🟢 The Dangler Hits 3.1M Views

Presented by:

By Ted Williams

Hello Thursday. Watch out Amelie’s, a French-inspired bakery and cafe named Maman opened yesterday in Plaza Midwood across from Uchi.

The NYC-based concept will also open in South End’s Atherton Mill and near Stagioni in Eastover.

Menu includes breakfast, salads, soups, sandwiches, pastries, and fancy coffee.
I’m bullish. It’s gorgeous. Seating for 140. Rustic-chic vibes. Soaring ceilings.
I’m officially ranking their $4.50 Classic Chocolate Chip Cookie as the 2nd best in Charlotte, following only Villani's Bakery.

Maman is a chain with more than 50 locations. Our city likes to pretend that we don’t like chains, but for better or worse, our city loves chains (see Jeni’s, Uchi, Snooze, Naked Farmer, etc). Anyways.

$16 Andrea’s Everything Croissant & Salmon Sandwich looking like a snack

💼 Hot Job: Director of Philanthropy at Charlotte Preparatory School ($146K – $160K). Pre-K–8. Over 400 students. Reports to Head of School Todd Ballaban.

🍝 Now open: Italo Pasta House in Uptown. Go with the $15 bruschetta, $15 grilled artichoke, $30 wagyu short rib ragu — and wash it down with their 3x 3-ounce Italian wine flight.

👨 Shout-out: Yih-Han Ma, CEO and founder of new AI home management startup named Hint, for raising a $10M seed round. Yih-Han graduated from MIT and worked at Red Ventures for 9 years.

MARKETS: YEAR-TO-DATE

S&P 500

7,433

+8.38%

Nasdaq

26,270

+13.06%

NEW INVENTION

Myers Park couple hits 3.1M Instagram views while launching $40 golf cup holder

Trent and Grace Bailey, 39-year-old founders of ParWalker

Idea: "As a walking golfer, I never had a spot to put my beer," Trent told me. "So my wife and I spent 2 years developing the world's first patented no-spill walking golf cup holder."

The couple invested tens of thousands of dollars and went through dozens of prototypes before landing on the perfect design.

Purchase: You can buy The Dangler for $39.99. I bought 5 of them. It easily clips onto all bags. Honestly, pretty damn brilliant. "All thrills, no spills."

Launch: Grace created an Instagram account for last week's product launch. She posted a 17-second product video filmed at Myers Park Country Club — and it immediately went viral, racking up 3.1M views and 113K shares 🤯

With $0 in paid advertising, the couple has sold 775 Danglers in just 10 days.
Given the demand, they just ordered another 2,000 units.

Opportunity: The golf accessories market is worth $4.2B and growing 7% annually. "There's no real brand for the 9 million walking golfers," explained Trent.

"Normally Trent's business ideas are pretty dumb, but this one is good," said Grace, who's now spending all her spare time shipping units out of their garage.

PRESENTED BY MOOD HOUSE

Mood House surpasses 2,200 members — but you don't need to be a member to book

Mood House Oakhurst giving off Palm Springs vibes

Awards: Congrats to Mood House for making it on Yelp's 2025 Top Local Businesses List!! Only 3 North Carolina businesses made the list.

Voted "No. 1 Best Massage" in Charlotte in back-to-back years.
Surpassed 2,200 massage members ($92/mo) across their Dilworth and Oakhurst locations — but you don’t need to be a member to book.

Book it: Use code “TINY20” at checkout for 20% off services or gift cards (code valid for next 24 hours). It’s amazing!

NOW OPEN

$6M Market On Morehead opens on Rail Trail with outdoor 25-foot jumbotron

Patio at Market on Morehead, arguably the No. 1 patio in Charlotte

Now open: Market On Morehead opened 7 days ago in South End. Seating for 450 throughout many different nooks. Indoor/outdoor bar.

Vibes: Think lovechild of BrickTop's and Reid's. American food. Go with the $22 MOM Burger, a gourmet take on the Big Mac.

Money: Owned by the group that does Market on Main in Columbia, SC, and crushes it there. Co-founder Josh Willoughby projects $8M – $10M in annual sales.

TINY MONEY JOB BOARD

Who’s hiring in Charlotte? 5 Trending jobs

VP of Operations at Gleezy Dog ($75K – $125K). Hybrid. Just hit 1,500,000 hot dog sales milestone. CEO Bryce Rech.
HR Manager at Olde Mecklenburg Brewery ($60K – $75K). Beer stipend. Reports directly to COO Jim Birch.
Senior Manager, Organic Social at Burn Boot Camp. Lead team. Cool hiring manager Katelyn Lattimore.
Content Manager, Treasury Products at Bank of America ($100K – $116K). Part of global payments team.
VP of Marketing at Pinehurst Resort. Must be obsessed with golf, hospitality, and storytelling. Badass EVP Eric Kuester.

Hiring? Post a job

Hunting? View all 96 open jobs on the Tiny Money Job Board💰

MONEY TALKS

33-year-old consultant makes $250K as husband takes "leap" as $60K YouTuber

$45 Braised Pork at Restaurant Constance, her No. 1 restaurant

Money Talks is a weekly series showcasing how real people in Charlotte approach money. Participate.

Job: “I’m a management consultant making $250K. My husband quit his $217K corporate job to become a YouTuber. He’ll make $60K this year.”

Rental income: “Didn’t intend to become landlords, but kept our first house. Management company takes 8%; when all is said and done we net between $700 – $800 per month.”

No kids: “We’re child-free by choice. The cost-benefit analysis never makes sense to us.”

Splurge: “Charlotte FC season tickets. Two club seats run us about $4,000 per year. We struggled to find a shared hobby up until we became fans. So fun!”

Net worth: “$1.7M. Built from scratch, baby!”

Portfolio breakdown: “$100K in cash. Just over $1M in 401(k)/IRA accounts (about 80% Roth). $125K in a taxable brokerage. Almost all in S&P 500 index funds. $0 in crypto or prediction markets. Then home equity.”

Rich in Charlotte: “Whatever it takes to live on Queens Road.”

Full story: 33-year-old Wesley Heights couple shares $7.5M financial freedom figure

MONEY SNACKS

5 other financial headlines I’m snacking on

Sharigato opens in Optimist Park. The $850K LA-inspired sushi spot specializes in hand rolls. 24-seat counter bar.
ATM portfolio for sale asking $3.5M. EBITDA $814K. Total of 604 ATMs across Charlotte. Owner retiring.
Parents buying homes for kids, but with strings attached. One dad set $700K house limit if daughter stayed within 2 miles.
Packard Tavern opens in Uptown. Upscale American food. $500K investment. Congrats to Paul Manley, who also owns Ace No. 3.
Two Kings Casino opens phase one with 1,350 slots, 22 table games, and 68-seat restaurant. Part of their $1B project.

HOUSEKEEPING

I started a new media buying agency named South Mint with my friend Chace Black

Chace Black, Charlotte’s No. 1 best media exec with $100M experience

Idea: Working in digital publishing for 20 years, I've talked to hundreds of Charlotte CMOs and business owners trying to figure out paid media. It's a mess. It's confusing. It's technical. But it's also a HUGE opportunity.

Leadership: I met Chace Black, our city’s No. 1 media buying exec, while working on a UNC Chapel Hill media research project. Dude was refreshing as hell. Humble. Unselfish. Obsessed.

We compared notes for 3 years before starting South Mint.
I love building long-term companies with long-term people.

Who it's for: Brands that spend between $200K and $10M in annual paid media, with a focus on digital.

Price check: Flat fee, ranging from $4K/mo to $18K/mo. Senior-only. AI-enabled. Already profitable with handful of pre-launch clients, so we're not salesy or desperate. We're locked in.

Happy Thursday! I’m heading to Burnsville, NC this weekend. Teeing up with my 11-year-old son at Mountain Air Country Club, which has a private runway between holes 5 and 6👇

– Ted