N&O Editor writes about NC State, eclipse, IKEA

Happy Halifax Resolves Days weekend, which is a thing.

The thing happened on Friday 248 years ago when a bunch of frat guys in wigs highfived and chest-bumped, declaring it was time to move out of the house from their boring Brit parents. Someone from the North Carolina Provincial Congress shouted “Don’t Tread on ACC basketball,” and … swish … North Carolina became the first colonial government to call for independence.

Two years later, we have the Declaration of Independence, and now Ralph Lauren provides snazzy outfits for the U.S. Olympics teams.

This is a revisionist version of what happened in Halifax, NC. (I’m not a historian, but who doesn’t like finding bobbleheads at historical-place gift shops.)

We have a lot of lifelong learners in the Triangle. Best part of my job is learning new stuff each workweek.

Here are three didn’t-knowthen-but-know-now moments from last week:

1. WE’RE TOO COOL FOR IKEA

The News & Observer’s Brian

Gordon is a former teacher who brings perpetual curiosity to his top-notch reporting. Brian likely was the kid in class who politely raised his hand again and again.

Last week, Brian’s NC Reality Check revealed why IKEA, the Swedish furniture and households giant, doesn’t have the Triangle in its expansion plans. Jeremy Petranka, an economics professor at Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business, told Brian that the Triangle might not be an ideal place to land a traditional IKEA.

We may be Austin’s classically cool cousin, but apparently we’re too suburban.

Ouch.

Oh, this hasn’t kept IKEA from flirting with our hearts.