Inside the forbidden world of online liquor ordering (free version)
Plus: AvidXchange stock down 30% since IPO; Realtors team up to fight homelessness; PGA Tour Superstore confirmed for south Charlotte; Suffolk Punch to open at SouthPark Mall
Good morning! Today is Wednesday, December 15, 2021. You’re reading The Charlotte Ledger, an e-newsletter with local business-y news and insights for Charlotte, N.C.
Editor’s note: This is a shorter, free version of The Charlotte Ledger sent to people on our free sign-up list. The complete version for paying members went out 15 minutes ago. It included:
The complete article examining the trend toward local residents ordering liquor online — including where they are ordering it from, and what state alcohol regulators and law enforcement say about whether it’s legal and what, if anything, they’re doing to stop it.
The full analysis of AvidXchange’s big drop in its stock price since its IPO in October — and how it compares to other newly public companies.
The details on an upcoming state grant program designed to provide further pandemic economic relief to bars and restaurants, which were hurt the most when patrons stayed away for months.
Paying members also received Tuesday’s Ways of Life obituaries newsletter, with the story of Liz Mills, who lifted people up throughout her career as an equal opportunity officer and consultant — and ran a sweets shop in University City.
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Frustrated by ABC shortages, local drinkers order alcohol from a national website; apparently illegal but little enforcement
By Tony Mecia
There’s no remorse in Frank’s voice, as he talks about that day in October when he quietly went online and ordered a bottle of Bombay Sapphire gin and some Herradura tequila.
Like other liquor, those bottles are sometimes in short supply at Mecklenburg ABC Stores. During the pandemic, Frank and his wife developed a taste for martinis, and he’ll sip tequila at night after the kids are in bed.
His descent into the illicit world of online liquor started innocently enough, when a friend tipped him off about a website. Curious, Frank — a 39-year-old Charlotte business owner — brazenly went online. He found the selection enticing. With a series of clicks and keystrokes, he ordered. The contraband arrived 12 days later. He signed for it.
“If you’re planning ahead, it is a really great option,” he says, with apparent indifference to the victims of his illegal liquor order. “The cost is maybe a little more than the ABC Store, but they’ve got a decent selection, so I think I’m going to do it again.”
Frank isn’t his real name. The Ledger agreed to shield his identity so he could freely share those startling details of what it’s like to order a product on a website and have it delivered.
To get around the shortage of liquor in ABC stores, several local drinkers have described to The Ledger how they are obtaining shipments of alcohol for personal use — which they assume is legal because the alcohol shows up at their door. Turns out, the process is no more difficult than ordering on Amazon or any other online retailer: They go to a national website called
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IN HIS OWN WORDS: ‘Frank’ describes his experience ordering liquor online; voice modified to conceal identity:
Complete Ledger coverage of the liquor crisis:
Liquor supplies getting back on track, Mecklenburg ABC officials say (🔒, Nov. 19)
Mecklenburg’s ABC Board told of steps to improve flow of liquor (🔒, Oct. 22)
Meck ABC chief on liquor shortage: ‘It is painful for me’ (🔒, Oct. 13)
We asked local state legislators: Do you support ABC reform? (Oct. 11)
Bars and restaurants are steaming over N.C.’s Great Liquor Drought (🔒, Oct. 6)
Legislators demand answers on liquor shortage (🔒, Oct. 1)
S.C. store owner hires plane to advertise in south Charlotte (Sept. 27)
N.C. vs. S.C.: The battle of liquor stores isn’t even close (🔒, Sept. 22)
South Carolina cashes in on N.C.'s liquor shortage (July 26)
Two months after IPO, AvidXchange’s stock is down 30+%
There was a lot of hoopla when AvidXchange went public in October with a $660M IPO. It was a Charlotte tech success story, a homegrown financial software company that expanded methodically over 20 years before making it big.
Since then, though, the company’s stock has steadily fallen and is down 34%, closing Tuesday at $16.46, its lowest price ever. Of companies with a local presence tracked weekly by The Ledger, it’s one of only four that is down this year, in what has been a boom year for stocks. (LendingTree’s stock is down 59%, CommScope’s down 21% and Honeywell down 3%).
Related Ledger article:
“20 years later, a big bet on tech pays off” (Oct. 8)
Applications for N.C. bar and restaurant relief expected to open this week
Bar and restaurant owners could soon be in line for state-funded grants designed to help offset some of their Covid-related losses.
North Carolina’s Department of Revenue this week is expected to open applications for payouts from a new $500M fund from the recently passed state budget. With bars and restaurants ordered to close their indoor service by state and local government officials at the start of the pandemic, the hospitality industry suffered more than most others, and so far, the relief programs haven’t fully reimbursed business owners in that sector for the losses.
That N.C. Restaurant and Lodging Association gave The Ledger the following details on the money:
Related Ledger article:
A windfall for some needy Charlotte restaurants (🔒 July 21), with Full list of Charlotte businesses approved for Restaurant Revitalization Fund grants (🔒)
Charity spotlight: Realtors organize to fight homelessness
This month, The Ledger is highlighting a few local charities doing good work in our community. The full list of Charlotte-area nonprofits recommended by our members can be found here.
Closing on a house is an exciting time for both the sellers and new homeowners. In celebration, the Homeowners Impact Fund asks the two sides for a small donation for organizations that offer support to the city’s homeless population.
Since June 2020, the Homeowners Impact Fund has been supporting three organizations in the Charlotte area that focus on providing housing for the homeless: Roof Above, a homeless shelter for men; Safe Alliance, a resource center for those impacted by domestic violence and sexual assault; and Charlotte Family Housing, a shelter-to-housing program for families experiencing homelessness.
“If everybody gives a little, we will have a lot,” said Vicky Mitchener, founder of the fund.
Last year, the Homeowners Impact Fund raised $70,000 for these organizations, and this year, the goal is $150,000. Mitchener said that if every person involved in a closing donated at least $10, they could raise more than $3 million annually.
“We have been blessed with real estate, and prices are going up,” she said. “That also creates a bigger disparity between people with homes and people who can’t afford their homes.”
To ensure all donations go to benefit the homeless, Mitchener has outsourced the Fund’s needs for marketing, website design and administration. The Homeowners Impact Fund also has multiple sponsors, including Wells Fargo and Bank of America.
Mitchener, who owns real estate company Dickens Mitchener, created a “team of captains” to spread the word to other Charlotte firms, mortgage companies, insurance representatives and other organizations.
The Homeowners Impact Fund is currently looking for patrons, people who can pledge $500 for three years. Right now, it has 127 patrons but Mitchener has a goal set for 500.
As the Homeowners Impact Fund continues to grow, Mitchener hopes to support more organizations that focus on helping Charlotte’s homelessness. —Lindsey Banks
A PGA Tour Superstore for south Charlotte: interactive simulators, putting green, golf and pickleball merch
North Carolina’s first PGA Tour Superstore is scheduled to open in the spring at Promenade on Providence, at I-485 and Providence Road, the company said Tuesday. The store will be nearly 36,000 s.f. and bills itself as “the country’s leading retailer for golf and tennis — and pickleball, too.” Features of the store include “customer-friendly interactive simulators and practice bays,” a “huge putting green” and “golf attire for both on and off the course.” The Ledger, citing real estate records, reported in July that PGA Tour Superstore’s owner had signed a lease on the building, but it was formally announced just this week. (Photo courtesy of PGA Tour Superstore)
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In brief
Adult care staffing shortage: Labor shortages are growing at nursing homes and adult-care facilities in North Carolina. “We're in a staffing crisis,” the president of the North Carolina Assisted Living Association said. Many facilities have stopped accepting new residents because of the shortages. (WFAE)
New industrial park envisioned: A 335,000 s.f. industrial business park is being planned by the airport. [Join to keep reading.]
Giving away millions: Red Ventures CEO Ric Elias has signed “the Giving Pledge,” a commitment by billionaires to give away more than half their wealth to charity. (Axios Charlotte)
Lions, tigers, elephants banned: The Charlotte City Council voted to ban displays and performances of exotic animals in circuses. “The measure essentially ends visits to Charlotte by the type of large circuses the public is most accustomed to paying to see,” the Observer reported. Animal welfare groups pushed for the change. Dogs, cats and horses are still allowed under the new ordinance.
Levine name for med school building: The main academic building at the planned Wake Forest School of Medicine-Charlotte will be called The Howard R. Levine Center for Education, following a $25M gift from the Howard R. Levine Foundation. Levine is the former CEO of Family Dollar.
West Charlotte shooting: A student at West Charlotte High was charged with possession of a firearm on school grounds after police said a shot was fired on school property Monday over an argument about a book bag. (WBTV)
Protecting local history: The Charlotte-Mecklenburg Historic Landmarks Commission designated 10 buildings as historic sites in a “busy 2021,” including an architect’s Dilworth bungalow, a downtown Cornelius barber shop and a former textile mill near NoDa, writes historian Tom Hanchett in Charlotte magazine.
Programming note: Ledger editor Tony Mecia appears as a guest on 90.7 WFAE at 6:40 a.m. and 8:40 a.m. on Thursdays for a discussion of the week’s local business news in the station’s “BizWorthy” segment. Audio and transcripts are also available online.
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Executive editor: Tony Mecia; Managing editor: Cristina Bolling; Contributing editor: Tim Whitmire, CXN Advisory; Contributing photographer/videographer: Kevin Young, The 5 and 2 Project