Dilworth shop Maddi's Gallery is closing

A popular Dilworth shop is closing after a decade of selling handmade artwork, crafts and specialty gifts, the owners announced Thursday.

Maddi's Gallery, owned by Madis and Diane Sulg, will close its doors mid-January.

Charlotte-based Rhyneland Inc., which owns the building Maddi’s Gallery has occupied for 10 years, recently decided to sell it. The Sulgs would need to relocate their business.

Maddi's Gallery on East Boulevard

“For about 24 hours, we looked around (for possible locations), thought about it and said, ‘At our age, starting over again when you’re well past retirement – it isn’t in the cards,’ ” Madis, 69, told the Observer. (Diane is 66 years old.)

The Sulgs are calling the closeout their “retirement sale.” It will begin 10 a.m. Dec. 29, and all inventory will be at least 30 percent off.

There will be interim markdowns until the final day of business, Jan. 19. All sales are final, and the Sulgs are encouraging customers to use their store coupons and gift certificates.

All fixtures and furniture are for sale as well.

Maddi’s Gallery opened at 1530 East Boulevard in Dilworth in October 2002. The flagship store is one door down from Lebowski’s Neighborhood Grill and across the street from Cantina 1511.

Two years later, the couple opened a second location at Birkdale Village in Huntersville.

The Sulg’s daughter, Michaelle Dalton, managed the Birkdale store, which was accompanied by a restaurant in 2007, Maddi’s Southern Bistro. The eatery featured Southern favorites on the menu as well as handmade crafts, such as dishes, glasses and check trays.

They closed the Birkdale location in 2010. “The recession up there was more than we could handle,” Madis said. “The reality is, in September 2008, it was like somebody threw a switch in Charlotte. Virtually all retail took a hit.”

Madis estimates that store has more than 40,000 different customers on file and has worked with more than 1,000 different vendors.

The store’s unifying theme was its handmade offerings, nearly all of which were crafted by Americans.

In 2009, Niche Magazine and trade association the Rosen Group selected Maddi’s Gallery from a field of more than 600 nominees to be the nation’s “Top Retailer of American Craft.” The awards competition recognizes top North American craft retailers.

“We’ve had a wonderful run, we’re really enjoyed it and we’ve dealt with one heck of a lot of really good people,” said Madis.

But it will be nice to relax and enjoy retirement, he added.

He saw evidence of that Wednesday morning, when he and Diane were getting ready.

“My wife said, ‘I’d really just like to stay in bed and read a book,’ Madis said. “At some point in your life, that’s not a bad alternative.”

Report: last-minute retail sales, foot traffic down

Last-minute shopping activity drove large increases in retail sales and foot traffic last week, but both sales and foot traffic were down compared to last year, says a retail report released Thursday. 

The data, known as the ShopperTrak National Retail Sales Estimate, reported that for the week ending Dec. 22, sales increase more than 39 percent and traffic increase 32 percent compared to the previous week. 

But retail sales were down 2.5 percent and foot traffic was down 3.3 percent, compared to the same week last year. 

Dec. 22 was the second-busiest retail sales and foot traffic day of the year, behind Black Friday (Nov. 23). 

ShopperTrak, a Chicago-based retail technology company that measures foot traffic in more than 50,000 locations globally, forecasts that day-after-Christmas sales won't be as strong as last year because of the day of the week. 

Last year, Dec. 26 fell on a Monday. This year, it was a Wednesday. 

"Many people were back at work, not in stores," says ShopperTrak founder Bill Martin in a statement.  

ShopperTrak will release its retail sales and foot traffic numbers for the week ending Dec. 29 during its holiday wrap-up news on Jan. 8.

The U.S. Department of Commerce will release its December numbers in February. 

Friday Spotlight: Santa edition

Hey, Santa, how is business?

Very good, Santa Chuck Spencer of Matthews said earlier this week.

“I have had to turn away...more business than I’ve been able to take.”

A year-round professional for about five years, Santa Chuck, 58, does office and neighborhood association parties, and home visits, providing ready-made photo ops. Memorable gigs this year included being Santa at the Belk Carolinas' Carrousel Parade. Then there was the home visit with 11 moms and their 13 babies. “I sat with 8-month-old to 13-month-old babies. It was a hoot. They were all able to sit up on their own.”

Santa Chuck also does volunteer work, visiting sick children year round.

This busy work weekend brings more home visits. And today through Monday, he’ll be in the Santa chair at Birkdale Village. “There will be a line this weekend,” Santa Chuck says. “I talk to the children…My job is to listen to the children, and try to calm the ones…that are a little afraid.”

(For more on how Santa Chuck got his start – along with a neat photo of Santa getting in his bike workout at Squirrel Lake Park in Matthews – check out this story by freelance writer Nancy Thomason in the Observer’s South Charlotte News section.)

I can’t remember the season, but I first met Santa Chuck more than a year ago in the parking deck of a local medical complex. If his long, naturally-white beard wasn’t enough of a giveaway – or his license plate, which includes “Santa” in it – his engaging demeanor confirmed his identity.

He’s clearly comfortable with people coming up to him, since it happens all the time. He's also prepared. He handed me Christmas stickers – and his business card. On impulse, I gave him a hug.

Hugs from strangers don’t bother him. But handing out business cards felt awkward at first, and he’s only been doing that for the last two years or so. Santa Chuck says his late mother-in-law encouraged him to adopt more entrepreneurial habits since his face generates immediate networking opportunities.

Like that Fourth of July day at Birkdale Village about six years ago. Dressed in shorts and a shirt, Santa Chuck recalls being at the fountain with his wife, Lori, a musician, to hear a children’s musical performance.

A lady walked up to him. Excuse me, do you play Santa?

“Before I could say anything, my wife said ‘yes,’" he recalls, joking that it was the first time in their lengthy marriage that she answered for him. The lady handed him her business card, and asked him to give her a call.

Then another lady walked up, her five-year-old son not far behind. After the mother asked Santa Chuck’s permission, the boy say on his lap, and talked nonstop for a half-hour, he said. Are you Santa? Is this Mrs. Claus? We’re going on a boat. Do you want to go on a boat? What do reindeer like to eat?

“He was so well spoken, and so excited,” Santa Chuck said. “Then I was sold.”

He started collecting Santa gear, and attended Santa School in Greensboro. Classes included a session on beard care.

His beard, by the way – which Santa Chuck says started growing in white and long following an illness about ten years ago – is now midway down his chest. He’s meticulous about keeping it washed and conditioned so it’s soft to the touch. Kids love touching it -- as do adult women, he says. He expects that will happen a lot this weekend.

“I have a lot of fun,” Santa Chuck says. “But I have to be honest with you, I’m looking forward to this time next week.”

Charlotte small-business owners urge tax reform

Several small business owners from the Charlotte area are among hundreds who have signed two separate letters to President Obama and Congress urging tax reform.

The letters, both listed as having more than 600 signatures, were sent by the American Sustainable Business Council, Business for Shared Prosperity and the Main Street Alliance. Business for Shared Prosperity is still collecting signatures on its website.

One letter voices support for ending the Bush-era tax cuts for families with income over $250,000. That letter states, in part, that “huge tax cuts for the richest Americans have not trickled down to increase small- and medium-sized business investment, broad based consumer purchasing power or job creation...” Signatures listed include Andrew Chesley of Chesley Morgan Consulting LLC in Concord, and Charlotte-based Roberta Dees, investor; Karin Kish of Growing Love Project, Carole McLeod of Advantage Waste, and Thomas Swanson, small business owner.

The other letter calls for corporate tax reform “that is fair and provides sufficient revenue for the public services and infrastructure that underpin our economy.

“…In our current two-tier corporate tax system, some profitable U.S. corporations pay taxes while others pay little or none – using aggressive accounting manipulation to disguise U.S. profits as foreign profits to avoid taxes.” Listed signatures for that letter include Swanson, and Sally Thomas, retired, tour business.

No rest for the weary this holiday season

A day off from work is a luxury many people can't spare, according to a recent study on travel habits.

The second annual American Travel Behavior Survey, conducted by Harris Interactive on behalf of Hotwire.com, a discount travel site, shows most Americans will end 2012 with an average of 9.2 paid vacation days on the table this year. That's up from 6.2 unused days in 2011, according to Hotwire. More than 2,000 U.S. adults were interviewed for the survey in October.

And for many small business owners, there is no such thing as taking a vacation. Results from a study conducted earlier this year by Manta, an online community for promoting and connecting small busineses, showed nearly half of 1,200 small business owners polled didn't have time to take a summer vacation.

Almost 60 percent predicted they would work more this year than in 2011, according to the Manta survey.

What about you? Are you taking any time off this year? Or will you work on your days off? Take our weekly ShopTalk poll on the topic, here.

A shop local movement makes 2013 plans

Nancy Bradley of RelyLocal Matthews, Mint Hill and Indian Trail - an effort that promotes small merchants in those areas - recently announced Cash Mob dates for 2013.

With local Cash Mob movements, shoppers use social media to pick out a local business, then all go at once to shop. The idea is to help support local entrepreneurs.

“We are coordinating six Cash Mob events in 2013 to give local retail businesses a bit of economic stimulus while fostering a sense of community,” Bradley wrote in a recent Facebook post.

Those dates are Martin Luther King Day, on Jan. 21; President’s Day, Feb. 18; Memorial Day, May 27; Labor Day, Sept. 2; Veterans Day, Nov. 11; and Small Business Saturday, which falls on Nov. 30 in 2013.

RelyLocal also runs a Shift $20 Campaign, encouraging residents to shift $20 of their spending each month to local businesses.

Find Rely Local on Facebook at /RelyLocalMatthews, or on Meetup.

Friday Spotlight 12-14: Small-business happenings

Small business leaders took top honors at last week's awards gala sponsored by the Charlotte Mecklenburg Black Chamber of Commerce:

-Express Logistic Services is the 2012 Small Business of the Year. Owner Kojo Sapon started his company with just one dump truck, and grossed just under $100,000 in the first year, according to the Chamber. Today, the company runs 40 trucks, and expects $3 million in gross revenue this year. Sapon’s company was a 2010 nominee for the N.C. Department of Transportation’s small business of the year, according to the chamber.

- Herb Gray is the 2012 Small Business Influencer of the Year. A philanthropist and community leader, Gray is chief operating officer of Charlotte-based Life Enhancement Services, which serves clients with mental and behavioral health disorders. The business also has offices in Georgia, Nebraska, Washington D.C. and Texas.

Also, Glenn Proctor, executive editor of Lake Norman Publications – which includes the Herald Weekly serving North Mecklenburg and Mooresville Weekly – was named CMBCC Member of the Year. Proctor is former executive editor of the Richmond Times-Dispatch.