B&J's team member Ellyn Henderson "takes the cake!"

Davidson’s Ben & Jerry’s Ice Cream Shop on Main Street does not encourage resting on one’s laurels. The store, which won a Charlotte-area “Scooper Olympics” earlier this summer, took on rival teams from Greensboro and Raleigh Aug. 4 to try for a statewide ice cream title. How did they do? Read on for more.

Also: Photographer Chris Record moves to Charlotte; a price hike with an apology at Davidson’s Summit Coffee; a quarterly loss at UpSnap; and we take note of how the economic climate is hitting home here …

STATEWIDE SCOOPER OLYMPICS

Ben & Jerry’s first statewide scooping competition was held Monday, Aug. 4, on neutral ground in Charlotte, at the Myers Park Ben & Jerry’s store. The N.C. Scooper Olympics were held in honor of that other Olympics going on right now in Beijing.

Events included “speed smoothie,” “sundae relay race,” “B&J trivia,” “scooping for accuracy” and even “speed cake decorating,” where contestants had six minutes to decorate a full cake using only items in the shop. The cake was then evaluated for creativity, symmetry and sell-ability.

In the final cake decorating event, the Scooper team from Greensboro defeated the Davidson team by 1 point. Next year the Greensboro team will host another statewide event.

- Brenda Barger

PRICE HIKE WITH AN APOLOGY

Higher costs for coffee, baked goods and other items have led to price increases at Summit Coffee, 128 S. Main St. The move follows a trend at many businesses these days, but with a twist: The shop has been handing customers a note explaining the changes.

Owner Tim Helfrich says in the note: “Like many businesses, over the past year, Summit has experienced a significant rise in our product costs, making it necessary to raise some of our prices (for only the fourth time in 10 years).” Coffee is up 7 percent, baked goods up 9 percent and milk up 20 percent, Mr. Helfrich says.

On average, prices are up 3.5 percent. “In many ways, we regret having to make this decision, but we aim to be a sustainable business, and we hope to be a fixture in the Davidson community for years to come,” he says.

When was the last time you got an apology with your price increase?

- David Boraks

PHOTOGRAPHER MOVES TO CHARLOTTE

Chris and Betsy Record, the creators of this spring’s “Faces of Davidson” photo project, have packed up their studio above Main Street Books and moved the business to Charlotte. The couple has opened up shop in Charlotte’s Dilworth neighborhood, sharing space with an event planner, Mr. Record told DavidsonNews.net.

Mr. Record is a former Charlotte Observer news photographer who now works as a free-lance commercial and editorial photographer and also shoots weddings, in what he calls a “documentary” style. He opened the business on Main Street in mid-2007.

“We’ve wanted to get down to Charlotte, to be closer to clients,” Mr. Record explained. The move also will allow the small business to save money, by sharing space. His new studio is off Park Road.

In a blog entry about the move, Mr. Record said: “Davidson is a great community and we loved our time there. Thanks to all of the great folks we got to meet and work with there. And thank you for everyone who helped and participated in our ‘Faces of Davidson’ project.”

More about the business: www.christopherrecord.com.

- David Boraks

DRIVING DECLINES IN N.C.; FORECLOSURES RISE

More economic indicators are emerging that show the current economic climate is hitting close to home in North Carolina.

A few weeks ago we took note of the decline in home sales and sale prices – something optimists thought wasn’t possible in North Carolina.

Now, federal Figures released this week show we’re driving a lot less than a year ago. The Charlotte Business Journal reports travel on NC roads was down 5.4 percent in June compared with a year earlier.

Meanwhile, the number of home foreclosures in North Carolina was up sharply, to 4,303 in July – 127 percent more than a year earlier and 24 percent up from the previous month, according to RealtyTrac.com. In Mecklenburg County, there were 956 foreclosures in July, which rates “high” in RealtyTrac.com’s figures.

UPSNAP POSTS A LOSS

UpSnap, a Davidson-based wireless search and information company, said it lost $125,000, or 1 cent per share, in the quarter ending June 30. That was down from a loss of $227,000 a year earlier. Revenue was down about half from a year earlier, to $132,000.

UpSnap said revenues fell as its largest customer, a mobile phone carrier, began shifting wireless data customers to a technology that UpSnap does not support.

It said advertising revenues increased $13,000, or 145 percent, compared with the same period in 2007 as it tries to shift more toward advertising revenues, which it said are more profitable.

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