Willoughby Avenue

Lynnhaven Mall goes through major makeover

VIRGINIA BEACH
Have you been to Lynnhaven Mall lately?
You’ll hardly recognize it.
Gone are the clunky escalators; gone, too, is the second floor with its food court. Center court, once a kiosk-cluttered maze, is now an airy, bright lounge with cushioned seats and sofas.
Maria Lamb went to the mall with her 5- and 7-year-old daughters on a mission one July morning.

Hampton Roads

Don’t forget: State sales tax holiday this weekend

The state’s sales tax holiday begins today and goes through Sunday.
The holiday runs through the weekend and exempts certain school supplies, clothes and shoes from sales tax. This holiday also exempts hurricane and emergency preparedness items along with certain energy efficient appliances.

Hampton Roads

Wasserhund brewery brings German lagers to Virginia Beach

VIRGINIA BEACH
Behind every good beer, there’s a story.
The Wasserhund Brewing Company story starts in a small apartment in Northern Virginia, travels to Germany and lands in Virginia Beach at Hilltop.
On a mid-July afternoon, Aaron Holley, his wife, Christine, and his brother-in-law Craig Lubinski rolled up their sleeves inside the new brewery.

Baltimore Sun, Business

Families spending less on back-to-school purchases, NRF says

Another survey on back-to-school shopping is out — this time showing that parents plan to trim spending this year compared to last.

Baltimore Sun, Business

IKEA offers repair for 27 million dressers after deaths of two toddlers

Federal authorities say IKEA is offering a free wall anchoring kit for dressers and chests that officials say can pose a tip-over hazard if not secured to a wall.

Baltimore Sun, Business

Former Jos. A. Bank executives launch men’s apparel brand in Maryland

Several former executives of Jos. A. Bank Clothiers Inc. plan to launch a retail brand that will be based in Maryland and sell classically styled men’s apparel for business professionals.

Fast Company

GE Wants to Give Industrial Machines Their Own Social Network With Predix Cloud

GE is selling a new service that promises to predict when a machine will break down…so technicians can preemptively fix it.

An airplane’s “black box” flight data recorder helps investigators understand how a crash happened. But with ubiquitous sensors and the ability to analyze petabytes of data online, technology could some day predict how future crashes will happen, and how to prevent them. “I don’t want to promise that we will build it…but it is definitely possible,” says Harel Kodesh, manager of GE’s Predix cloud-computing service.

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Fast Company

Vice Media Writers Vote To Unionize

Writers at Vice are reportedly unionizing.

In a surprise move on a summer Friday, writers at Vice Media have voted to unionize. The Wall Street Journal reports that Vice’s writers will be joining the Writer’s Guild of America, East (WGA), and that sources say Vice is prepared to recognize the union.

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Fast Company

From Converse To Kanye: See The Rise Of Sneaker Culture From 1917 To Now

Elizabeth Semmelhack, curator of the Rise of Sneaker Culture exhibit talks about the evolution of kicks from the first Converse Chuck Taylors through Run DMC to Kanye’s Dons.

“The sneaker is the most baroque item of dress in a man’s attire,” says shoe expert Elizabeth Semmelhack, and she should know. Senior curator of Toronto’s BATA Shoe Museum, she put together the Out of the Box: The Rise of Sneaker Culture picture book and traveling exhibition (through October 4 at the Brooklyn Museum) to celebrate the evolution of the athletic shoe from canvas high top to high-fashion status symbol that generates $55 billion a year in worldwide revenue.

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Fast Company

Inside The Creative Office Cultures At Facebook, IDEO, And Virgin Airlines

The tech, design, and travel leaders have enviable creative cultures. Here’s how they do it.

What do the leaders in the industries of tech, design, and travel have in common? Facebook, Virgin Airlines, and IDEO all pride themselves in their approach to creativity and innovation. And their company cultures reflect their ethos.

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