Danielle Frye opens her new Shoe Zoo Monday at Davidson Commons. (David Boraks/DavidsonNews.net)
The doors will open Monday on Davidson Commons’ newest shop: a kids’ shoe store called Shoe Zoo. Owner Danielle Frye says it’s more than a store – it’s a destination. Meanwhile, newspaper news: Davidson is now home to weekly newspaper publisher Lake Norman Publications. And the Charlotte Observer says the days of free access online are coming to an end. Also, PNC is putting ATMS in Harris Teeter stores and Pat LePore has opened a higher-education consulting business in Davidson.
OPENING MON.: SHOE ZOO
Shoe Zoo will open its doors Monday, Aug. 6, in Davidson Commons shopping center, off Griffith Street in the Exit 30 area.
Owner Danielle Frye of Mooresville says the shop is “a fun destination to shop with kids.” The interior is filled with shoes and accessories, open spaces, benches and an animal theme. The store will sell a variety of kids’ shoe brands and styles: casual and dress shoes, athletic shoes, flip-flops and clogs, in sizes up to boys’ 7 and girls 6.
“We have something for everyone,” she said Friday.
She also has accessories including ties, belts, hair accessories and even kids’ sunglasses.
The business grew out of her passion. “I love shoes. I turned a hobby into employment,” she said.
Shoe Zoo is at 610 Jetton St., Suite 140, next door to Davidson Chocolate Co. Hours will be Mondays to Fridays, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Saturdays, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. More info: http://shoe-zoo.com/
PUBLISHER MOVES TO TOWN
Lake Norman Publications, the company that bought the Huntersville Herald and its sister papers last year, has moved its office to Davidson. The company, led by former USA Today Publisher Craig Moon, has taken 2,600 square feet in the Cotton Mill, 209 Delburg St. (near the Brickhouse Tavern).
Mr. Moon said the lease was up at the company’s Huntersville offices on N.C. 115. “It’s hard to find great creative space and the Cotton Mill fits both our short and long terms needs perfectly,” he told DavidsonNews.net. “As one of the several Lake Norman cities we cover each week, we are happy to be part of the Davidson business community.”
RELATED LINK: Dec. 16, 2011, “Ex-USA Today chief buying The Herald, other local papers.”
NO MORE FREE LUNCH AT CHARLOTTEOBSERVER.COM
There will no longer be free unlimited access to the Charlotte Observer’s online edition starting later this year. In a call with analysts, the company that owns the Observer says it will install pay-walls before the year is over.
McClatchy Newspapers didn’t exactly how much they’ll start charging for access to Charlotte Observer.com. But the company did talk about a new combined digital and print subscription package it will offer and what it will include.
“Home delivery of our printed newspaper and access to our website, certain mobile products, and a digital replica edition of our printed newspaper,” says McClatchy’s VP of Interactive Media, Christian Hendricks.
Hendricks says there will also be a digital only subscription available, and that readers will be able to access a certain number of pages of the paper every month without paying. How many pages though will be left up to the newspapers themselves. McClatchy says it will roll out the new pay-for-digital plan in five markets this fall. The rest of its papers will follow later in the year. It’s not clear when the Charlotte Observer’s website will undergo the change.
- Marshall Terry, WFAE-FM.
Reprinted as part of our news partnership with WFAE
PNC ATMS AT HARRIS TEETER
PNC Bank said this week it would install 191 PNC-branded ATMs in Harris Teeter stores throughout the Carolinas and other states. Most of the new ATMs will be available in 138 Harris Teeter grocery stores across North and South Carolina, as well as in 53 stores in Florida, Georgia, Virginia, Maryland and Delaware, between mid-July and Labor Day. Stores getting the machines include those at the Peninsula Cornelius, Davidson Commons and NC 73 in Davidson, and four Huntersville locations: Poplar Tent Road, Sam Furr Road at Northcross, Rose Commons at Exit 23 and Regency Lake Drive, near the NC 73/Catawba Ave. intersection. Cardtronics, the world’s largest retail ATM owner and Harris Teeter’s retail ATM service provider, owns and operates the cash machines.
EDUCATION CONSULTANT OPENS HERE
Pat Lepore
Patrick J. Lepore has opened a higher education management consulting business in Davidson, called Lepore and Associates. Drawing on decades of faculty and administration experience, Mr. Lepore and his team will help colleges and universities optimize efficiency and effectiveness across strategic, operational, and technological priorities.
Mr. Lepore first came to Davidson in 1997 and returned in 2011 after a stint in the southern New Jersey area, where he had been a leader in providing coaching and support for the executive leadership in higher education institutions and the small businesses that support them. He has worked in higher education and the federal government. He previously served as Vice President of Operations and Chief Information Officer at the University of the Sciences, in Philadelphia. He also formerly served as Director of Administrative Computing at the University of Scranton, and as a faculty member in various academic institutions.
For more information on Lepore and Associates, please visit their website, www.LeporeAndAssociates.com or call 704-765-2273.
HONORS FOR GARRET DROEGE
Local independent insurance agency, JJ Wade & Associates, congratulates H. Garrett Droege for attaining the designation of CIC—Certified Insurance Counselor. By earning and maintaining the CIC designation, he has demonstrated professional competence through a series of rigorous written examinations focusing on all major lines of insurance, agency operations and insurance program management. This achievement signifies a commitment to advanced continuing education and knowledge, required of all those who have earned the CIC designation. Mr. Droege serves as Director of the Innovation Risk Division – a specialized practice group focusing on insurance for technology, life sciences, energy, venture capital and cyber exposures. More information can be found at www.jjwadeinsurance.com
