Toys "R" Us/Babies "R" Us opening April 27 in Gastonia

A combined Toys "R" Us/Babies "R" Us store is opening Friday, April 27, in Gastonia, at the site of a former Harley-Davidson dealership.

The new store at 2830 East Franklin Boulevard is in the store's side-by-side format, with both brands being sold together. The company says that it's designed to cater to parents, who can shop for both older kids and babies at the same location.

"Integrating the Toys“R”Us and Babies“R”Us brands in one location has been an ongoing initiative for the company for the past six years, and our customers nationwide have been responding favorably," CEO Jerry Storch said in an email. The company started converting stores to the side-by-side format in 2006, and has combined 180 of them to date.


The new store is designed with some green features, such as skylights to get natural light, a white, reflective roof to reduce cooling costs, LED signage and light fixtures, and low-flow toilets and urinals.


The site is the former Carolina Harley-Davidson location. Here's a 2010 Gaston Gazette story about what led to the store's closing.


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Bridal dress boutique opens uptown

Lineage Bridal, a consignment boutique for designer wedding dresses, has opened a store in uptown Charlotte after years of operating as an online business.

"We’re very excited that our new boutique is designed with the needs of today’s brides in mind,” said co-owner Natasha Duff-Cole, in a statement. She founded the business in 2009, connecting brides-to-be with brides-who-were who wanted to sell their designer gowns.

The business also partners with other stores to offers dresses that are samples or from last season. Duff-Cole and Jodene Pooler also have "Finder's Service," in which they meet with brides, discuss their time frame and budget, and locate a dress to suit them.

“Our online presence has connected us to clients living in cities ranging from Seattle, Los Angeles and Houston to West Palm Beach, Chicago, New York City and Canada,” said Duff-Cole. The business will continue to operate the same online, in addition to the Charlotte store.

So, brides-to-be, you can visit the store's website linked above, or call them at 704-376-3006. And have a great wedding.


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Einstein Bros. Bagels new Myers Park store opens

Charlotte's newest Einstein Bros. Bagels location is opening Tuesday, March 27, at 5:30 a.m. in Myers Park Shopping Center.

A new Ballantyne store was recently announced as well. Phil Rice, the 25-year-old franchiser who owns the stores, said he plans to open as many as eight more stores in the Charlotte market.

He's currently looking for locations in the SouthPark area, near Lake Norman, and possibly in Rock Hill. Rice worked for a restaurant company in Columbus, Ohio, before moving to Charlotte last year. He wanted to own his own business, and said he gravitated toward Einstein Bros. because they have more than 700 locations but are fairly new to franchising.

"It's a really cool brand," Rice said. He bought the rights to the Charlotte market last year. The transition from working for a restaurant company to ownership is nerve-wracking, Rice admits. "I've opened new restaurants before, but this has my name on it," he said. "This is my life, so I can't mess it up. That's why I work seven days a week."

World of Beer opens in South End

World of Beer, the Florida-based beer superstore, is opening a Charlotte location in South End today.

The store has been under development for several months in the Circle @ South End apartment building. Monday, March 26, is the official opening, with live music at 8 p.m.

World of Beer has over 500 beers on sale. The five-year-old company has about two dozen locations, and was founded in Tampa, Fla. The South End location will have live music every Thursday, Friday and Saturday, and will feature brewery nights focused on a specific brewer's beers. The first brewery night is April 10, featuring Sweetwater.

With small breweries proliferating in Charlotte and more retail beer businesses such as Salud (opened this month in NoDa), Charlotte's beer scene is getting hot.


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Flywheel Sports opens on Providence Road

A new, high-end indoor cycling studio, Flywheel Sports, is open at Providence and South Sharon Amity Roads.

With 45 bikes and classes with music curated by an in-house DJ, the classes are designed to burn up to 600 calories per hour in a group setting, Flywheel said.

The company also offers sessions of FlyBarre, a workout method combining circuit training, yoga, Pilates, dance and strength training.

Classes cost $25 each, and package deals are available. The classes come with complimentary cycling shoes and towels.

This is Flywheel's first North Carolina location. The New York-based company was founded in 2010, and has locations in Manhattan, the Hamptons, Chicago, Atlanta, Florida and New Jersey.


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New beer shop opening in NoDa

Salud Beer Shop is holding its grand opening today (Thursday, March 15) in NoDa, with free tacos and six craft beers on tap.

The store carries hundreds of different beers, which you can enjoy on-premise or take home. Salud can also handle keg orders with a few days notice.

"It's a place to hang out, talk beer and relax. So if great beer is your druthers, this bottleshop was built for you," Salud's website says.

You can read a bit more about the store and see some pictures on Charlotte Restaurant Traffic here. And you just might find me at Salud sometime in the very near future as well.


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Benjamin Bear, new boutique, open on South Blvd.

There's a new boutique open on South Boulevard, with the interesting name The Benjamin Bear.

The store is open Wednesday through Sunday, and stocks items at prices mostly between $30 and $200, the owners say.

“We are proud to offer something new and fresh to community with a distinctive new venue to explore with the latest in contemporary retail,” said owner Patrick Hill, in an email. The shop carries clothing for men and women.

Brands carried by The Benjamin Bear include Suzabelle, Supremebeing, Skargon and False. The shop plans to host monthly events including art shows and design premiers.


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Francesca's Collections open at Carolina Place mall

Women's boutique Francesca's Collections has opened its fourth store in the Charlotte area, at Carolina Place mall in Pineville.

The store is one of five new retailers that have either opened or will open soon at Carolina Place. Francesca's Collections carries clothes, accessories, gifts, jewelry and home goods. The new store is on the mall's lower level, near the center court.

Francesca's Collections also has stores at SouthPark mall, Blakeney Center, and Birkdale in Huntersville.

The Grooming Lounge also recently opened at Carolina Place. Teavana is opening later this month, and Nestle Toll House Cafe and Planet Smoothie are opening in the second quarter.

Drive-thru grocery opening March 15

Swiss Farms will open at 10:30 a.m. on Thursday, March 15, at 1431 Sardis Road. The location will be the Pennsylvania-based company's first store in Charlotte.

A grand opening is planned for Saturday, with games and prizes. You can read more about the store in this earlier blog post.

City Tavern to open at SouthPark this spring

City Tavern is getting ready to open at SouthPark mall, management said, and a new salad spot recently opened in the mall's food court.

The new City Tavern will be going into the former San Antonio's Modern Mexican building. The opening is planned for March, as my colleague Helen Schwab reported, though no exact date has been given.

There are currently two City Tavern locations, one in the Rivergate Shopping Center in southwest Charlotte and one on Rea Road in Ballantyne.

Crunch Salads is also now open in the mall's food court. The restaurant sells salads, flatbreads and soups.

Boutique started by 17-year-old to open in March

Amber Lawrence has a lot on her plate, with high school, homework, and a new 1,100-square-foot organic boutique in SouthEnd to manage.

The Myers Park High School senior's shop, the Duchess Boutique, has a grand opening set for Sunday, March 25. With her mother's help, Lawrence has rented the shop on Camden Road and stocked the business with with a range of organic cosmetics.

"Starting off, I wouldn't have all the time in the world to just sit and create, because I'm in high school," said Amber, who presented her mother with a business plan to convince her to be the initial investor. "I have to fill the store...I'm making sure the books are right, the products are right, everything we could possible need is right."


Amber, a Chicago native, said she gets her entrepreneurial drive from her mother. "She wanted to provide for me and my brother," said Amber. "I got it from those late nights and 18-hour workdays and seeing someone who has such ambition."

Tamara Lawrence, Amber's mom, said she started selling cosmetic products in high school herself, then started a real estate company after she finished school. Now, she runs a company that provides concierge and personal assistant services to businesses.

"I've always encouraged them to live beyond the expected," Lawrence said of her children. "If you clip their wings, they'll be at home forever."

She said she was impressed by how much research Amber did, such as calling the distributor for each product she plans to carry and making sure she was an expert for customers. "I just thought this would be an opportunity. It would be great for her to position herself as an entrepreneur," Lawrence said.

Amber said her days typically start at 5 a.m., when she wakes up to get ready for school. After school, she reviews her homework and walks to the boutique at about 3 p.m. She stays at the shop until about 6:30 p.m., which will be it's closing time. She's also set aside a small nook to do homework at the shop. When she's not there, a full-time worker will be running the boutique.

On the weekends, Amber said she'll be teaching classes such as how to make scented candles, in addition to working at the store.

"It's kind of hectic," she said of her schedule.

"She knows how to manager her schedule," said Tamara Lawrence. "That's something every business owner needs."

Now, Amber is focusing on getting the shop ready for its grand opening and preparing for any contingencies. "Once that grand opening comes and those clients are coming in the door, the unexpected will come," she said.


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Lenox Salons opening Mooresville location

Lenox Salons, a multi-merchant salon concept with two Charlotte locations, will open its third location this summer, in Mooresville.

The store is set for Mooresville Town Square, and will combine two existing suites into one.The location will have room for 20 individual salons, with services such as massage therapy, a nail salon, esthetician and laser hair removal.

The business opened its first location in Ballantyne, with 28 salons. The location is fully occupied, said spokesman Ryan Drye. Lenox opened a second location in December in SouthEnd, with seven individual salons.

The company designs each location in a high-end, European style, with classical music, benches and chandeliers. Stylists sign on to own their own salon in the larger Lenox location, and each salon can accommodate one to four stylists.

Frozen yogurt, cupcakes, subs headed to East Blvd.

In addition to a Jersey Mike's Subs shop, the former Blockbuster on East Blvd. will also house a Smallcakes Cupcakery and Freshberry Frozen Yogurt Cafe.

The stores plan to open in the first week of June. "“We are still in the development stages but, Jersey Mike’s will be half of the developed space and Smallcakes and FreshBerry will share the rest of the space,” said Rodger Blake, co-owner, in a statement.

Smallcakes is an upscale cupcake shop with 15 signature cupcakes, baked fresh daily, and was featured on the Food Network show "Cupcake Wars." The store in Charlotte will be the chain's 22nd location.

Freshberry will join the ever-growing ranks of Charlotte's frozen yogurt stores. Freshberry will compete against companies such as Yoforia, Tasty Yo, Pinkberry, TCBY, and the Frozen Isle. On East Blvd., Freshberry will be opening almost across the street from Menchie's, a frozen yogurt franchise that just opened last year.

The catalyst for all this is the closing of Blockbuster, which has been at that corner for a decade and a half. As the video/DVD rental business fell apart under an onslaught of Netflix, streaming video, Redbox and on-demand services, Blockbuster declared bankruptcy and was sold last year to Dish Network for $320 million.

Dish Network is closing a slew of under-performing stores, pushing a new video on-demand/mail order DVD service through Blockbuster, and planning to sell and service Dish Network products from the remaining Blockbuster locations.


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New boutique open in Harrisburg

Wish Gift Boutique opened in Harrisburg last week, selling gifts and home decor.

The store is locally owned. "We take pride in offering unique, homemade and hard-to-find items for any occasion," said owner Amy Hammock, in a statement.. “I like to say Wish (is an) acronym for women, infants, shabby-chic and husbands, since we hope to offer a little something for everyone."

Items for sale at Wish cover a wide swath of territory, including clothing, shoes, accessories, jewelry, purses, lip gloss, art, frames, lighting, cards and candles.

Wish also offers custom embroidery in the store to personalize gifts.



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Bricks 4 Kidz opening in south Charlotte

Bricks 4 Kidz, which offers programs to help introduce kids to engineering and science through LEGO blocks, is opening a Creativity Center in south Charlotte soon.

The owners say they can't disclose the exact location until the lease is signed early next week, but it will be in the Blakeney/Stonecrest area. The new center will offer classes such as engineering, pre-school, kids' birthday parties, stop-motion animation, and summer camps. It will open in mid- to late March.

Bricks 4 Kidz in Charlotte is owned by Tricia Rana and her husband Michael Finkelstein. They've been running the business since last year, and have after school programs at a dozen area schools.

"We teach kids basic math, engineering and architecture using LEGOs," Rana said. "It kind of takes LEGOs to a whole new level."

The center will use different blueprints for the kids' models every week. Many of the LEGO models are motorized. Recent sessions have focused on sports, famous buildings, laws of motion, and transportation.

They're building LEGO models in the "Sports Spectacular" series now. "The models are really awesome," said Rana. "The miniature golf model is really cool."

A class typically costs $15, Rana said, and summer camp sessions and birthday parties usually run around $200.

Here's a link to their Facebook page, where you can follow the latest information about the opening. And for adults who love the idea of playing with LEGOs, have hope: Rana said they're going to try to have grown-up nights at the Creativity Center so we can build some cool models too.

Jersey Mike's going into former Blockbuster

Local blog Charlotte Restaurant Traffic is reporting that a Jersey Mike's Subs will take over the former Blockbuster store on East Boulevard, which is closing this month.

Blockbuster's last day of business is scheduled for Sunday, Feb. 19. The store has been holding a going-out-of business sale for more than a month. The East Blvd. location is just one of the hundreds of Blockbuster stores to get the ax since the chain declared bankruptcy and was bought by Dish Network for $320 million.

The Jersey Mike's location will be the restaurant's 19th location in the Charlotte region. No date for the opening has been given. According to Restaurant Traffic, Jersey Mike's will be using half of the old Blockbuster's space. No word yet on what could fill the other half.



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Second Metro Fitness Club to open near uptown

Myers Park-based gym Metro Fitness Club is opening its second Charlotte location, near East 4th Street and Hawthorne Lane.

The gym has been open for  1 1/2 years in its current location on Selwyn Avenue. The second location, called Metro 2, will be 6,000 square feet, the owners said. It's slated to open in April.

“We’re thrilled to now offer this premiere standard of excellence in the Elizabeth neighborhood as well as Myers Park,” said Metro Fitness co-owner Denise Abood, in a statement.

The gym will focus on individualized instruction and small group training programs. Metro Fitness has programs such as crossfit, kettlebell, yoga and Olympic lift training, as well as on-site massage services.


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Cigar bar open near uptown

Charlotte Cigar Club, a free-standing bar, club and cigar shop, is open at Morehead and South Tryon streets near uptown.

The business opened a few weeks ago. In addition to a public smoking area and a private smoking lounge, the Charlotte Cigar Club offers wine and craft beer. The club offers drink and cigar pairings, such as a Montecristo White and Samuel Smith pure lager last Wednesday for $10.

You can follow Larry Good, the "Czar of Cigar," for updates on the club and planned events on Twitter here.


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Drive-thru grocery opening soon in Charlotte

Swiss Farms, a drive-thru grocery and convenience store, is building a store on Sardis Road in South Charlotte, and the owner plans up to a dozen more for the area.

The company is based in Pennsylvania, and this store will be the first Swiss Farms in Charlotte. In fact, except for one store in New Jersey, the Charlotte store is the first outside of Pennsylvania.


Located at 1431 Sardis Road North, near Sardis and Monroe Road, the store is being built by Choate Construction. It will be open in March. Swiss Farms will carry staples such as milk, juice, eggs, bread and butter, along with other grocery items, fresh coffee, beer, wine and prepared meals.

Owner Mike Lang said the store will stock about 800 items. That's far fewer than a store like Harris Teeter, which can carry around 40,000, but Lang said Swiss Farms concentrates on the most common items in the most common sizes. Fill-in trips for groceries or dinner on the drive home from work drive a large part of the business, Lang said.

Here's how it works. Customers pull up to one of the store's doors, where they're greeted by a clerk. "You pull up, say I need a gallon of milk, a dozen eggs, a pound of bacon, whatever you need," he said. The person collects your items, bags them, brings them out to you, takes your payment, and you're done.

Transaction times average about one minute, Lang said. Customers, on average, come to the store about 2 1/2 times a week, he said.

Lang has lived in Charlotte with his wife for about seven years, and his three children attend school here. After working for years in "the corporate life," Lang, who used to own a wireless technology company, said he wanted to find a business he could run here.

With the rights to open Swiss Farms franchises in the Charlotte market, Lang said he hopes to open more stores soon, at a pace of two a year. The next location he plans will be in Lake Norman, said Lang. You can follow the new store's progress on Facebook here.



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Photos courtesy Doug Smith

New boutique opening in Metropolitan

Lipp Boutique will open Sunday afternoon at the Metropolitan in midtown Charlotte, offering a selection of designer apparel and accessories for women.

The store is the creation of Shital Vaghasiya, who moved to Charlotte from Chicago about three years ago with her husband.

"The boutique will carry women’s clothing and accessories by a variety of designers. I wanted to bring fabulous, cutting-edge fashion to Charlotte," said Vaghasiya, in a statement. "I hand-picked what I think is a great mix of up-and-coming designers as well as more established designer lines."

Lipp will carry clothing, jewelry, makeup, purses and shoes. Labels will include Paige, Hudson, Cotton Citizen, BCBG Max  Azria, French Connection, Michael Kors, Young, Fabulous & Broke, among others. The hours will be 10 a.m. to 8 p.m., Monday through Saturday and 1 p.m. to 6 p.m. on Sunday. The store is opening at 1 p.m. on Sunday, Jan. 29.

The store isn't Vaghasiya's first foray into business. She previously owned a string of Jimmy Johns restaurants in Chicago, which she sold when she moved to Charlotte. Vaghasiya said she plans to open a second Charlotte location for Lipp in the future.

Lipp's Twitter account is here, and Facebook is here.


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