Briefing for Friday December 18th: Belmont to sports gifts

My wife asked for a coloring book this Christmas. I said, “Our son can’t color yet, he’s just going to eat the pencils.” She responded, “No, it’s for me. I want an adult coloring book.” What the?! I guess this is a thing. Anyways. 

VITALS

Today’s Weather: 55. 20% chance of rain.
Weekend Weather: Saturday will be 49/sunny, Sunday will be 54/sunny. 
Today’s Stat: 455. Charlotte Saturday screenings of Star Wars: The Force Awakens [Fandango].
Today’s Job: Web Designer at Huntersville startup ProctorFree (freelance project).Apply.
Today’s Charlottean: Tony Zeiss, President of Central Piedmont Community College, for pushing education forward.

ORIGINALS

This old plant in the Belmont neighborhood may soon house a brewery, restaurant and coffee roaster [Dunn]
An old industrial plant at the entry to the Belmont neighborhood that once made chocolate chip cookies could become a social center. Leases are coming together to bring a brewery, restaurant and coffee roaster to the massive building on Louise Avenue.

CLT hearts food. Here are 45 photos tagged with #cltfood [Papajohn]
This hashtag has been used 32,237 times on Instagram. Gorgeous photos that’ll make your mouth water.

The Free Store is connecting people beyond the donations [Piscitelli]
It is what you think it is – a free store. The Free Store’s motto is: “Give what you want, take what you need.” The store is open Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. and is operated by a unique team of volunteers. Such a different, cool story.

The Internet hype cycle of the holiday season [Levans]
Holiday rant from Katie. I disagree. I love consumerism. I love Pumpkin Spice Lattes. I love Cyber Monday. I love J.Crew advertisements. I love America.

A company at Industry Coworking just landed a $5.3 million investment [Dunn]
Congratulations to DealCloud. Funding comes in the form of an equity investment and the company will also have a new CEO, Rick Kushel.

The 4 phases of the 2015 Panthers, as told by the Vegas betting market [TrolleyWalk]
Preseason, the Panthers’ odds to win the Super Bowl were 60/1. Now they’re 9/2. Here’s the story of their evolution: “Cam’s got no help” => “So they can beat bad teams” => “Okay, so maybe they’re alright” => “Super Bowl!”

8 gifts for the Charlotte sports fan in your life [Wilhide]
Items: Panthers Game Day print ($25), 704 Shop tee ($28), playoff tickets ($TBD, but high), 5-game Hornets holiday gift pack ($125+), local college basketball ($9-$15), Richard Petty Experience ($109), Charlotte Knights 18-game partial season ticket plans ($297). View the details and our analysis.

The 4 most important lessons I learned at Startup Grind [Moore]
Red Ventures hosted this startup event on Wednesday night. Fireside chat with Abhishek Ratani, President of RV Tech, and six startup pitches. One startup brought a $25,000 drone. That’s cool. Pitch winner was Fletch App (create mobile study groups). 

TALKING POINTS 

James Beard Award-winning chef R.J. Cooper, the guy that helped build restaurants Rogue 24 and Gypsy Soul, is leaving DC to become the director of culinary experiences at Marriott City Center [Carman+Sietsema/Washington Post]. Boom. He’ll be “developing menus and hiring talent for an upscale casual restaurant, a coffee lounge, a speakeasy and a craft bar.”

A new website launched yesterday that breaks down traffic stops based on race [Opendatapolicingnc.com]. View items like: Annual percentage of stops by race/ethnicity, CMPD search rate by race/ethnicity and more.

Fancy workout concept CycleBar prepares to ride into Charlotte with its “premium indoor cycling experience” [CycleBar.com]. Locations currently in development include: Metropolitan, Waverly and SouthPark. 

UBER rolled out UberEVENTS to Charlotte [UBER.com]. This allows party throwers to purchase rides for guests. Cool idea for smart, tech savvy hosts – allows holiday parties to go next level since nobody is driving home.

Refinery29 did a study on “The 20 Most Popular Bakeries In America, According To Instagram” and Amelie’s landed at #14 [Refinery29.com]. Based on geotags. #1 was Café Du Monde in New Orleans.

Washington Post loves the Panthers and gives five reasons why they’re nearly perfect [Dooley/Washington Post]. Reasons: Cam, sneaky star power of Olsen, Norman, Kuechly and Short, offensive line improvement, underrated receiving corps and easy schedule. 
 

I’ll be honest, my head kind of hurts from $1 Bud Lights at the Checker’s Axios Charlotte Night last night. We loved hanging out with everyone and it’s always fun to meet IRL.