McLaughlins move forward without The Know on Fayetteville St. -- and why their new financial plan makes sense
by Kevin Davis
5 months ago | 864 views | 2 2 comments | 6 6 recommendations | email to a friend | print


Less than a couple of weeks after a Monday night City Council meeting that seemed to deeply frustrate Mozella McLaughlin and her family in their quest to gain City incentives towards the renovation of the building housing The Know bookstore on Fayetteville St., today brings news of a big shift in direction for the plans.

The building owner's son, William McLaughlin, told the N&O's Jim Wise on Thursday that The Know would no longer be a part of the renovation plans, and needed to be out of the building by December 31. The Know's owner, tenant-at-will Bruce Bridges, clashed publicly with the McLaughlins over what he says was a co-opting of his idea and a shrinkage of his space in a way that would make his bookstore no longer viable as a business. That move came after a long mediation session yesterday, Wise reports.

McLaughlin also tells Wise that City incentive dollars may or may not be a part of the plan -- a plan whose construction costs will shrink by $200,000 as the McLaughlins eliminate a planned green roof feature from the project.

From BCR's perspective, the latter is perhaps the best news to come up in some time for the McLaughlin project, representing what we'd speculate could be the difference in the effort's ability to qualify for financing.

Read the full story -- sourced from conversations with local and out-of-region developers and bankers -- at Bull City Rising:

http://bit.ly/MhwbT
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comments (2)
« BlackObserver wrote on Friday, Oct 16 at 05:53 AM »
To Reader 378191,

It is commendable that you attempted to patronize The Know Bookstore by purchasing hymnals, and it is unfortunate that you found them priced nearly double your expectations. Although I may not be able to specifically account for the overage, it reminds me of a lesson taught to me by my father over 50 years or more ago. As poor as we were, and he was also a pastor of a struggling church, he taught his family by example to try to at least purchase something periodically from Black-owned businesses -- even if they cost more. In my naviety, I inquired why those businesses could not provide equivalent prices as the chain stores. He astutely explained to me that larger businesses can get greater discounted items because of volume and smaller shippisng costs. So that even if the Black business man could not compete, as members of the same community working together, we should find a way to offer our support some of the times whenever we can regardless of the higher cost. This explanation has been ingrained in my consciousness, and even though I am a great bargain shopper to the max, wherever I can I still try to Buy Black as much as I can. I hope this is a lesson that our people still teach their progeny today that should have lasting effects.
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« 378191 wrote on Tuesday, Oct 06 at 07:24 PM »
The McLaughlin's are entitled to do whatever they want with their property. Bruce has been in the business long enough to have purchased his own property, and his books and other items are much higher than other book stores in Raleigh and Durham. I wanted to purchase hymnals from him, but the cost was almost double. If his business is as good as he says, it will survive anywhere.
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