Mooresville-based Lowe’s saw its sales jump to nearly $89.6 billion in 2020 — a record high — as stuck-at-home Americans embarked on do-it-yourself projects. Fourth quarter same-store sales surged more than 28% over 2019.

• Now, CEO Marvin Ellison tells Axios' Katie Peralta Soloff that Lowe's has its sights set on taking market share.

Why it matters: For years, Lowe’s has played catch-up with Home Depot, its larger rival based in Atlanta. But a series of decisions made before last year put the North Carolina-grown home improvement superstore in position to take advantage of the pandemic surge.

The details: Lowe's overhauled several areas of its business model under Ellison, modernizing digital platforms and improving the supply chain to speed up its fulfillment of online orders.

• Of note: Ellison joined Lowe's in July 2018 after working as a Home Depot executive, and brought a number of former Home Depot leaders to Lowe's executive team.

Then 2020 put everything into hyperdrive across the home improvement industry.

That won't slow down soon, Ellison says. He believes many Americans will continue to work from home, even after the pandemic, making those home office renovations more appealing.

• Lowe’s itself is identifying jobs that can be made permanent work-from-home roles moving forward, he added.

What he's saying: "There’s a lot that we’ve learned about how the home will be the centerpiece of our future," Ellison told Katie.

What to watch: Mortgage rates remain low, encouraging people to buy or refinance and reinvest in their home.

• Home sales prices are soaring. In Charlotte, the average sales price was up 13.6% year-over-year in January, according to recent data.
• The current stock of U.S. homes is aging, and supply isn’t keeping up. That’s good for home improvement retailers: Two-thirds of Lowe’s business is non-discretionary repair and maintenance work.

Fun fact: The Ellison family recently wrapped up their own 18-month renovation of the south Charlotte home they bought when they moved here.

• "It was a long project but it came out beautifully and I’m very pleased with it. We’re happy to be residents of Charlotte," Ellison said.

Read more from Katie's interview with Ellison here.

Joan Higginbotham, the Charlotte resident who was the third Black woman to go to space, is considering a run for U.S. Senate as a Democrat in 2022, POLITICO reports.

Why it matters: Higginbotham is an actual rocket scientist, for starters. And she’s a trailblazer who, if she enters the race, would be vying to become North Carolina’s first Black U.S. senator.

• The 2022 Senate field will be crowded. On the Democratic side, state Sen. Erica Smith was the first to join the race, followed by Charlotte's Jeff Jackson, who has been campaigning all over the state.

The backstory: Higginbotham worked for NASA until 2007. Since then she's done all sorts of interesting work, including running a malaria-control program in Africa for Marathon Oil.

• Higginbotham's husband, James "Smuggie" Mitchell, served on city council for two decades before stepping down in January.

Charlotte folks are embracing #vanlife, Axios' Paige Hopkins writes. She chased the trend down the rabbit hole and found six locals who've spent chunks of the pandemic traveling to remote places and living out of a van.

• Why it matters: Ah, the open road.

Yes, but: Van renovations can be expensive (from around $10K to the price of a Myers Park condo, Paige says), and most everyone she talked to did the work themselves.

How it works: Choosing destinations is all about preference. Most folks went for warmer weather in the winter, or national park hopping.

Pro tip: "You're gonna get stuck so bring a shovel," Taylor Wells tells Paige of her front-wheel drive van.

Here's a look inside a few vans that are (or soon-to-be) traveling around the country.

👀 Check out who's hiring on our Job Board. 

1. Development Associate at Sustain Charlotte.
2. Accounting Manager at Forest2Market, Inc.
3. Gallery Sales Assistant at Elder Gallery of Contemporary Art.
4. Event Manager at Your Event Source.
5. Business Development Associate at Healthgram.
6. Director of Development at Communities In Schools, Charlotte-Mecklenburg.
7. Sales Associate at Bedside Manor.

📣 Calling all marketing pros: Check out these 26 marketing openings straight from the Axios Charlotte Job Board.

Want more opportunities? Check out our Job Board.

Hiring? Post a job. 

Xiao Bao, a popular Charleston-based restaurant, opens today in Optimist Hall, Axios' Emma Way writes.

• Why it matters: The original Xiao Bao Biscuit was named one of Bon Appétit’s Best New Restaurants in 2013. Emma raves about the okonomiyaki, a savory Japanese cabbage pancake that's on the menu.

The opening is atop Symphony Webber's list of 15 things to do in Charlotte this week.

Mr. K's will become The Crust. Yes, a Florida-based family-owned pizza restaurant will take over the sacred South Boulevard burger spot, CBJ's Jennifer Thomas first reported late Friday night.

• The news came hours after Mr. K's fans wiped away tears as the restaurant closed after 53 years in the same family.

Why it matters: Here again is Charlotte's essential, eternal question: What parts of our past do we hang on to at any cost, and what becomes a faded image in a library archive?

• When Mr. K's went up for sale last month, its fans hoped that a local buyer would take over and keep the flattop burger concept.

For what it's worth: The family that owns The Crust seems to understand the cultural significance of Mr. K's.

• "I know people will be disappointed to some degree," George Kanellopoulos told CBJ, "but we absolutely love Charlotte and hopefully we’ll be here for decades to come."

My thought bubble: The Mr. K's pain is still too fresh to have a take.

You can catch a train in Charlotte to destinations across the state, including Raleigh, Durham, and Greensboro. Some lines even run all the way to New York and New Orleans. 🤯

If you're itching to travel, a train ride could be the ticket. Masks are required and seats are spread out for social distancing. 

Curious how it works? We broke down everything you need to know.

The highest compliment I can give another writer is to be angry that they wrote something I wanted to write. Pat Moran's feature on the 72-year-old Funky Geezer and his 2.7 million TikTok followers in Queen City Nerve makes me furious, and I love it.

Why it matters: Woody Williams (aka Funky Geezer) grew up in north Charlotte, worked at Highland Park Mill No. 3 in high school, and started playing music after hearing Arthur Smith. Hard to get more dyed-in-the-Charlotte-wool than that.

• He's beloved in his neighborhood, and now by nearly 3 million people who've followed him since he started the delightful account in November.

That's when, Moran writes, Williams heard that former President Trump hated TikTok and was trying to shut it down.

• "I thought, ‘Let’s see what the hell he hates,'" the Funky Geezer says.

Read the full story.

🌀 News you can use from our super cool, very important Axios Charlotte partners.

• 🏁 Two new exhibits recently opened at NASCAR Hall of Fame, a Charlotte Regional Visitors Authority-managed venue. “A Legendary Decade: The First 50 Inductees” highlights the first 10 classes inducted into the Hall of Fame while “Jimmie Johnson: One Final Time” celebrates the seven-time NASCAR premier series champion. 
• ICYMI: The accounting pros at Fisher, P.A. went over everything you need to know about stimulus checks and your taxes this year. Read the full Q+A.