Southend Living

[NCMike1990]

I’m surprised that McDonald’s on South Blvd hasn’t been redone yet. I used to eat at that one when we worked in Charlotte back in 08/09 and it’s still the old style McDonald’s. You’d think a prominent location like that would have been remodeled by now.

[wilmore]

1 hour ago, Temeteron said:

It’s about time.  They haven’t renovated since the Reagan administration lol

Big Mike gettin' it done. 

[videtur quam contuor]

3 hours ago, NCMike1990 said:

I’m surprised that McDonald’s on South Blvd hasn’t been redone yet. I used to eat at that one when we worked in Charlotte back in 08/09 and it’s still the old style McDonald’s. You’d think a prominent location like that would have been remodeled by now.

That McDonalds was a Krystal Burger location prior to McD. The McDonalds location in the neighborhood was on South Boulevard close to the Off Broadway shoe store. It and the First Union at Kingston were the only drive through businesses on a long stretch of South at that time. There were complaints from the DCDA when the Eckerd at South and East was planned as a drive through Rx and the exit for the pharmacy was made to East and not South. Quaint issues looking back from this viewpoint.

[kermit]

Thought this was kinda strange at the corner of Graham and Penman.

(couldn't find the Gold District thread)

Also went by Ilios today. I don’t think anyone has even been inside in 6 months. Nothing is happening.

Edited September 18, 2019 by kermit

[davidclt]

16 hours ago, tarhoosier said:

... Eckerd at South and East was planned as a drive through Rx and the exit for the pharmacy was made to East and not South. Quaint issues looking back from this viewpoint.

I wish Rite Aid would come in and redevelop that entire corner, including the Rosemont location. I can dream, right? The Eckerd store was bad when it was built and time has not been kind to it. I will hold my tongue on the evolution from Vinnie's to Rosemont (and by extension the Bottle Cap Group).

[CTiger]

16 hours ago, kermit said:

Thought this was kinda strange at the corner of Graham and Penman.

(couldn't find the Gold District thread)

Is that this building?  If so, that is a weird fit for this location . . . 

On a sidenote, I always loved this area pinned between Mint and the railyard.  There is a good stock of beautiful old brick buildings that seem to get ignored when we gripe about our lack of such buildings.

[kermit]

1 minute ago, CTiger said:

Is that this building?  If so, that is a weird fit for this location . . . 

On a sidenote, I always loved this area pinned between Mint and the railyard.  There is a good stock of beautiful old brick buildings that seem to get ignored when we gripe about our lack of such buildings.

yup, that was the building.

 

[Matthew.Brendan]

6 minutes ago, CTiger said:

On a sidenote, I always loved this area pinned between Mint and the railyard.  There is a good stock of beautiful old brick buildings that seem to get ignored when we gripe about our lack of such buildings.

Yes! Well worth a walk around, there are some real gems down there.

[videtur quam contuor]

The Charlotte Industrial and Textile Supply Company was at Penman and Mint for a very long time. Many of the buildings around there served the textile field.

As a side note the Wearn Lumber business was at Graham and Winona in my memory, thus the large exhaust ducts on the roof of the wood building to carry away dust. That was also the location in the early 20th century of Wearn Field, the Charlotte baseball park.

https://lostcharlotteblog.com/2015/03/14/wearn-field/

Babe Ruth and the New York Yankees played the Brooklyn Dodgers there:

https://blogs.lib.unc.edu/ncm/index.php/2010/04/08/babe-ruth-pays-memorable-visit-to-charlotte/

Charlotte Saw and Knife is around the corner on Palmer. I took a saw or two there to be sharpened some decades ago. The kind gentleman said it would be a few weeks as the sharpening person had cut off a finger.

This is the honest to Mabel truth as I tell you. I come to you from the past. No blue font. 

[go_vertical]

On 9/19/2019 at 8:30 AM, davidclt said:

The Eckerd store was bad when it was built and time has not been kind to it.

Before the Eckerd was built that block housed some of the type of retail we long for today. Knee Deep was a really cool record store with a focus on EDM and DJ stuff (I stopped in regularly way back in the day when I thought would be the next breakout star DJ, haha). Next door was Vibe Tribe, a bohemian/techno/futuristic clothing store. Really funky stuff. 

I believe there was a third local business but I can't remember what it was. Needless to say when all that cool stuff was leveled for a damn chain drug store I was pissed. 

[videtur quam contuor]

That Wallgreens/Eckerd location at South and East was a Kentucky Fried Chicken for many years and next to it was a beer store for a few years, became an Asian fish seller for a few years before SouthSide Vinnies. Hollywood Rentals had the two story building between the creepy convenience store at Kingston and Vinnies.

33 minutes ago, go_vertical said:

Before the Eckerd was built that block housed some of the type of retail we long for today. Knee Deep was a really cool record store with a focus on EDM and DJ stuff (I stopped in regularly way back in the day when I thought would be the next breakout star DJ, haha). Next door was Vibe Tribe, a bohemian/techno/futuristic clothing store. Really funky stuff. 

I believe there was a third local business but I can't remember what it was. Needless to say when all that cool stuff was leveled for a damn chain drug store I was pissed. 

Are you referring to the beer store/asian fish market location between KFC and Vinnie's. If so that slots into a place in my memory that is inaccessible at the moment.

[atlrvr]

I remember knee deep and vibe tribe on what is now Charlottetown (was E Independence) just east of Elizabeth next to Two Doors Down.  Basically the site o for the CPCC building currently under construction.

 

[go_vertical]

I had forgotten they relocated to Charlottetown but now I'm filling in the blanks. They were on the Eckerd block up until the mid 90's, probably around '96 - ' 97 when they moved to CPCC. I vaguely remember the KFC now. Maybe that was there from then until the Eckerd was built? 

Regardless, this lot deserves much better than what is there now. Even though there really isn't a gap between South End and Dilworth I've always felt a perceived gap. I think redevelopment of this lot, the parking adjacent to the East/West stop, the Fuel pizza lot, and the closed Mattress/mechanics shop lot would do a lot to address that. 

[go_vertical]

Action in South End today. Tryon is currently closed between Summit and Winona. Medic, CMPD, and first responder truck on site with someone laying motionless in the street in front of Apostrophe Lounge. Hope it isn't what I'm thinking. 

[kermit]

Max and Lola's was shut down all last week (I last went past on Friday).

The sign on the door said mechanical problems and they will opened back up shortly. But more than a week seems awfully ominous.

Edited September 23, 2019 by kermit

[wilmore]

17 hours ago, kermit said:

Max and Lola's was shut down all last week (I last went past on Friday).

The sign on the door said mechanical problems and they will opened back up shortly. But more than a week seems awfully ominous.

Noticed this was still closed today (the IG post announcing mechanical problems was Sept 7, so it's been 16 days); would be stunned if they re-opened at this point. 

They took what may have originally been a good idea and went in all sorts of questionable directions with it...

[CLTProductions]

11 minutes ago, wilmore said:

went in all sorts of questionable directions with it...

what do you mean?

[Madison Parkitect]

On 9/19/2019 at 8:30 AM, davidclt said:

I will hold my tongue on the evolution from Vinnie's to Rosemont (and by extension the Bottle Cap Group).

When I moved away it was Nan & Byron's, which I actually liked quite a bit. What happened to it in the last few years?

[wilmore]

42 minutes ago, Jayvee said:

what do you mean?

never had food even though it was supposedly a bodega

drinks were extremely expensive (especially packaged stuff, pricing wasn't even close to Common Market etc.) 

went all-in on CBD, priced it highly (long-term users would just order online since this is legal...) 

banned children due to CBD even though they're in a neighborhood with quite a few of them, and the "outside yard hangout" type vibe was perfect for kids + pets

there was a long nextdoor thread where they surveyed the neighborhood re: what they'd want, then they just ended up...trying to sell CBD joints and food truck burgers with CBD. 
 

[SouthEndCLT811]

42 minutes ago, Madison Parkitect said:

When I moved away it was Nan & Byron's, which I actually liked quite a bit. What happened to it in the last few years?

I was a big fan especially living down at what's now Post Southend.  But I remember the burger starting off at like $10 when they first opened and within a couple month's the same menu item was like $17-18.   And that trend was across their whole menu, I liked the meatloaf with sriracha ketchup too but by the end I think that was like a $22-24 menu item.  Seemed like it went from a neighborhood hangout to trying to price itself comparable to 5church which was the group that was running Nan & Byron's.  Not sure if rent/costs drove it or if they just thought they were the "it" location and jacked up prices

[lewy2000]

18 hours ago, kermit said:

Max and Lola's was shut down all last week (I last went past on Friday).

The sign on the door said mechanical problems and they will opened back up shortly. But more than a week seems awfully ominous.

They quietly listed themselves for sale a few months back. $600k and it can be yours.

Part of their problem is that they can't get loans/financing due to the CBD issue. Hard to run a business without access to capital and whatnot.

Edited September 23, 2019 by lewy2000

[Bruco72]

1 hour ago, wilmore said:

never had food even though it was supposedly a bodega

drinks were extremely expensive (especially packaged stuff, pricing wasn't even close to Common Market etc.) 

went all-in on CBD, priced it highly (long-term users would just order online since this is legal...) 

banned children due to CBD even though they're in a neighborhood with quite a few of them, and the "outside yard hangout" type vibe was perfect for kids + pets

there was a long nextdoor thread where they surveyed the neighborhood re: what they'd want, then they just ended up...trying to sell CBD joints and food truck burgers with CBD. 
 

Agree on all counts.  Really like the space they built out, but just an odd place in how it was stocked and how it was run.  Never got a very welcoming vibe from the staff either, though I suppose 40 year olds having a beer before eating at Bardo (great place BTW) wasn't their target demo.  

Hopefully someone will attempt something similar and make it work. 

[a2theb]

3 hours ago, wilmore said:

never had food even though it was supposedly a bodega

drinks were extremely expensive (especially packaged stuff, pricing wasn't even close to Common Market etc.) 

went all-in on CBD, priced it highly (long-term users would just order online since this is legal...) 

banned children due to CBD even though they're in a neighborhood with quite a few of them, and the "outside yard hangout" type vibe was perfect for kids + pets

there was a long nextdoor thread where they surveyed the neighborhood re: what they'd want, then they just ended up...trying to sell CBD joints and food truck burgers with CBD. 
 

I think they were a little early to  the party over in Wilmore/Gold District and when they didn't see the sales, they attempted to pivot to CBD which was the nail in the coffin. 

 

In the next year or two as both gold district and wilmore grow, I think that area will start seeing a lot more foot traffic but as it stands now, its going to be hard to drive people to a rhino/common market style shop in that location.

[wilmore]

3 hours ago, lewy2000 said:

They quietly listed themselves for sale a few months back. $600k and it can be yours.

Part of their problem is that they can't get loans/financing due to the CBD issue. Hard to run a business without access to capital and whatnot.

oh wow, interesting, didn't see that. i assume they don't own the building, so that seems like a wild overpay

[wilmore]

3 hours ago, lewy2000 said:

They quietly listed themselves for sale a few months back. $600k and it can be yours.

Part of their problem is that they can't get loans/financing due to the CBD issue. Hard to run a business without access to capital and whatnot.

if i've found the right listing (it seems to fit), they claim to be making $20K/month in profits. i don't understand how that could possibly be the case unless they massively frontloaded inventory. (always gotta be careful with these broker-offered businesses) the rent is only $4K/month though!