I’m certain that some people, maybe even many people, are skilled in the art of online shopping for clothing.  I imagine they order stuff, try it on and if it doesn’t fit, they just send it back, no big deal. Seems simple enough. But I have no patience for it. Choosing clothing is a complicated process for me because of the usual issues – nothing fit ...

A longtime custom homebuilder in Wilmington recently turned an historical church property into its headquarters.   PBC Design + Build used the former fellowship hall of Pearsall Memorial Presbyterian Church at 3902 Market St., designed by architect Leslie Boney Jr. in the 1960s, into a functional beauty. Pictured is the hall’s original stage, which over the d ...

For the past decade, the question of what is the “next big thing” for Wilmington has come and gone. Some like that question, and some don’t.     But the economic impact of the COVID pandemic now forces us to answer that question. It has been well-recognized that the greater Wilmington region’s economy is overly dependent on beach tourism ...

Macroeconomists are having a heyday. It’s been years, decades since students and the public were so interested in inflation!     However, many of their models and tools may be ill-equipped to deal with the current situation, and home prices might be collateral damage of the blunt policy tools available to the Federal Reserve.     The Federal R ...

A newly-created pandemic operations center within New Hanover County’s Health and Human Services department – thought to be among the first in the nation at the local level – is up and running to meet current pandemic needs and to plan for future emergencies.     By doing so, it will also take pressure off hundreds of county employees and volu ...

Nearly seven years ago, CBL Properties bought Mayfaire Town Center and Mayfaire Community Center (later selling off the Mayfaire Community Center portion).   The real estate investment trust based in Chattanooga is one of the largest shopping mall REITs in the country, owning and managing 99 properties including malls, outlet centers, lifestyle retail centers and op ...

As the world continues to emerge from pandemic fears, commercial real estate trends from last year are continuing in 2022.   1. Office Space   The COVID pandemic undoubtedly led to the emptying of some large office buildings across the U.S. But in Wilmington and elsewhere, the office sector of commercial real estate seems to be recovering and thriving.   ...

The South Atlantic coastal city sits near the mouth of the state’s most important river, anchoring one of its fastest-growing regions.   Its flourishing downtown is a blend of old and new, with thousands of people living in its long-established historic district and modern apartment buildings. An iconic bridge spans the river that’s a gateway to the seap ...

Disclaimer: I’m not a native Wilmingtonian. I was born in North Carolina, but I’m not one of those you meet serendipitously around town who can boast about actually being from here. So, take all this with a grain of salt.   But, adopted neighbors, have you noticed something – different lately?     It seems every week, I run across someo ...

Walking into a corporate office sometime before 2019 you would have seen personalities reflected in each worker’s office space.     From a desk that is minimalistic and only bares a computer and some pens to a hyper-organized one with color-coded calendars and bins for each office supply.     This dedicated-desk scenario may look different now ...