All posts in category Business

The Roger Stancil Show

Town manager Roger Stancil is a completely different person in daylight than he is tucked away at the end of the dais during Town Council meetings at night. As guest speaker at the Friends of Downtown meeting Thursday morning, he was relaxed, gregarious and funny. Stancil referenced signs that have popped up around town since […]

New year resolutions?

Council meetings resume one week from tonight. Here’s a glimpse of what may grace the agenda in 2012: Homeless shelter’s Good Neighbor Plan: A Better Site representatives are participating in the meetings, but IFC won’t allow the proceedings to be recorded. A Better Site wants teeth to the plan, consequences if the tenets are violated; […]

2011 highlights

A sign in the window of the tax office at Town Hall, where about a dozen of us were waiting to pay our taxes yesterday around lunchtime, lists various products the town sells to market itself: flags, tote bags, books and ball caps. As I totaled up my various tax bills – vehicle, business, real […]

Quiet business

Just as the Tar Heels have a harder time scoring without Kendall Marshall’s assists, Chapel Hill businesses could use an occasional feed – in the form of publicity. The Town of Chapel Hill may say it’s open for business, but it apparently doesn’t want anyone to know what those businesses are. A sign ordinance passed […]

Dawson Place

I’m sorry that family matters will prevent me from watching tonight’s public hearing live. I’ll have to catch it in reruns; it promises to be a good one. One of the items on the manageably small agenda is the closing of Dawson Place, an alley between 331 and 337 W. Rosemary St. (337 is the […]

Goodbyes and good bets

Yet another pizza shop closed last month. Camos Bros. in The Courtyard turned off its ovens in June. The proprietors also own Fuhgettaboudit pizzerias in Raleigh and Cary; the owners are working through some debt issues. The closing marks the back-to-back demise of pizzerias in that hidden enclave of The Courtyard. L’incontro closed less than […]

Greenbridge short on green

As Greenbridge toes into the starting block of becoming a business school case study, its owners facing bankruptcy, I’m hoping someone who understands financing or the law will explain what I’m missing. Greenbridge partners came together in 2006 and broke ground in October 2007 on the $54 million project that brought 97 condos on the […]

Signs of change

I’m rattled. Last night’s meeting marked the second time that I agreed with Mayor Mark Kleinschmidt. I fear one of us is making a terrible mistake. Dwight Bassett, the town’s economic development director, and Gene Poveromo, development manager, teamed up to present a modified proposal to the sign ordinance. The photos they presented showed tasteful […]

Listing service

The Town Council approves special use permits for local businesses, many of which belong to the Chapel Hill-Carrboro Chamber of Commerce. The Town Council does not belong to the Chamber. Yet you’d never know that from the Chamber’s website. Scroll down through the C’s on the Chamber’s business directory, and there you’ll find a listing […]

Signs of the times

If you are in business, you have to let potential customers know you exist. Tonight, Town Council will hold a public hearing about amending the Land Use Management Ordinance to make room for bigger, brighter ground signs for commercial centers. The amendment applies only to centers with a minimum of eight businesses and at least […]