Newsletter 1/8: Charlotte’s ‘doctor of bras’ is in
Plus: CATS ordered to pull about 1/2 of its light rail trains from service; CMS shakes up leadership structure; National 'Seinfeld' fans weigh in after NY Times spotlights Ledger article
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Editor’s note: Peaches retired from her job at Nordstrom in February 2024 and has since moved into a new job in the lingerie department at Dillard’s in SouthPark Mall.
Nordstrom’s Julia Rich, better known as 'Peaches,’ can guess a woman’s bra size in seconds; She can also sing ‘Better Be Good to Me’ as if she were Tina Turner
Peaches has been a certified fit specialist at Nordstrom in SouthPark for 17 years. She learned how to fit women in the perfect-sized bra without needing to measure.
by Lindsey Banks
The fitting room at the Nordstrom lingerie department in SouthPark Mall is tucked into a back corner on the second floor. On busy days, it looks more like a waiting room at a doctor’s office during flu season.
“It’s like, ‘OK, next! You can step into my office,’” jokes Julia Rich, who is better known as “Peaches,” a nickname given to her in her youth by her mother.
Peaches, a certified lingerie fit specialist with 17 years of experience, thinks of herself as a “doctor of bras” — but not just because of her long list of clients.
She’s developed a special skill that has earned her celebrity status among her colleagues and given her a cult following: She can guess a woman’s bra size just by looking at her, taking a weight (quite literally) off their shoulders and giving them an instant confidence boost.
“Instead of bringing 100 bras to see which one will fit, I’ve been doing it so long, I can just eyeball you,” Peaches said. “If I don’t get it on the first try, I’m pretty damn close.”
Peaches is so good at her job that she’s often tasked with training and passing her wisdom down to new fit specialists, like Emma Stabel, 22, who has been working with her for over a year.
“Every single day, people come asking for her,” Stabel said.
Stabel shopped at Nordstrom with her mother when she was younger, and she remembers seeing Peaches running around the store. When Stabel showed up for her first day on the job, she says Peaches looked at her and guessed her bra size without any hesitation.
“She’s definitely made a name for herself,” Stabel said. “It’s very inspiring, like one day, maybe I could be somebody like that.”
A performer who supports other performers: Peaches has a few celebrity clients on her list, including Grammy-award-winning singer Stephanie Mills, Peaches says, and Quiana Parler, the lead singer for Ranky Tanky, a two-time Grammy award-winning band based out of Charleston.
Whenever the singers pass through Charlotte, they always stop by to see her at Nordstrom. Peaches can get them in and out of the store with what they need in a matter of minutes.
“If I can bless somebody with the right size and make them feel good, it makes it worth coming to work,” Peaches said.
Although she’s found purpose in her work as a fit specialist, it wasn’t always her dream job.
Peaches, who has been playing the piano since she was 3 years old, started her professional musical career in 1980 as a backup singer for an Elvis Presley impersonator in Las Vegas.
A more lucrative job offer came along as a Tina Turner and Diana Ross impersonator, and she took it, traveling the world with her group, The Gentlemen and Their Ladies, for 12 years. Peaches performed songs like “I’m Coming Out” by Diana Ross and “Better Be Good to Me” by Tina Turner on stages like the Manza Beach Hotel in Okinawa, Japan.
When her father fell ill, she took a job at the new Nordstrom store in her hometown of Norfork, Va., playing piano. After he passed away, Peaches and her daughter, Ashley, moved to Atlanta for about a year to play piano at Atlanta’s Nordstrom before moving to Charlotte in 2006.
The only job opening at Nordstrom in SouthPark was a lingerie fit specialist. Peaches had never had an interest in fitting women for lingerie before, but she needed a job.
It didn’t take her long to realize how much a woman’s confidence could improve by having a comfortable, supportive bra.
“I love making my ladies feel special and more confident about themselves,” Peaches said. “If they have the wrong size, everything just runs together — boobs, stomach, everything. But when you have the right size, it separates everything and gives you a waistline.”
‘All-Star’ fitting powers: When she first started, Peaches went through training to become certified by Nordstrom as a fit specialist. Now, she’s a “pacesetter” for Nordstrom, which means her sales exceed the annual goal for her department, and she’s received All-Star status, which means customers have sent positive feedback to Nordstrom about her.
“I’m the only one who doesn’t need to measure,” Peaches said. “It doesn’t take all day with me. That’s why a lot of people like to come to me because they’re in and out.”
It’s more than just about cup size, Peaches says. Understanding how and where the straps and band sit is just as important to ensure a comfortable fit. (The strap is the lift and the band is the support, Peaches told The Ledger over coffee one morning. The band should never sit high on the back; it should always be straight across all around the torso.)
“I have clients come in and say they don’t want underwire, and I’ll put an underwire on them and they go, ‘This is real comfortable,’ and I’ll tell them it’s underwire and they’ll go, ‘Wow,’” Peaches said.
Peaches declined to give her age but describes herself as “wonderfully mature.” She has no plans to retire anytime soon and hopes one day to work with women who are in the public light.
“I see a lot of anchorwomen [on TV], and their bras are bubbling up at the top,” Peaches said. “I would like to have a job like that and fit professional women.”
Peaches also isn’t giving up performing anytime soon — although these days, she performs for the “enjoyment and the stress-free purposes,” she said. She sings and plays piano at the Wine Shop at RiverGate in Steele Creek every Thursday from 6 to 8:30 p.m.
Lindsey Banks is a staff reporter for The Ledger: lindsey@cltledger.com
🛍️ If you’re interested in experiencing Peaches’s special bra-fitting powers, you can make an appointment with her at Nordstrom.com. (Select “Julia” when prompted to choose a staff member.)
Today’s supporting sponsor is Landon A. Dunn, attorney-at-law in Matthews:
CATS ordered to remove about 1/2 of its light rail cars from service after irregularity discovered on train wheel, report says
The N.C. Department of Transportation this weekend ordered the Charlotte Area Transit System to take about half of its Blue Line trains out of service after machinists discovered a new problem on an older vehicle’s wheel.
In an article posted to WFAE’s website on Sunday night, reporter Steve Harrison wrote that CATS officials sent an email to members of the Metropolitan Transit Commission on Sunday disclosing the latest troubles with light rail trains.
The issue surfaced after train operators noticed abnormal sounds coming from one of the transit system’s older trains, most recently on Friday. Inspectors found “abnormal movement” on one wheel of the train, WFAE reported.
No schedule changes, for now: After CATS reported the problem to the state, the NCDOT on Sunday ordered CATS to remove all of its older trains, which account for roughly 1/2 of the fleet. CATS says it can continue operating its regular schedule for now but might have to adjust it in the future, WFAE said.
It’s the latest challenge for CATS, following the disclosure last year of a May 2022 derailment as well as struggles with bus reliability.
➡️ You can read WFAE’s full report on the wheel problem’s effect on CATS’ light rail here.
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How local stocks of note fared last week (through Friday’s close), and year to date:
CMS shakes up leadership and structure across the district, including scrapping the ‘learning communities’ model
Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools sent a statement to the media Friday night announcing “a transformative shift” in its leadership model, seemingly dismantling the district’s longstanding “learning communities” structure in favor of one where leaders will oversee schools based on grade level.
Currently, the school district is carved up into nine learning communities, each with its own learning community superintendent and other support structures like teacher training, transportation and maintenance. When they were created in 2007, learning communities were seen as an answer to critics who wanted to deconsolidate CMS and were touted as a way to improve customer service by bringing services closer to families.
The new model will be “an infrastructure centered around systems, processes and procedures,” the statement said, and will “move from managing nine learning communities to a model where leadership oversees schools based on education levels.”
It continued:
Under this new arrangement, leaders will be designated to manage elementary, middle, high s [sic] and Pre-K-8 schools, thereby maintaining a focused approach on specific education models tailored to each grade level. This strategic change aligns with the district’s forward-looking approach for the 2024-25 school year, aiming to support 186 schools and provide an equitable education for the entire student population.
The statement said that CMS’ senior leadership team will hold interviews for positions within the new organizational structure. That calls into question what the future holds for current CMS administrators.
Superintendent Crystal Hill has already made significant leadership changes since assuming the district’s top job last May. Within a month of being named to lead the district, she made big changes to her cabinet, including a new deputy superintendent, head of human resources, assistant superintendent of operations and chief financial officer, among other leadership changes. —CB
📫 Reader mailbag: ‘Seinfeld’ fans from around the country respond after the New York Times highlights Ledger article
The New York Times headlined its morning newsletter Dec. 22 with an article about “the rebirth of local journalism,” and as luck would have it, The Charlotte Ledger was mentioned prominently alongside a couple dozen other small and growing local news startups that, like us, are also working to provide reliable information to their communities.
The article included links to “journalism to savor,” including a Ledger story by our Cristina Bolling from last September about a Charlotte real estate developer who names streets and buildings after “Seinfeld” references, such as Vandelay Court (Ballantyne) and “The Cosmo” apartments (NoDa). The national attention catapulted the article to our most read ever, and The Ledger gained 225 new email subscribers in a day, a new record (including a dozen new paid subscriptions, which is a healthy number).
In addition, emails poured in to Cristina’s inbox from readers from around the country who had read the article and wanted to share their favorite “Seinfeld” episodes. We thought you might enjoy some of them:
“I loved the article and the subtle references that only true ‘Seinfeld’ fans might recognize. My ‘favorite’ episode may not be as hilarious as ‘The Contest,’ but I love it because it’s from Season 2 and a lot of people aren’t aware of it. It’s episode 12, ‘The Busboy.’ … Jerry let co-stars shine without him, and George and Kramer are amazing together. If you haven’t seen it by now, enjoy! And don’t hesitate to watch all 180 episodes in order like I did — took a few months but was great. Amazing what they packed into 21 minutes back then!” — Jeff Schreier, Katonah, N.Y.
“What a Sophie’s choice trying to pick a favorite! So many come to mind — Kramer’s Juju beans falling into a surgery patient’s abdomen, man hands, etc., etc., but I think my all-time favorite is when Jerry brings a girl home and can’t remember her name, but he knows it rhymes with a female body part: Mulva ;) Thanks for the memories!” —Debbie Johnson, Waterville, Ohio [Editor’s note: The surgery episode involved falling Junior Mints, not Jujubes.]
“I just read your article that was referenced in a Times article about local journalism. Very clever building and street names from the ‘Seinfeld’ show were the focus. I’m following up by telling you how much I laughed at ‘The Chinese Restaurant’ episode.” —Sukey O’Donnell, Asheville, N.C.
“I read the NYT article on naming streets [and] buildings after Seinfeld episodes. ‘The Library Detective’ is great! The late Philip Baker Hall broke up Jerry so many times when he ranted on him that they had to shoot that scene multiple times. Here’s hoping the city will rename a street ‘Library Detective Avenue’ somewhere near a library branch.” —Virginia T. Scott, Akron, Ohio
“I really love them all and still watch them to this day like it’s a new series! I’m from N.J. and loved watching the show in the ’90s. I would have to say my favorites are ‘The Soup Nazi’ and ‘The Baby Shower.’ Reading this article really made my day. ‘Seinfeld’ is an all-time great. I love it.” —Katasha Tyson, Charlotte
“The NYT article on local journalism (yay) referenced your delightful article … I’ve passed it around in my family of millennials and up, and we all agree it’s a journalistic gem. We are sorry for the younger folk. Up here, we wish Levin would build some $2,000/month 2-BR apartments, named after ‘Gunsmoke’ for all we care. Happy Festivus! And best of luck to The Ledger.” —Jane Schaffer, Brooklyn, New York
You might be interested in these Charlotte events
Events submitted by readers to The Ledger’s events board:
JANUARY 19-28: Queen's Feast: Charlotte Restaurant Week, at 100+ participating restaurants. Discover new dining destinations during Queen’s Feast, January 19-28. Find your favorites as 100 restaurants in 8 metro-area counties showcase their best with 3-course, prix fixe dining deals. View menus and make reservations at CharlotteRestaurantWeek.com. $30-$50.
◼️ Check out the full Ledger events board.
➡️ List your event on the Ledger events board.
In brief:
Insurance companies seek higher homeowners’ rates: Insurance companies are seeking a 41.3% increase in homeowners’ insurance rates for the Charlotte area, according to a filing with the N.C. Department of Insurance last week. It’s the first insurance rate filing since November 2020. Companies and regulators usually settle on a lower amount than requested. A public comment period runs through Feb. 2. Details here. (N.C. Tribune, subscriber-only)
FAA grounds airplanes: The Federal Aviation Administration ordered Boeing 737 Max 9 aircraft to be grounded for inspections, after a door flew off an Alaskan Airlines plane in flight over Oregon on Friday. The move affects about 171 airplanes. Most Max 9 aircraft are operated by United Airlines and Alaskan Airlines. The main airline at Charlotte’s airport, American Airlines, does not operate the planes; its fleet does include a smaller predecessor, the Max 8. (CNBC)
Most read library books: Colleen Hoover’s novel “Verity” was the most checked-out book in the Charlotte Mecklenburg Library system in 2023. The most popular nonfiction book was “Spare” by Prince Harry. (Axios Charlotte)
New York transplants: Mecklenburg County has the state’s highest share of residents born in New York, with nearly 88,000 people who were born there. (Axios Charlotte)
Myers Park High student shot and killed: A Myers Park High School senior was shot and killed in northwest Charlotte on Sunday morning. Police said they believe the shooting happened during a party at the 2700 block of West Trade Street around 5 a.m. When police arrived, they found Avyon Titus Thomas, age 17, dead of an apparent gunshot wound. Police arrested an 18-year-old in connection with the shooting. (WSOC)
Rezoning deadline likely to be extended: The Charlotte City Council tonight is expected to extend the deadline for decisions on rezoning applications that were filed before Feb. 1, 2023. The move will allow developers who sought rezonings before the Unified Development Ordinance took effect to have more time to work with neighbors and city planning officials, including proposals in Ballantyne, Rea Farms and Providence Road. Under the new timeline, there must be public hearings by April 2024 with City Council decisions by December 2024.
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Executive editor: Tony Mecia; Managing editor: Cristina Bolling; Staff writer: Lindsey Banks; Business manager: Brie Chrisman, BC Creative