🍑 Happy Tuesday. Sam and Troy are in Atlanta for the Axios retreat.

• If you have any recommendations for places to visit, let us know!

🌤️ Today's weather: Mostly sunny, with a high of 71 and a low of 60.

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Today’s newsletter is 909 words — a 3.5-minute read.

👋🏽 Kristen Swilley from Axios Cincinnati here, saying hi to all you fellow Ohioans.

Like Sam and Troy, I am at the Axios retreat in Georgia, where I grew up before moving to Ohio.

The other side: Axios managing editor Delano Massey grew up in Northeast Ohio and moved to Georgia.

The great debate: With our worlds colliding in Atlanta this week, we're settling the question: Which state is better?

☀️ Weather

💭 Swilley's thought bubble: Georgia. Next question.

💭 Delano's thought bubble: Georgia-ish. I'm from Northeast Ohio and have lived in Chicago, so I know winter, but I'll still take Ohio's cool summer nights over Atlanta's sweltering heat.

🎤 Entertainment

💭 Swilley: Georgia, and this one hurts.

• Huge tour? Atlanta. Reunion tour? Atlanta. Beyoncé sneezes near a microphone? Start checking Ticketmaster.

💭 Delano: Georgia. There are layers to this.

• Music, movies, television, festivals, Killer Mike randomly sitting three tables away from you at J.R. Crickets — entertainment is part of the city's economy and identity. Just attend a Hawks game — it's different, and I lived at home during both LeBron stints.

🚗 Traffic

💭 Swilley: A thousand times Ohio.

• Atlanta has plenty to do. The problem is you must first get there.

💭 Delano: Duh, Ohio.

• I could drive from Medina to Columbus, passing through cities and small towns along the way, in the same time it can take me to get from southwest Atlanta to Buckhead, depending on I-285 gridlock.

Read more hot takes

Spirit Halloween is haunting the shells of former big-box stores again this fall as it opens 1,500 locations nationwide, including around 20 in Northeast Ohio.

The big picture: The stores appear and vanish each fall, so finding this year's Spirit often means relaying directions with neighbors in retail shorthand: "Where the old Party City used to be."

By the numbers: Of the locations analyzed by Axios, 153 — just over 1 in 10 — were labeled "Former Joann" stores in Spirit's locator.

• Joann closed all of its fabric and craft stores in 2025.
• Former Big Lots stores ranked second with 103 locations, followed by Party City with 100. Both chains shed hundreds of locations after bankruptcy.

Zoom in: Spirit stores in Northeast Ohio have previously been everything from a Joann on Canton Road in Akron and a Party City in Fairlawn, to an Old Navy in Steelyard Commons and a Forever 21 at SouthPark Mall.

• Some residents have joked the recently closed downtown Heinen's could be converted into a Spirit store.

Zoom out: Spirit, which bills itself as North America's largest Halloween retailer, relies on temporary leases to transform vacant storefronts into seasonal shops.

• The arrangements bring property owners exposure and a few months of rent while they search for long-term tenants.
• Spirit Halloween hasn't responded to a request for comment.

The bottom line: A familiar storefront in a new orange costume is a telltale sign spooky season has arrived.

🥯 The Toledo-based Barry Bagels has opened in the former Dave's Cosmic Subs on Lorain Avenue in Ohio City. (Cleveland Scene)

🔥 Investigators were unable to determine the cause of the gas leak that caused the Rainbow Terrace Apartments fire in June 2025. (Ideastream)

🐦‍⬛ The Cleveland Community Police Commission has voted to tell police to pause the use of automated license plate readers on Jan. 1 if new policies aren't in place. (Signal Cleveland)

🧱 Valor Acres, the $678 million mixed-use development in Brecksville, is just about finished. (NEOtrans)

👋🏻 Sam and 👊🏾 Troy here. You read us every morning. Now come hang out with us in real life.

What's happening: Axios Social Club is taking over Ohio City on Tuesday, Oct. 6, for a night of mystery dinners, new friends and — most importantly — an after-party featuring your Axios Cleveland crew.

Why it matters: Cleveland is full of interesting people you haven't met yet. We're making introductions.

How it works: Take a quick quiz, reserve your seat and we'll match you with five fellow Clevelanders for dinner at a hand-picked Ohio City restaurant.

• Come solo or bring a friend.
• Your restaurant and dinner companions remain a mystery until event day.
• After dinner, everyone converges at a surprise location for the after-party.

👋 And we'll be there, hanging out at the after-party.

If you go: Dinner starts at 6:30pm. Tickets are $15.99 per person; food and drinks are purchased separately.

The bottom line: Come for the mystery dinner. Stay to party with Sam and Troy — and meet some fellow Axios Cleveland readers.

The Browns are tied for first place in the AFC North after winning a home opener for the first time since 2023.

Reader Marc Shack won our weekly caption contest by capturing the pure joy of the Browns not sucking.

• "I can't believe we won the whole thing!"

What's next: The Browns are hosting in primetime this week for Thursday Night Football against the Pittsburgh Steelers.

🙏 Sam is, as usual, feeling rejuvenated as he connects with his colleagues from across the country. He enjoyed lunch yesterday at Atlanta's Ponce City Market.

🧘🏾‍♂️ Troy is stretching his back after a rough night on an Airbnb mattress.

This newsletter was edited by Tyler Buchanan.