It’s time for BizWorthy, our weekly look at Charlotte business news. We’re going to start by talking about the passing of a giant in the local jewelry business and the stepping down of the president of one of Charlotte’s most prominent property management groups. We turn now to Tony Mecia of the Charlotte Ledger Business Newsletter.
Marshall Terry: Tony, let's start with that jewelry giant I mentioned. Who was Ernest Perry and what made him such a prominent name in Charlotte retail?
Tony Mecia: Yeah, Marshall, a lot of people might know the name Perry, so when it relates to jewelry, people probably heard the ads on the radio or in other places for the company that he started in the 1970s — Perry's Jewelry Emporium. In 1977, he started it on Independence Boulevard, which later became Perry's of SouthPark when it moved to SouthPark Mall in 1981 and is now Perry's Diamonds & Estate Jewelry. Anyway, a well-known figure in the jewelry business, really also known for his philanthropy. He served as an auctioneer for a lot of local charities: Make-A-Wish Foundation, the Allegro Foundation, Second Harvest Food Bank. He passed away over the weekend at the age of 78.
Terry: Well, from one family business to another. Now, Tommy Lawing Jr. Has announced he's stepping down as president of T.R. Lawing Realty this month. Now, T.R. Lawing is one of those names you see a lot around Charlotte. They manage a lot of rental properties all over the region. Why is he stepping down and what does that mean for the company?
Mecia: Well, it's interesting. I talked to Tommy Lawing, he's 74 so he feels as though he's reaching retirement age and he's had, I think, a pretty good run — 52 years at the same company. He told me that the only job interview he ever had was at his mother and father's kitchen table in 1971. This is a business that his father started in 1957. And yes, I mean, a lot of people do know that name. You see the signs out front of rental houses. They specialize mostly in single-family houses and have a few smaller apartment complexes.
He told me, Marshall, that he's seen a lot of changes in the industry, most of them having to do with technology. He recalled, for example, that he used to drive around and have a pager, keep rolls of quarters in his pocket so that he could go to payphones and call in. He said they used to have a single-spiral notebook in the office, where if someone would call in and say their water heater was broken, they would log that in in a notebook. [I] would also point out, [Lawing is] stepping down but he will be replaced by his nephew, so they are keeping it in the family.
Terry: All right. Well, on now to Charlotte's most prominent business sector: banking. You recently spoke with Sekou Kaalund, who oversees branches of U.S. Bank in 26 states. One of the things you talked about was the bank failures that happened earlier this year. What did he have to say about that and the banking industry's stability?
Mecia: I asked him about that. You know, that was a pretty high-profile thing a few months ago, when you had a couple of prominent bank failures. People saying, 'Well, what's going to happen?' 'Is this going to spread?' 'Is it going to go to other banks?'
He made the point that, you know, a lot of banks the size of U.S. Bank and larger, like the ones we're familiar with mostly in Charlotte, you know, that these are large enterprises that lend to a variety of businesses and have a bunch of different customers, you know, small and big businesses across many different sectors. They have consumers in various parts of the country. And so that diversification, he thought, really protects a lot of banks that don't have that particular specialization in one area, like, say, Silicon Valley Bank did in lending to the tech sector.
Terry: Now, did Kaalund say anything about how technology is changing the way people bank? I mean, for instance, do people even go to branches anymore?
Mecia: Well, a lot of people ask that question. They say, can't you deposit checks online? And yes, of course, you can. And they are trying to steer people toward that. But then in some circumstances in life, you want to go in and you want to talk to a banker about, for example, investment strategies or if you're refinancing your house.
Terry: Finally, you report a Bojangles on Randolph Road is, in your words, clucking back to life. It's been closed for two years now. So what's going on with that?
Mecia: Yeah, there's been a sign outside the Bojangles on Randolph Road in Cotswold that it's closed for renovation. You can see they're redoing that particular Bojangles. I spoke to the Bojangles spokeswoman and she told me that they're also redoing the original Bojangles in the Wilmore neighborhood.
There's also a lot more chicken action going on in Cotswold. The Chick-Fil-A next door to that Bojangles is expected to close down at some point for renovations. And then in nearby Grier Heights, there's a new Chick-Fil-A coming up that had been referred to at some city council meetings as a 'relief Chick-Fil-A,' that's under construction now. So a lot of chicken changes in the works, Marshall.
Support for WFAE's BizWorthy comes from Sharon View Federal Credit Union and our listeners.
