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1447 S Tryon St.
704-588-3647
Double Door Inn, a music venue
Nick Karres: Business right now is definitely off. I believe it's off because, of course everyone knows about the economic downturn here in the last four, five, six months. But I believe in combinations of reasons. I don't think there's ever just one reason why something happens. To answer your question, we're holding on and it's definitely off from the past years. Another reason I think, is to me, there's a huge excess of entertainment options here in Charlotte, which spreads the discretionary entertainment dollars very thin. Just for an example, Johnny Winter is a blues rocker who's been around since the '70s. A friend of mine promoted a concert of his in Wilmington N.C., and they snapped up 800 tickets. He just played in Charlotte at the Neighborhood Theatre, and he drew 300 people; they even did a 2 for 1 on tickets. That's just the difference, when you have excessive entertainment options. Granted, Wilmington has very few entertainment options. So, boom, there ya go. The economic downturn sure didn't hurt them because they sold all their tickets. It's definitely an excess of options here in Charlotte for our type of business.
1218 Charlottetowne Ave.
704-376-1446
Ed's Tavern, a neighborhood bar
Alan Cole: It's still steady, but not as good as last year. Definitely feeling the economic slowdown but the neighborhood is still taking care of us very well.
2200 Park Road
704-335-0033
William Wilson Clothing, a men's clothier
William Wilson: Business has been great for me. Given my infrastructure make-up and my outside-the-box marketing strategies, I have been able to introduce a unique combination of price, service and luxury to the marketplace.
704-363-0224
Alliance Jiu Jitsu of Charlotte, a school that offers Brazilian Jiu Jitsu instruction
Luis Togno: Business is going good. Even though the recent economic downturn has hit a lot of other businesses, we're doing pretty well. The Creative Loafing ad we have is helping me generate more business and more attention and more people from the community.
1607 G Montford Drive
704-477-8552
Blis, a gift boutique
Susan Young: It's coming back. It has been slow, but we're beginning to see more people in the store. It's another summer slowdown, and we're looking forward to going into the fall.
100 N Tryon St. # 290
704-376-3888
Boris & Natasha, a hip clothing store
Hope Nicholls: I think we're in the same boat everybody else is in. Everybody is feeling the pain. Every day, you never know -- it could be up or down. Very unpredictable. We're not going to go out of business unless something really drastic changes, of course. Some days are normal and some days are not. It's obviously not like the booming time it was a year ago or two years ago.
1214 Thomas Ave.
704-375-0079
Classic Attic, a consignment store
Ede Graves: Things have really picked up a lot; it's going OK.
4301 Park Road # C,
704-521-3750