On a shady street in the heart of Lincolnton sits a century-old brick warehouse with a small porch, a garage door left ajar and a gravel driveway, leading to a 20,000 gallon water tank that ...

Matthew Quijano has been designing and building mermaid tails for over 10 years. The tails can be worn in ocean water as deep as 70 feet.

And business is going well. The market for mermaid tails was valued at $143 million last year, according to MarketWatch, a financial data and news site.