| |
|
Local retail growth getting ahead of demand
Michael Walden, agricultural and resource economicsEdwards campaigns in Raleigh, criticizes Bush on health care
Andrew Taylor, political science
Meetings
and events today
Guy Owen-Tom Walters Creative Writing Series
Getting
Involved: Dog Olympics
College of Veterinary Medicine
Letter
to the editor: Playing it safe
tailgating
Letter
to the editor: Up for the game
tailgating
Damaged
oak to be cut down
North Carolina State University Web site
Pasquotank
to reconsider 1-acre minimum lot size
Pasquotank County commissioners are preparing to reconsider the county’s
minimum lot size requirements for new subdivisions.
Grow
and Show
Association of Specialty Cut Flower Growers
Local retail growth getting ahead of demand
Sept. 21, 2004
News & Observer
By SAMANTHA THOMPSON SMITH
© Copyright 2004
The economy might have improved. But now Triangle retailers have a new challenge: More competition.
Since the economy started slipping in 2000, the Triangle has added more than 6 million square feet of retail space -- about 22 percent more -- or 4.5 times the size of Crabtree Valley Mall -- according to The Karnes Report, which tracks Triangle real estate. During that period, retail sales have increased 13.5 percent, according to the state Department of Revenue.
"For a long while, this area was under-retailed," said Christy Alphin, a spokeswoman for Crabtree, which is among the region's biggest malls. "What happened is that everybody saw that. Now we're getting saturated. And unfortunately there are going to be some casualties."
According to a study by the International Council of Shopping Centers, Raleigh-Durham was named among the top five most developed markets in the nation in 2002, with retail square footage per capita at 29.11, almost double the national average. The most developed market was Myrtle Beach, followed by Dover, Del., Elmira, N.Y., and Fort Myers, Fla.
And since then, even more retail has been added to the market.
Last year, retail sales per square foot in Wake, Durham and Orange counties dropped 2 percent from 2002 and 6.5 percent from 2001, according to figures from the Revenue Department and Karnes Research.
Part of the drop was the result of shoppers spending less because of the sluggish economy, economists said. But Triangle shoppers also have more places than ever to spend their money -- with new malls, more discount stores, the Internet and mail order.
"This is all great for the consumer, but it's obviously tough for anyone working in retail, owning retail or investing in retail," said Michael L. Walden, an economist at N.C. State University. "Retailers have really faced some very competitive times in the past few years."
In 2002, the Triangle was one of the few markets in the country to get two new malls in one year. The Streets at Southpoint in Durham and Triangle Town Center in North Raleigh opened within six months of each other, adding 2.6 million square feet of retail space to the market. Before those malls opened, the Triangle hadn't had a new mall since Cary Towne Center -- then Cary Village Mall -- opened 23 years before.
Since then, at least 2 million more square feet of retail space has opened in the market. Much of it was in the form of enormous shopping centers such as Brier Creek Commons in North Raleigh and White Oak Crossing in Garner. The Triangle also has added five Wal-Marts and five Targets.
The competition is going to get tougher. Next month, North Hills will reopen at the Beltline and Six Forks Road in Raleigh with a new Target, a 14-screen movie theater, restaurants and a collection of speciality boutiques. Further down the line, about 700,000 square feet of retail space will be added when Beaver Creek Crossing is complete at U.S. 64 and N.C. 55 in Apex. More retail, including a Target, also is being added around the Southpoint area in Durham.
Developers say that traditionally when a market gets too much retail space, the vacancy rate rises and the market eventually corrects itself.
Stan Lisle, who owns Retail Rep, a Cary company that finds space for retailers, remembers when the Triangle was so under-retailed that some national retailers had trouble finding empty spaces in the market. "Today there are more spaces available," he said. "But that doesn't mean there's an unhealthy balance. There's no way that a supply line can always pump out the right amount of space. There's always going to be a pendulum going back and forth. As long as it doesn't go too far out of line."
There has been a surge in retail growth all over the state. According to the National Research Board's 2003 Shopping Center Census, North Carolina was the fifth in the nation for new shopping centers in 2003, with 40 centers opening last year. California led with 86 new centers. That helped put North Carolina ninth in the nation in terms of the number of shopping centers, at 1,749, and total gross leasable retail space of 194.1 million square feet.
However, North Carolina was second to last in the nation in sales per square feet at $190.93, well below the national average of $228.34. Only Nevada had lower sales per square foot at $145.80.
Richard Morgan, owner of Morgan Imports, the gift and home accessories store in downtown Durham, said he started noticing that sales per square foot were slipping before Southpoint opened. Since then, sales haven't come back to the same level.
"I just don't think we're growing that fast," Morgan said. "It's going to take a while to catch up."
The Triangle is already starting to see the effect from the additional retail. Belk in April said it would close its store at Northgate Mall in Durham to focus its attention and assets at its bigger and more profitable location at The Streets at Southpoint. Gap earlier this year said it was leaving its store on Franklin Street in Chapel Hill to consolidate operations at Southpoint. And Lord & Taylor, instead of expanding with another store in the market, said last summer it would leave Crabtree Valley Mall by the end of next year because it didn't have concentration in the market.
For now, the Triangle's retail vacancy rate has been steady. At the end of the first half of 2004, the rate was 4.7 percent, down from 4.9 percent at the end of 2003. But if too much more retail comes onto the market, more retailers may be forced to close stores and leave empty spaces.
"I think it's just a very difficult market right now," Morgan said.
Sept. 21, 2004
Durham Herald-Sun
By staff report
© Copyright 2004
Authors & Books
COLLEGE OF HUMANITIES AND SOCIAL SCIENCES, N.C. State campus, Raleigh. 515-4170.
The Guy Owen-Tom Walters Creative Writing Series.
Sekou Sundiata. As seen on Russel Simmons' "Def Poetry Jam" and Bill Moyer's "The Language of Life" on PBS. 7:30 p.m.
Edwards campaigns in Raleigh, criticizes Bush on health care
Sept. 20, 2004
News 14 Carolina
By Mitch Kokai
© Copyright 2004
John Edwards used his latest hometown stop to blast the president's record in Iraq and at home.
A hometown crowd cheered Edwards as he spent an hour Monday attacking the Bush Administration during an appearance in downtown Raleigh. He picked apart Bush administration policies, especially the Iraq war.
Edwards said voters want change.
"The administration's conduct of this war has been a disaster," he said. "And they are responsible for it; George Bush and Dick Cheney."
Edwards poked fun at the president’s latest speech on a new four-year health care plan. "I understand it's a very short speech."
Outside Raleigh's Convention Center, Democrats celebrated Edwards' message.
“It may not appeal to the special interest groups or to big business, but for common working people whose lives are not just a bowl of cherries his message is for more," Albertina McGirt, an Edwards supporter, said.
"It's mainly a Republican state, but I think this year there's a lot of people that want a change and it may go the other way," Lisa McIntyre, another Edwards supporter, explained.
Since John Edwards returned to his alma mater, NC State, to rally with John Kerry in the summer, he's returned to North Carolina periodically to talk about jobs, technological innovation and other signs of the Kerry-Edwards new direction.
John Hood of John Locke Foundation stated, "John Edwards' presence in the state makes Republicans have to fight a bit for the state. You still see President Bush's ads running in the state."
"It would be nice to make the Bush-Cheney ticket spend a lot of time and a lot of resources here and to keep them on the back foot," Andrew Taylor, a NCSU political science professor, explained.
Observers expect more visits from political heavyweights in the days ahead.
Edwards hit the campaign trail again Monday afternoon. He flew to Cincinnati to help Democrats tackle the battleground state of Ohio.
Letter to the editor: Playing it safe
Sept. 21, 2004
News & Observer
© Copyright 2004
I returned last week from duty in Afghanistan with the Marine Corps and my wife surprised me with tickets to the N.C. State University/Ohio State University football game. As an Ohio State alum, this was heaven on Earth: home in North Carolina with my wife and sons, spending an afternoon watching two great football teams battle -- but I read about the Camp Lejeune Marine killed in the fairgrounds parking lot a couple of weeks ago, and I had to wonder, "Is it safe for me, and more importantly, my family?"
Not only was the N.C. State atmosphere safe, it was downright cozy. As we walked to the game, numerous Wolfpack fans offered food and drink to passing Buckeye fans. I was proud to be a Buckeye living with these great North Carolinians. I thank the Pack fans. They've got class.
Eric Dent
Capt., U.S. Marine Corps
Camp Lejeune
Letter to the editor: Up for the game
Sept. 21, 2004
News & Observer
© Copyright 2004
Regarding your Sept. 19 article "Tepid tailgating a turnoff," I didn't see "tepid" at the N.C. State University/Ohio State University pregame festivities. Buckeye fans -- I am an Ohio State alumnus -- were impressed with the presence of law enforcement and the hospitality extended to them by the Triangle area. Tailgating looked as it should have, people having a good time, minus the ugly effects of excessive alcohol consumption that has made marred college athletics for several years now and has forced large universities around the country to make the decision to ban alcohol altogether from athletic events.
Wolfpack fans should take care of the drinking privilege they still have. It worked well on Saturday. It was a great game and that's what it's all about.
Kris Christensen
Raleigh
Getting Involved: Dog Olympics
Sept. 21, 2004
News & Observer
By Joyce Sykes
© Copyright 2004
The N.C. State University College of Veterinary Medicine will hold its 13th annual Dog Olympics from 10 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Saturday on the college's campus, Hillsborough Street and Blue Ridge Road in Raleigh. Dog Olympics is open to all canines. For details, contact Melissa Tucker at 468-0404 ot go to www.cvm.ncsu.edu/conted/dogolympics/index.htm.
North Carolina Businessman Wins $100,000 John Templeton Foundation "Power of Purpose'' Essay Contest
Sept. 20, 2004
Business Wire
By staff report
© Copyright 2004
NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sept. 20, 2004--August Turak, a North Carolina entrepreneur and founder of The Self Knowledge Symposium Foundation (SKSF), won the Grand Prize of $100,000 in the first Power of Purpose Awards: A Worldwide Essay Competition sponsored by the John Templeton Foundation.
The competition awarded a half million dollars in total prizes, and included both published and unpublished material from professional and amateur writers. The Awards were designed to encourage people to think about the benefits of noble purpose where purpose is defined as something more important than our simple survival, something not merely intellectual, but in our souls. The timely topic and the phenomenal cash prizes attracted 7,351 essays from 97 countries worldwide.
The winners were chosen by a distinguished panel of judges from many disciplines, including Rick Warren, author of the Purpose Driven Life which has sold 13 million copies; Nancy Brinker, Founder, The Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation; Paul Davies, Professor of Natural Philosophy, Australian Centre for Astrobiology; Hugh Delehanty, Editor in Chief, AARP Publications; and Marian Wright Edelman, President, Children's Defense Fund.
Turak's essay, Brother John, is the true story of how the author's contemplative retreat to Mepkin Abbey, a Trappist monastery, turns both magical and terrible when a simple monk offers to share an umbrella on a cold and rainy Christmas Eve. This simple act of loving kindness proves almost more than he can bear, and becomes the catalyst for a gut wrenching re-evaluation of life, love, and the terrible yet fascinating nature of God.
While Brother John is his first attempt at serious writing, he is no stranger to religious, philosophical and/or spiritual themes. Turak founded the Self Knowledge Symposium Foundation, an interfaith non- profit, 15 years ago to help students at Duke, NC State, and UNC find a deeper and more spiritual purpose to their lives.
Said Bishop William Willimon the former Dean of the Duke Chapel and noted author, "Wow, I am thrilled. Augie has been known for a long time for what he does -especially for college kids. I am so happy he is finally being recognized for what he has to say."
Turak's incredible business career began in the late-1970's when he studied under Louis R. Mobley, founder of the IBM Executive School. He held key positions at MTV Networks, what is now the A&E Network, and even, briefly, at Adelphia Communications before moving to Raleigh, North Carolina and starting his own businesses. Turak sold Raleigh Group International to an Israeli firm in 2000, allowing him to retire at age 49.
His goal in retiring was to devote more time to his own personal development, executive coaching, and his non-profit pursuits. Recently he has been pursuing a Masters in Theology at St. John's University in Collegeville MN. In 2003 he was awarded a coveted Coolidge Fellowship which enabled him to spend a month at the prestigious Union Theological Institute in New York City working on an unrelated and as yet unfinished writing project.
Asked what he intends to do with the $100,000 Turak said, "My first spiritual teacher told me that blessings are only given in order to be 'passed on.' I promised myself many years ago that any compensation I might receive through my spiritual activities would go to charity so I guess that Ferraris will have to wait. Seriously, I hope in a smaller way I can emulate what Sir John Templeton is doing with his money. I am so grateful that there are people like him and the people at the John Templeton Foundation."
Turak's Grand Prize winning essay and other prize winning essays are at http://www.powerofpurpose.org. Excerpts will be published in full-page ads in national magazines and newspapers, and the winning essays will be published in an anthology at a later date.
About the John Templeton Foundation
The mission of the John Templeton Foundation (www.templeton.org) is to support programs, competitions, publications and studies in the human sciences and in character education that promote the exploration of the spiritual nature of the human person. The research is guided by Sir John Templeton's unyielding optimism that there is much to learn from examining the nature and benefits of such principles as purpose, creativity, gratitude and altruism.
About the Self Knowledge Symposium Foundation
The Self Knowledge Symposium Foundation (www.selfknowledge.org) is a 501(c)(3) educational nonprofit organization that encourages people to consciously develop their own personal, moral and spiritual values and to live according to them. The SKSF creates experiential learning programs and social contexts within which people can explore the deeper questions in life.
Sept. 21, 2004
Mansfield News Journal, OH
By Rebecca Medina
© Copyright 2004
BELLVILLE -- Tom Mast never thought he would see the day when the old oak tree in his back yard would come falling down. But high winds and heavy ran this past weekend did the unthinkable.
On Monday, Mast was calling around getting estimates to cut the old tree down.
"I really hate to see it go," he said. "I never thought I would see the day that it would be as busted apart as it is."
Mast, who does carpentry work, said he and his wife, Linda, have always admired the oak tree for its beauty and stability.
"We liked it just because it was big and pretty," Linda, 61, said. "Now it's a disaster."
Tom, 57, said the tree took a pretty rough beating from the wind Friday night. He said after looking at the tree, he realized it was going to have to be destroyed.
"It looks too dangerous," he said. "All the limbs on one side are gone."
Matt McPeek, an employee at Davey Tree, which is based in Kent but has crews in Mansfield, Westerville, Marion and Columbus, said that's the first sign a tree is not salvageable.
"Trees can lose a couple of limbs at a time and live, but if too much damage is done to the crown of the tree, it will need to be cut down," he said.
According to a North Carolina State University Web site, treatment of storm-damaged trees requires wise decisions and prompt action. It must first be decided if the tree is worth saving. Does the tree serve a needed function or does it have sentimental or historical value? If more than 30 to 50 percent of the main branches or trunk are severely split, broken or mutilated, the benefit of extensive repairs is questionable. Extremely old, low-vigor trees might not have the ability to recover.
McPeek, 27, said it's hard for a tree to recover from damage done to its roots. He also said there is not a whole lot that can be done to help preserve a tree once it gets to a certain age and size.
"Getting all of the dead wood and broken limbs out of it is the only thing you can really do (to preserve the tree)," he said.
Tom Mast said he has already had one tree service come out and look at the tree.
"There was a guy here (from Clark's Tree Service) ... and he said it was not salvageable," he said.
But Tom said he hopes to preserve some of the limbs and trunk for wood for his carpentry shop. He said he will be sad to see it go, because it's been around for so long.
"It's way at the back of the property. I don't think it upped the value of the house or anything -- I just thought it was pretty," he said.
He thinks the tree is at least 200 years old. He remembers an elderly neighbor, who has since died, recalling how big the tree was when he was a young boy.
"I guess we'll just have to cut it down and count the rings," he said.
Pasquotank to reconsider 1-acre minimum lot size
Sept. 21, 2004
Virginian Pilot, VA
By LAUREN KING
© Copyright 2004
ELIZABETH CITY — After only two months, Pasquotank County commissioners are preparing to reconsider the county’s minimum lot size requirements for new subdivisions.
In July the commissioners decided to increase the minimum lot size from 25,000 square feet to 43,000 square feet, or 1 acre, based on recommendations from Albemarle Regional Health Services. The primary concern was that growth could outpace the county’s services.
The change went into effect immediately.
But several developers have asked that the decision to be revisited because the 1-acre requirement is a one-size-fits-all solution that could be an unwise use of the county’s land.
Ralph Hollowell, environmental health director for health services, and his
staff revised their recommendations to lower the minimum lot size to 35,000
square feet and to require all new developments have a soil conservation drainage
expert visit the site.
Rodney Bunch, Pasquotank’s planning director, said that Dwayne Hinson, a district
conservationist for the department’s Albemarle Soil District, has already raised
an objection about the second recommendation. Hinson’s territory includes several
counties, and if he is required to visit every proposed development, there
would be an extremely long wait, Bunch said.
But Hollowell said that while it would be difficult, his main concern is that there needs to be more focus on the county’s drainage when considering new developments.
Although there was little argument against the new recommendations among board members, Commissioner John W. Kitchen Sr. said he was concerned that changing the requirement would be unfair to people now working within the 1-acre guidelines.
“We thrashed this out about four months ago, and then maybe six or seven weeks ago we took a stand,” he said.
“We have mistreated these folks. This board said it wants to slow growth …
so why would we want to back up?”
Despite the complaint, Kitchen made a motion that the recommendations be sent to the county’s planning board for review. Once the planning board considers the recommendations, the commissioners may hold a public hearing and decide whether to change the minimum lot size again.
Before this year, the last time the minimum lot size was changed was in the 1990s, when the commissioners approved a 25,000-square-foot minimum.
In the late 1980s and early 1990s, a majority of Pasquotank was written off as unbuildable because the soils that made up most of the county could not support a traditional septic system, Hollowell said.
But teaming with North Carolina State University, a solution to that problem was found – a sand line trench system. That system required builders to extract the clay from the ground and replace it with sand. The sand could then be used to filter the discharge. Artificial drain tiles also were placed in the ground to help push the water table down so that it would have less chance of mixing with the discharge.
Health officials also established a monitoring system that included an annual inspection.
In addition to the inspections, Hollowell said, septic systems had to be laid out in a small enough area so that the drain tiles could be put together tightly enough to work properly. To encourage that, the commissioners approved the 25,000-square-foot lot minimum, and that opened up the door to more development, Hollowell said.
Sept. 21, 2004
AZ Central.com, AZ
By Denise Cowie
© Copyright 2004
PHILADELPHIA - A class in floral arrangement looked like an easy "A" to Doug Croft when he was wrapping up his horticultural studies at Virginia Tech.
"I thought it wouldn't tax me too much," he recalled recently, as he led a group of aspiring floral designers through the gardens at Chanticleer in Wayne, N.J..
Though he didn't expect that class to have any impact on his new career, it turned out to be one of the most valuable.
"The elements of design and the principles of design you learn in floral arranging can be applied to designing a garden, too," he said. And to get the best out of flowers in the garden and the vase, it helps to know a thing or two about plants and their maintenance.
Not all flowers work well as cut flowers, Croft told participants in "The Arranger's Garden," a class sponsored by the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society. The class, which sold out so fast it had to be repeated a second evening, explored the joys of using your own cut flowers in floral arrangements.
That's where the concept of a cutting garden comes in - even if you think you don't have space for one.
"The philosophy used to be that the cutting garden should be on the 'back nine,' " Croft said. "The idea was that people didn't want to put all that effort into a garden and then cut the flowers," so they kept it separate.
But few people today have the luxury of tucking a cutting garden away out of sight, which means they are gradually disappearing.
"I think there has been a pretty steady decline" in the numbers of dedicated cutting gardens over the last 20 or 30 years, said David Ellis, director of communications for the Virginia-based American Horticultural Society, because today's homeowners have less time and space.
But people still want to be able to pick flowers from their own gardens. "There is a feeling of satisfaction you can get from being able to run out on short notice and gather up ... flowers for your own house, or to take to somebody else's house," Ellis said.
Croft suggests integrating a cutting garden into the regular garden by planting sweeps of some perennials that can be judiciously thinned and annuals that will bloom again after cutting, and by using garden maintenance to harvest material that can be used for arrangements.
Prunings from a Hydrangea paniculata "Unique," for instance, became part of a fireplace arrangement in the gallery at Chanticleer last week. Or you might use the grasslike trimmings from amsonia when you whack it back by two-thirds after it flowers, or the flower stalks of hosta that are mainly a textural statement in the landscape, or the purple foliage of Physocarpus opulifolius "Diablo," which may be in need of a trim by late summer.
For the last four years, Croft has been in charge of Chanticleer's cutting garden, which supplies most of the flowers for the displays created by a handful of staff horticulturists for the garden's public spaces. (Savvy visitors make a point of visiting the rest rooms to check out the imaginative flower arrangements, which feature seasonal fresh flowers.)
"It was always important that the cut-flower garden be aesthetically appealing," Croft said, "but the flowers growing in it weren't always suitable for arrangements." That has changed under the leadership of R. William Thomas, who took over as director of the garden last year.
Now, Croft said, he is designing the garden in a more formal manner, using rows and blocks, and all the flowers growing in it have to be useful as cut flowers.
What does that mean? They have to be flowers that don't wilt easily, so they'll have a long vase life, and they have to have strong, long stems.
It means no more growing morning glories on the garden's lovely rustic trellises, for example, because their blossoms are fleeting. Instead, Croft is planting clematis and unusual annual vines such as the aromatic Vigna caracalla, or snail flower.
"Those are the biggest criteria," Croft said, but there are also texture, color, and fragrance, "which is not essential, but it certainly does make an arrangement more enjoyable."
To make sure Chanticleer stays on the cutting edge, Croft joined the Association of Specialty Cut Flower Growers, an industry group that conducts growing trials through North Carolina State University, to see how different species and cultivars perform as cut flowers.
This year, the cutting garden at Chanticleer became a trial garden, giving Croft access to the newest and best - such as Lobelia speciosa "Fan Blue," a floriferous new cultivar he used in last week's design class.
So what's growing in the cutting garden? Everything from A (astilbe) to Z (zinnias), including such difficult-to-grow charmers as double lisianthus and workhorses like Helianthus x multiflorus "Flore Pleno," a sturdy double yellow sunflower that usually doesn't need staking, though the plant is more than six feet tall.
This season, there's also a row of asparagus, which provides great greenery for floral displays (and is also doing a good job of attracting Japanese beetles away from the dahlias).
"Don't just think of ferns when you're looking for greenery," Croft told the class, suggesting holly, azalea, yew, helleborus, coleus and hosta as alternative sources. And don't always go with the obvious. If you've trimmed greenery from your Magnolia virginiana, for instance, you can turn it around to feature the leaves' silvery underside in your arrangement.
Croft doesn't stop at the cutting garden when he's looking for design inspiration. The neighboring vegetable garden, also in his charge, provided an entire arrangement for last week's class: leaves from two kale varieties; rosemary; purple ornamental peppers; rhubarb stalks; and red okra pods, which echoed the color of the rhubarb.
"Some people say that's the best use ever for okra," joked fellow staffer Laura Aiken. Okra is actually in the hibiscus family, Croft added, but its pretty yellow flowers would close up quickly if cut.
Color is all many gardeners think of when they choose flowers for an arrangement. But that's just one factor. How about form, texture and line?
Let your structure guide you, urged Croft. Consider the shape of the arrangement you have in mind, its function, and where it might be placed - whether it's for the table, where guests will see all around it but need to see one another over it, or for the foyer, where they might see just the front. And when you begin creating your design, take your cue from the garden.
"I'm trying to re-create the beauty of what's in the garden, but on a smaller scale," Croft said. "I am trying to create a combination of flowers, foliage, and container that is pleasing to the eye and accomplishes a sense of balance and harmony throughout. ... I try to do this by combining different plant materials that work well together, and placing them such that the arrangement feels sturdy and each element can be appreciated in its own right and as a whole."
The result doesn't have to be complex.
Croft told the class of a dinner party he once planned, starring his own floral arrangement in a prized old family vase. When he set it on the table, however, water leaked everywhere - the vase was cracked.
After a frenzied search for an alternative container, Croft settled for a shallow bowl filled with water. He cut the heads off some flowers, floated them in the bowl, and added a candle.
"Everybody loved it," he said.