Charlotte business week: Longtime Plaza Midwood shop closes, manufacturing layoffs
Charlotte’s business landscape saw some shifts in early June, with longtime local shops closing, layoffs hitting manufacturing and distribution, and grocery expansion continuing.
Here are key takeaways:
- A Plaza Midwood staple is closing as Fred Floyd shuts down C. Fredrick’s Automotive Interiors after nearly 40 years, with the property at 1320 Nandina St. selling for $2 million on May 11 to the Taryn Morgan White Family Trust.
- A former Wells Fargo vice president in Charlotte has filed a federal lawsuit against the bank, with Jamelle Cuthbertson claiming he was fired in retaliation for raising racial discrimination complaints and that the bank violated the Americans with Disabilities Act by rescinding his work-from-home accommodation.
- Bedding manufacturer Downlite International will close its Monroe facility and lay off 113 people by Aug. 14, following Live Comfortably’s March purchase of several Downlite divisions.
- North Carolina grocer Lowes Foods will open its seventh Charlotte-area store on June 18 in Kannapolis, a 52,000-square-foot location that will hire 100 to 120 employees.
- Biggerstaff Furniture, a four-generation family business in Gastonia, is closing after 78 years as owner Ray Biggerstaff retires, ending a company founded in 1948 by his grandfather Raymond Biggerstaff.
- Developer Northwood Ravin is planning two apartment complexes near The Pearl that would add 600 units total, including 328 luxury units at 900 S. McDowell St. and 283 units at 1200 Metropolitan.
- Republic National Distributing Company is closing warehouses in Charlotte and Raleigh, laying off 39 workers in Charlotte and 14 in Raleigh by July 31 as part of a broader restructuring affecting nearly 5,400 employees across 11 states.
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