SOLD OUT!

MICHAEL BOR

CEO of CarLOTZ

Michael Bor, the CEO of Carlotz, will be our speaker at the November Encorepreneur! breakfast. Carlotz recently closed on $30 million in equity capital to fund continued expansion of the 6-year-old used vehicle consignment business. Bor will speak on where the “ride” that he and co-founders Aaron Montgomery and Will Boland began in 2011 has taken them, and where it is going as it seems to be speeding up.

CarLotz takes vehicles on consignment and, for a flat fee, prepares the vehicle for resale and negotiates a deal on the seller’s behalf. The seller can net significantly more from a Carlotz sale then they would from CarMax or a trade in. The buyer pays less than he would at a traditional dealer.

Bor founded the company with initial funding from friends, family and angel investors including former supermarket retailer banker, and encorepreneur, Jim Ukrop. It currently operates 2 stores in Richmond and others in Chesapeake, Charlotte and Greensboro. They are actively seeking new retail locations in Florida, Texas, California, the Midwest, New England and elsewhere in the Mid-Atlantic.

OUR HOST

THE NOVEMBER THEATRE

114 W. Broad Street

The November Theatre is the state’s oldest major stage house and a linchpin in Virginia history.  It operates today as the vibrant home of Virginia Repertory Theatre, and as a living museum commemorating and exploring the roles this landmark building has played in the rich cultural life of Central Virginia. 

The theatre is the home of Virginia Rep, orignally called Theatre 4. With a budget of $5 million, four distinct venues, an educational touring arm, and an annual audience over 550,000, Virginia Rep is the largest professional theatre and one of the largest performing arts organizations in Central Virginia. 

Built by Moses Hofheimer with an interior design by famed Italian artist Ferruccio Legnaioli, the November was named the Empire Theatre for the first three years of its existence.  The Empire opened in 1911 on the final day of the century of mourning that followed the horrific Richmond Theatre fire of Dec 26, 1811.  

When the Empire opened in 1911, it operated as a legitimate theatre, presenting live performances of great plays instead of vaudeville or silent movies.  The renowned actress Lucille La Verne, a veteran of seven Broadway hits, assembled her own stock company at the Empire in 1913.  She presented 80 performances in four months, selling 147,000 tickets!  Edith Lindeman, Times-Dispatch theatre critic, wrote that the Empire "was a popular theater with audiences, especially on Wednesday matinees when each woman in attendance received a quarter-pound box of Huyler's chocolates and a dainty linen handkerchief to wipe her eyes during the sad scenes."

In December 1914 the Empire was refitted for the emerging art form of film, and renamed the Strand, copying the name of the lavish NYC movie palace built the year before at the corner of Broadway and 47th. The Strand served until 1927 as one of Richmond’s most prominent and popular homes for film and vaudeville.

In 1927, a fire damaged the space, and it lay dark until it was re-opened in 1933 as the Booker T Theatre, which featured films and vaudeville performances until 1974.

In 1977 Theatre IV (now known as Virginia Rep) rented the Empire Theatre, launching its first main stage (non-touring) season of major productions designed to serve elementary age children and their families.

1986 event shortly after Theatre IV's purchase of the theatre. Photo by P. Kevin Morely for the Richmond Times-Dispatch.

Theatre IV purchased the theatre and its neighboring Walker Theatre (which later became the Little Theatre and finally, Theatre Gym) in 1986. Restorations were completed in 1990, and Theatre IV presented performances for children and families in the renovated space, which they renamed the Empire Theatre.

Twenty-one years later, with the Empire in need of new renovations, Sara Belle and Neil November made a $2 million gift for restoration, and in 2012 the Empire Theatre was renamed the Sara Belle and Neil November Theatre.

Barksdale Theatre and Theatre IV merged in 2012 to become Virginia Rep, and we continue to present performances at this downtown, historic theatre.

In 2013, the stage at the November Theatre was renamed to the Marjorie Arenstein Stage to honor the legacy of prominent Richmond actress, Marjorie Arenstein.