Driving business RV industry picks up Page 19
August 21 - September 3, 2020 Vol. 21, No. 16
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wilmingtonbiz.com
WEB EXCLUSIVE What’s in store
The latest retailer to fail wilmingtonbiz.com
District C
Training next workforce generation Page 10
More than music
Company makes posters, apparel, more Page 12
PHOTO BY MICHAEL CLINE SPENCER
Index Economic Indicators .............................. 3 Technology ............................................. 4 The List .................................................. 5 Hospitality ............................................. 6 In Profile...............................................10 Real Estate..................................... 13-14 Business of Life.............................. 18-19
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Outside the box: Jimmy Gilleece, owner of Jimmy’s at Red Dogs, has found new ways to keep the business open. They have branded clothing and merchandise and started renting electric bicycles for beachgoers to get around town.
HOPING FOR THE
NEXT PHASE
STILL SHUTTERED, BUSINESSES COUNT COSTS, TRY TO ADAPT BY KYLE HANLIN epetition. To sustain, many, if not most businesses, depend on repetition of customer and client behavior. Fitness centers offer memberships in hopes that members will return
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and put in more, well … reps … in advancement of their health and wellness goals. And, along the way, spend more on classes, protein bars and workout gear. The film industry churns out sequels hoping that moviegoers will buy tickets and to try to replicate the experience of seeing the original. And theater operators hope moviegoers will spend more on popcorn, candy and extra-large sodas. Bars offer drink specials, live entertainment and immersive sports-watching to encourage establishment loyalty and frequent returns. And, along the way, bar
owners hope revelers will spend more on drinks, drinks, drinks and sometimes T-shirts and hats. But on Aug. 7, as part of the state’s continued response to and handling of the coronavirus pandemic, Gov. Roy Cooper extended Safer at Home Phase 2, the executive order that will keep such businesses shuttered until at least Sept. 11. The announcement was Cooper’s Rocky V; the sequel many never wanted.
WHERE DO WE GO NOW? “About the third or fourth week, we started trying to figure out See PHASE, page 8
