Trader Joe's set for Wilmington

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On the heels of the Trader Joe's hoopla in Greensboro, another North Carolina city, Wilmington, is going to see the specialty grocer. Trader Joe's plans call for a store on an empty lot at Oleander and College, one of the city's busiest intersections, and a location that is not too far from the soon-to-come Whole Foods Market. The demand for both Trader Joe's and Whole Foods has been increasing, as both are very popular and have loyal patrons. The new Trader Joe's is set to encompass 13,000 square feet.

Photographed: Trader Joe's in Chapel Hill

Li Ming's Global Mart opening in Greensboro

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Above: Li Ming's in Durham in the former Circuit City

Li Ming's Global Mart, which already has two locations in the Triangle (one in Durham [photos] and a sister store in Raleigh, respectively), will soon breathe some life into the High Point Road corridor in Greensboro. Scheduled to open in the Fall of 2012, the Asian grocery store will encompass nearly 52,000 square feet in the Greensboro South Shopping Center, next to T.J. Maxx. High Point Road, an ever-evolving corridor has seen a shift to ethnic-oriented businesses in recent years.
Above: the former Lowes Foods on High Point Road

The location that Li Ming's is moving into has gone through many incarnations. The store originally opened in 1969 as a branch of discount store Zayre, later was an Ames (another discount store) briefly. As a grocery store it has been a Buy For Less and a Lowes Foods. It has been empty for a number of years since Lowes Foods vacated, so this is certainly a welcome announcement for that shopping center. The Li Ming's in Durham opened last year in a former Circuit City space across from South Square Shopping Center.

Greensboro's Whole Foods sets opening date; Winston-Salem to get Trader Joe's

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Greensboro's long-awaited Whole Foods Market is set to open soon. Finishing touches are being put on the store, which is in part of the Sears building at Friendly Center. The 34,000 square foot store takes up half of the lower-level footprint of Sears' department store. The store will open on April 12th.

Above: Trader Joe's Winston-Salem store rendering

Above: Trader Joe's Greensboro store rendering

On the other end of the Triad, Winston-Salem is gearing up for a Trader Joe's. The store will locate in approximately 13,000 square feet of the former Borders Bookstore at Thruway Center, and is scheduled to open sometime later this year. This will be Trader Joe's first store in the Triad, and perhaps the most sought-after specialty grocery store in the region too. The news of Trader Joe's comes amid opposition regarding a rezoning at a potential Greensboro location.

Trader Joe's Winston-Salem rendering via Triad Business Journal/Thomas H. Hughes architecture
Trader Joe's Greensboro rendering via Greensboro News & Record/Regency Centers

Charlotte's Whole Foods set to open August 29

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The highly anticipated opening of Charlotte's first Whole Foods Market store is August 29th, just in time for the Democratic National Convention.  The store is located off of Fairview Road, near SouthPark Mall and next to Phillips Place shopping center.  It will feature an underground parking garage and a cart escalator.

Local competition includes the flagship Harris Teeter store, the Earth Fare store at Morrison, and The Fresh Market at Strawberry Hill.  Other recent Whole Foods Markets that have opened in North Carolina include a Greensboro store in April and a Wilmington store in June.

Lowes Foods' new look

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A competitive grocery market calls for grocers to be on their toes at all times.  In keeping with the trend, Winston-Salem based Lowes Foods stores is rolling out a contemporary look at some of their locations. This store in Greensboro on New Garden Road is one of the first Lowes Foods stores with the new, modernized look.  Gone are the tall, bulky shelving units on the aisles, replaced with low-rise shelves and wider aisles.  Additionally, new sleek signage is displayed all around the store and throughout the center of the store, directing customers to where they can find newly-relocated items.  At this time, it is unclear how many of their stores will get this look, but our guess is that most of them will.

Epicentre offering cab vouchers for those who drink

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In an effort to help cut down on drunk driving, the uptown Epicentre complex is offering vouchers for cab rides to patrons who consume alcohol.

The $10 vouchers are being offered in conjunction with the Mecklenburg County ABC Board and is funded from the sales of distilled spirits in the county. The vouchers are available at the valet stand to adults over the age of 21, and can be used with City Cab, Crown Cab, or Yellow Cab.

So if you're drinking at Blackfinn, Whiskey River, Howl at the Moon, or any of the many Epicentre watering holes, please be responsible and take a cab (or a pedicab, or the light rail). With $10 off, the choice is even easier.


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Highway 55 opening in north Charlotte

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A new Highway 55 Burgers, Shakes, & Fries is opening in north Charlotte, the adding another local store for the eastern North Carolina company.

As previously reported here, Highway 55 is hoping to franchise up to 75 locations in western North Carolina over the coming decade. Another local Highway 55 location opened recently in the University Pointe shopping center (details here).

University Pointe store

The new store opening is on Davis Lake Parkway, and will open Dec. 27. Father and son team Greg Hinson, 55, and his 27-year-old son Brad, 27, are opening the franchised store, their first. Their goal is to open six more stores in north Charlotte, Huntersville, and Mooresville over the next several years.

Greg Hinson previously worked as a mechanic for 30 years, and Brad had been a network engineer.

"When my dad and I discovered Hwy 55, we knew that it was a company we wanted to be involved in. Highway 55 has the family feel and dedication to serving their community we were looking for," said Brad Hinson, in an email.

Highway 55 is also opening a new location soon in Gastonia's Franklin Square, though no exact date has been set.

The chain, headquartered in Mount Olive, was formerly called Andy's Burgers.


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Crisp opening Latta Arcade location

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Crisp, a restaurant with a plethora of salads, is opening an uptown location soon, in Latta Arcade off of Tryon Street.

Crisp at Latta Arcade

It will be the company's third Charlotte store. There are Crisp locations on 7th Street and East Boulevard. The owners couldn't immediately be reached to pin down an opening date for the Latta Arcade store.

Jerry and Kerin McCarthy opened Crisp in 2007 in the Elizabeth neighborhood.

Crisp will be joining a lineup that includes a Quizno's, Indian, Japanese, pizza, and sandwich restaurants. Latta Arcade is popular with the uptown office crowd as a lunch destination.

Here's a link to Crisp's Facebook page, where they post specials and daily menu options.





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Vinnie's Grill & Raw Bar closes on South Boulevard

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After 20 years, Vinnie's Grill & Raw Bar has closed up shop at its South Boulevard location.

Former general manager David Luckey said the restaurant's last day of business was Sunday. The closure is permanent, he confirmed.

He said the general economic conditions had caused Vinnie's to struggle. "This economy makes everybody broke," said Luckey, who was helping to clean out the restaurant Thursday afternoon.

There are no plans to close the second Vinnie's location in Mooresville, which remains open, Luckey said.



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What's open on Christmas day?

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If you need a last-last-last-minute gift, some toothpaste, or just to get away from the family for a few minutes on Christmas, there are a few stores that will be open Christmas day itself.

Here's a list of some of the chains that aren't closing:

• Walgreen's
• CVS Pharmacy
• 7-Eleven
• Denny's
• IHOP
• Starbucks
• Waffle House
• McDonald's is reportedly urging its franchised locations to stay open

Domino's, Dunkin Donuts and Burger King are opening select locations.

For more information, check out a summary of personal finance site GoBankingRates.com's survey of retailers.

Trader Joe's set for Wilmington

To contact us Click HERE
On the heels of the Trader Joe's hoopla in Greensboro, another North Carolina city, Wilmington, is going to see the specialty grocer. Trader Joe's plans call for a store on an empty lot at Oleander and College, one of the city's busiest intersections, and a location that is not too far from the soon-to-come Whole Foods Market. The demand for both Trader Joe's and Whole Foods has been increasing, as both are very popular and have loyal patrons. The new Trader Joe's is set to encompass 13,000 square feet.

Photographed: Trader Joe's in Chapel Hill

Li Ming's Global Mart opening in Greensboro

To contact us Click HERE
Above: Li Ming's in Durham in the former Circuit City

Li Ming's Global Mart, which already has two locations in the Triangle (one in Durham [photos] and a sister store in Raleigh, respectively), will soon breathe some life into the High Point Road corridor in Greensboro. Scheduled to open in the Fall of 2012, the Asian grocery store will encompass nearly 52,000 square feet in the Greensboro South Shopping Center, next to T.J. Maxx. High Point Road, an ever-evolving corridor has seen a shift to ethnic-oriented businesses in recent years.
Above: the former Lowes Foods on High Point Road

The location that Li Ming's is moving into has gone through many incarnations. The store originally opened in 1969 as a branch of discount store Zayre, later was an Ames (another discount store) briefly. As a grocery store it has been a Buy For Less and a Lowes Foods. It has been empty for a number of years since Lowes Foods vacated, so this is certainly a welcome announcement for that shopping center. The Li Ming's in Durham opened last year in a former Circuit City space across from South Square Shopping Center.

Greensboro's Whole Foods sets opening date; Winston-Salem to get Trader Joe's

To contact us Click HERE
Greensboro's long-awaited Whole Foods Market is set to open soon. Finishing touches are being put on the store, which is in part of the Sears building at Friendly Center. The 34,000 square foot store takes up half of the lower-level footprint of Sears' department store. The store will open on April 12th.

Above: Trader Joe's Winston-Salem store rendering

Above: Trader Joe's Greensboro store rendering

On the other end of the Triad, Winston-Salem is gearing up for a Trader Joe's. The store will locate in approximately 13,000 square feet of the former Borders Bookstore at Thruway Center, and is scheduled to open sometime later this year. This will be Trader Joe's first store in the Triad, and perhaps the most sought-after specialty grocery store in the region too. The news of Trader Joe's comes amid opposition regarding a rezoning at a potential Greensboro location.

Trader Joe's Winston-Salem rendering via Triad Business Journal/Thomas H. Hughes architecture
Trader Joe's Greensboro rendering via Greensboro News & Record/Regency Centers

Charlotte's Whole Foods set to open August 29

To contact us Click HERE
The highly anticipated opening of Charlotte's first Whole Foods Market store is August 29th, just in time for the Democratic National Convention.  The store is located off of Fairview Road, near SouthPark Mall and next to Phillips Place shopping center.  It will feature an underground parking garage and a cart escalator.

Local competition includes the flagship Harris Teeter store, the Earth Fare store at Morrison, and The Fresh Market at Strawberry Hill.  Other recent Whole Foods Markets that have opened in North Carolina include a Greensboro store in April and a Wilmington store in June.

Lowes Foods' new look

To contact us Click HERE
A competitive grocery market calls for grocers to be on their toes at all times.  In keeping with the trend, Winston-Salem based Lowes Foods stores is rolling out a contemporary look at some of their locations. This store in Greensboro on New Garden Road is one of the first Lowes Foods stores with the new, modernized look.  Gone are the tall, bulky shelving units on the aisles, replaced with low-rise shelves and wider aisles.  Additionally, new sleek signage is displayed all around the store and throughout the center of the store, directing customers to where they can find newly-relocated items.  At this time, it is unclear how many of their stores will get this look, but our guess is that most of them will.

Frozen yogurt, cupcake shops closing in Dilworth

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Two relatively new food options on East Boulevard are closing this weekend, as Freshberry Frozen Yogurt and Smallcakes Cupcakery throw in the towel.

The neon-accented stores opened in the former Blockbuster location at Kenilworth Avenue and East Blvd. just this summer. I wrote about them when they were first announced in February, which you can read about here.

Sunday will be the last day of business for Freshberry and Smallcakes. There's no word yet on what will be replacing the stores. Owner Nick Smith was out of town Thursday, said a woman at the store.

Smith, a longtime Charlotte franchise owner who opened the city's first Jersey Mike's sub shop and Moe's Southwest Grill restaurants, will be featured in an upcoming Observer store on franchising. He said that the Freshberry/Smallcakes concept is closing due to slow traffic.

That certainly seemed to be the case Wednesday night, when I went by the restaurant on my way home from work. A man in a cowboy hat was spinning LED lights to lure people into the nearly-empty parking lot.

Freshberry was entering an already crowded fro-yo marketplace, with a slew of businesses including Yoforia, Tasty Yo, Pinkberry, TCBY, Cherry Berry, and the Frozen Isle. And directly across the street from Freshberry, on the opposite corner in the Kenilworth Commons shopping center, is Menchie's, a fro-yo franchise that opened last year.

Read more here: http://obswhatsinstore.blogspot.com/2012/02/frozen-yogurt-cupcakes-subs-headed-to.html#storylink=cpy

A Jersey Mike's that occupies the other half of the former Blockbuster building will remain open. 





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Li Ming's Global Mart opening in Greensboro

To contact us Click HERE
Above: Li Ming's in Durham in the former Circuit City

Li Ming's Global Mart, which already has two locations in the Triangle (one in Durham [photos] and a sister store in Raleigh, respectively), will soon breathe some life into the High Point Road corridor in Greensboro. Scheduled to open in the Fall of 2012, the Asian grocery store will encompass nearly 52,000 square feet in the Greensboro South Shopping Center, next to T.J. Maxx. High Point Road, an ever-evolving corridor has seen a shift to ethnic-oriented businesses in recent years.
Above: the former Lowes Foods on High Point Road

The location that Li Ming's is moving into has gone through many incarnations. The store originally opened in 1969 as a branch of discount store Zayre, later was an Ames (another discount store) briefly. As a grocery store it has been a Buy For Less and a Lowes Foods. It has been empty for a number of years since Lowes Foods vacated, so this is certainly a welcome announcement for that shopping center. The Li Ming's in Durham opened last year in a former Circuit City space across from South Square Shopping Center.

Charlotte's Whole Foods set to open August 29

To contact us Click HERE
The highly anticipated opening of Charlotte's first Whole Foods Market store is August 29th, just in time for the Democratic National Convention.  The store is located off of Fairview Road, near SouthPark Mall and next to Phillips Place shopping center.  It will feature an underground parking garage and a cart escalator.

Local competition includes the flagship Harris Teeter store, the Earth Fare store at Morrison, and The Fresh Market at Strawberry Hill.  Other recent Whole Foods Markets that have opened in North Carolina include a Greensboro store in April and a Wilmington store in June.

Lowes Foods' new look

To contact us Click HERE
A competitive grocery market calls for grocers to be on their toes at all times.  In keeping with the trend, Winston-Salem based Lowes Foods stores is rolling out a contemporary look at some of their locations. This store in Greensboro on New Garden Road is one of the first Lowes Foods stores with the new, modernized look.  Gone are the tall, bulky shelving units on the aisles, replaced with low-rise shelves and wider aisles.  Additionally, new sleek signage is displayed all around the store and throughout the center of the store, directing customers to where they can find newly-relocated items.  At this time, it is unclear how many of their stores will get this look, but our guess is that most of them will.