Consumer spending in Mecklenburg County appears to be flatlining. The county told The Charlotte Ledger it expects to collect $414.3 million in sales taxes for the fiscal year that ended in June. That’s a little less than the previous year, although Charlotte continues to grow rapidly with people, jobs, and development. What’s going on? For more on this and other business news, The Ledger’s Ashley Fahey joined WFAE’s Marshall Terry for our segment BizWorthy.
Marshall Terry: So what is happening? Why is consumer spending not growing along with everything else in Charlotte?
Ashley Fahey: There’s probably a few factors here, and sales tax is one of those measurements that’s really hard to predict, even for economists. Folks who Tony Mecia at The Ledger spoke with suggest that it could be a few things: Fewer big-ticket items being purchased, like cars and homes. We know interest rates and mortgage rates are really high right now, so we have seen a dropoff in those purchases. We're not seeing as much retail development as we used to, and of course that's what spurs maybe additional spending on soft goods and things of that nature.
It could also just be folks tightening their belts a little bit overall. It's also important to note that Mecklenburg County, while growing, isn't growing as fast as smaller areas, including some of the places that ring Mecklenburg County. So, naturally, we're just not going to see the same rate or pace of growth as areas that are experiencing faster growth and that are smaller. So there's basically less room for us to grow, if that makes sense.
Terry: Well, I was going to ask you, is this something unique to Charlotte, or is it happening elsewhere?
Fahey: It's kind of a weird economy, as I always say, in that some numbers suggest things are going really well. But then when you really dig down into it, you know, there's a lot of consumer worry about cost of living. The cost of everything is rising. So you are seeing some consumers just kind of pulling back on things, and I think that's reflected in this data, but it’s certainly not unique to Charlotte specifically, I would say.
Terry: OK, over to everyone's favorite subject in Charlotte: parking. The Charlotte company Preferred Parking, which operates lots and garages in Uptown and South End, says it suffered a data breach involving customers' credit card information. When did this happen, and how extensive was it? What does Preferred Parking say?
Fahey: We found this out from documents filed with the states of Vermont, South Carolina and Massachusetts that it had, in fact, suffered a breach earlier this summer. It said that an unauthorized actor accessed its database on June 7 and 8 and took files containing customers' names and credit card information.
Although the documents were only filed with those three states that I mentioned, it certainly, I'm sure, exceeds beyond that.
Between those filings that we were able to look at, the breach affected about 5,200 South Carolinians, 142 people in Massachusetts, and 11 people in Vermont. Of course, the number of people affected in Charlotte and North Carolina almost certainly has to be much higher, as the company has a much bigger presence here in North Carolina. The company hasn't really said anything in response to us reaching out. So, on that point, we'll have to wait and see if they disclose any more information. As far as whether there could be a class-action lawsuit, it's certainly not uncommon in similar cases involving other data breaches. That would be likely in a situation like this.
Terry: Finally, the Bechtler Museum of Modern Art recently purchased a piece for its permanent collection. It’s just the second time it’s done that in its 16-year history. What did it buy, and why hasn’t the museum bought more over the years?
Fahey: The painting is called Drum Call. It was part of a collection that had been on display at the Bechtler until last weekend. It's part of their policy not to say how much they spent on it. Essentially, the museum this year just launched a new donor fund for folks who donate $10,000-plus to the museum. At least a quarter of that goes into a restricted fund to purchase new paintings. (Drum Call) was created in 2025 by artist David McGee, and it depicts a Black Civil War soldier standing beside a tall drum. It was created to mark the 160th anniversary of Juneteenth.
Support for BizWorthy comes from the law office of Robertson & Associates.
