directed development on two major parking lots have a big impact.
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Carrboro's downtown has also done better than many towns of comparable size, thanks largely to the presence of Weaver Street Market and progressive shoppers from the rest of the county. The Board of Aldermen has been addressing the evolution of the downtown, and have established a number of community resources in the downtown area including free wireless Internet access, and a low-power radio station.
Weaver Street Market is moving from discounts at the register to a
patronage dividend system, and the Board of Directors wants your
feedback and the opportunity to answer your questions. If you are
unable to attend this meeting, another will be held Sunday, May 31st
at 7pm in the Carrboro Century Center. Or, you can email our Board
directly at
board@weaverstreetmarket.coop.
Date:
Wednesday, June 3, 2009 - 3:00pm to 5:00pm
Weaver Street Market is moving from discounts at the register to a patronage dividend system, and the Board of Directors wants your feedback and the opportunity to answer your questions. If you are unable to attend this meeting, another will be held Wednesday, June 3 at 7pm in the Big Barn in Hillsborough. Or, you can email our Board directly at board@weaverstreetmarket.coop.
Date:
Sunday, May 31, 2009 - 3:00pm to 5:00pm
Weaver Street Market will change the way it rewards consumer owners. Starting at the end of June, consumer owners will receive a Patronage Dividend at the end of the year rather than a 5% discount on some products at the cash register. The co-op will also eliminate its 10% discount for senior citizens on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. Like many businesses, Weaver Street Market is going through a difficult financial time; the change is expected to save the co-op $60,000 per month. “Changing from discounts to dividends, along with other changes that our staff is making, will put us back in the black,” said Dave Rizzo, Chair of the Board of Directors. The co-op is currently losing $65,000 a month primarily because sales are down 12% compared to last year in its Carrboro and Southern Village locations. The lower sales are due to the economy and increased competition.
If you are interested in the Downtown "Riddle," you must read the May/June edition of the Chapel Hill Magazine. On page 56, there is an interview with Fayetteville's own Joe Riddle, the well-known owner of some of our empty Franklin St. property.
In the "Letter from the publisher," Dan Shannon says the interview is "a lively mixture of raw honesty, combativeness, disingenuousness and skepticism." The wary Riddle doesn't treat reporter Lisa Rossi with much respect and obviously doesn't believe that any interview will do him justice.
I know that this is a "political" board but it seems like we have a lot of very "tech-savvy" people that post here. Is anyone else concerned that a contractor's mistake today, resulting in a cut in a fiber-optics network in Chapel Hill, resulted in a loss of communication amongst courthouses and county offices in all 100 NC counties?
Cut fiber line knocks out state courts' communications
http://www.wral.com/news/local/story/4949649/
I find this kind of disconcerting myself. It seems like the design of these systems has made us far, far too vulnerable. I think this is a political issue because it raises concerns for public health and welfare , at least IMHO.
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