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

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.

Island Joe's Coffee recevies first from PO from Winn Dixie

To contact us Click HERE

Island Joe’s Coffee receives from PO from Winn Dixie

“It takes years of dedicated work to build a brand, then when you are noticed, the hard work really begins.” stated Trey Wells, co-founder and coffee roasters at Island Joe’s Coffee, located in old town Key West, Florida

First there are a few phone calls, then a few emails, which take place over a year or so, then samples are requested for review, then it seems everything stops for months and months, the waiting begins and ends many times over, as the anticipation is sometimes overwhelming, but in today’s retail market, this is just part of the normal process, but with a the proper product and perhaps a little luck, the knock will come to your door.

This was part of the process to gain the attention of the buyers at Winn Dixie Supermarkets. Winn Dixie can trace its routes to 1913 and Burly, Idaho, who has since moved its offices to Jacksonville, Florida and operates around 500 stores with around 50,000 employees.

“We are extremely excited to have this opportunity to have a direct relationship with a major retailer, as Winn Dixie,” stated Wells, “My brother, Brandon and I, have been roasting our gourmet coffee and espresso for going on six years. And it seems our hard work, plus the intense passion we have for our coffee and never wavering from producing some of the finest blends in the world is becoming more established everyday in the coffee industry, as we do not, nor will we cut corners, no matter what kind of money is involved.”

Producing some the finest coffee blends in the world, is just what the coffee roasters at Island Joe’s do, as is proven by the high ratings they have received from some of the world’s leading coffee experts I.e. Kenneth Davids at coffee review.com has awardedd the Wells brothers ratings, which has not only pushed Island Joe’s to the top rated coffee roasting company in Florida, but also with blends rating the top 5% in the world.

Some examples, which will be offered at Winn Dixie are Island Joe’s 90 Mile Stretch Espresso, which rated 90 out of 100 and Island Joe’s Breakfast Blend, which rated 91 out of 100.

IJS Coffee can be also found at limited Publix, Whole Foods Markets, Albertsons, Walgreen’s and Navy Exchanges throughout the U.S., then Tree of Life handles some of IJS’s distribution, plus Sysco Foods handles distribution to resorts and restaurants.

Not only can Island Joe’s Coffee be found at major retailers, small coffee shops, plus properties such as Hyatt and Crowne Plaza around the U.S., but their online customer base spans the globe with customers in Canada, China, Chile, England, Puerto Rico and all across the U.S. including customer base in Seattle, who have shown a passion for Island Joes’ 90 Mile Stretch Espresso, which will be offered at Winn Dixie and offered whole bean.

When ask what was next, Wells responded with, “We like to take it one cup at a time, meaning we are working on our orders for Winn Dixie, so we are focused on taking care of this new customer, which we should be in stores in the next few weeks, plus we are focused on continuing to offer quality service and products to our current customers. As one could look at our customer service, just like our coffee blends - we are consistent with every cup and customer.”

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Brawley's Beverage looking to add on-premises consumption license

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Charlotte beer and wine shop Brawley's Beverage is seeking a rezoning in order to open a space for people to drink on the premises, a move owner Michael Brawley hopes will help the store stay competitive.

"All the new stores have one," Brawley said of on-premise consumption licenses. "If someone can have a pint while they shop, it's a tremendous advantage."

A number of new stores with on-premise licenses have popped up, including Salud Beer Shop in NoDa and Good Bottle Co. on Remount Road. Common Market now has two locations, in Plaza-Midwood and South End, and even Whole Foods in SouthPark has four taps and more than two dozen wines available to drink in the store. Charlotte's breweries also offer on-premise consumption.

"We were kind of kind of the first beer geek store in town," said Brawley, who opened the store about 9 1/2 years ago. "When we started, there really wasn't any competition to speak of, and there wasn't any competition for on-premise except for Common Market."

The Park Seneca Lawnmower repair shop adjacent to Brawley's moved to Old Pineville Road after their lease was up in August, opening up the possibility of rezoning the beer and wine shop, Brawley said.

In addition to letting customers sip and shop, an on-premise consumption license would let Brawley hold special events at his store, instead of at restaurants or bars like he does currently.

Brawley stresses that he's not seeking to open a bar. Hours wouldn't change much, and the whole thing would be family friendly. He hopes to eventually add food to the store's offerings, but that's on the back burner for now. If all goes well, Brawley hopes to have renovations done by May, in time for the store's 10-year anniversary.




A hearing on the rezoning request is set for Nov. 12. You can see Brawley's rezoning application here.



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Ten Thousand Villages searching for new Charlotte store

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Ten Thousand Villages, the fair trade crafts retailer that recently closed in Cotswold, is search for a new Charlotte location, company officials say.


Retail sales manager Dave McClintock said poor sales and vacant storefronts in the Cotswold Village shopping center led to that store's closure. "Bottom line, we were just not getting the sales needed to keep open," said McClintock, via email.

The Rack Room shoes location had been vacant for about a year, and two nearby restaurants recently closed. The store's lease was up in February 2013, McClintock said, and they decided to try to move the store rather than renew.

"Originally, we hoped to find another space this Fall but were not successful," McClintock wrote. He said the retailer, which sells goods produced by local artisans around the world, hopes to open another Charlotte store in 2013.

Note: In my first post about this store, I reported that Ten Thousand Villages wasn't seeking to open another Charlotte store. That was what a store employee had told me, and a call to Ten Thousand Village's PR team seeking clarification wasn't returned. I'm sorry about the mistake.



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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

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.

Island Joe's Coffee recevies first from PO from Winn Dixie

To contact us Click HERE

Island Joe’s Coffee receives from PO from Winn Dixie

“It takes years of dedicated work to build a brand, then when you are noticed, the hard work really begins.” stated Trey Wells, co-founder and coffee roasters at Island Joe’s Coffee, located in old town Key West, Florida

First there are a few phone calls, then a few emails, which take place over a year or so, then samples are requested for review, then it seems everything stops for months and months, the waiting begins and ends many times over, as the anticipation is sometimes overwhelming, but in today’s retail market, this is just part of the normal process, but with a the proper product and perhaps a little luck, the knock will come to your door.

This was part of the process to gain the attention of the buyers at Winn Dixie Supermarkets. Winn Dixie can trace its routes to 1913 and Burly, Idaho, who has since moved its offices to Jacksonville, Florida and operates around 500 stores with around 50,000 employees.

“We are extremely excited to have this opportunity to have a direct relationship with a major retailer, as Winn Dixie,” stated Wells, “My brother, Brandon and I, have been roasting our gourmet coffee and espresso for going on six years. And it seems our hard work, plus the intense passion we have for our coffee and never wavering from producing some of the finest blends in the world is becoming more established everyday in the coffee industry, as we do not, nor will we cut corners, no matter what kind of money is involved.”

Producing some the finest coffee blends in the world, is just what the coffee roasters at Island Joe’s do, as is proven by the high ratings they have received from some of the world’s leading coffee experts I.e. Kenneth Davids at coffee review.com has awardedd the Wells brothers ratings, which has not only pushed Island Joe’s to the top rated coffee roasting company in Florida, but also with blends rating the top 5% in the world.

Some examples, which will be offered at Winn Dixie are Island Joe’s 90 Mile Stretch Espresso, which rated 90 out of 100 and Island Joe’s Breakfast Blend, which rated 91 out of 100.

IJS Coffee can be also found at limited Publix, Whole Foods Markets, Albertsons, Walgreen’s and Navy Exchanges throughout the U.S., then Tree of Life handles some of IJS’s distribution, plus Sysco Foods handles distribution to resorts and restaurants.

Not only can Island Joe’s Coffee be found at major retailers, small coffee shops, plus properties such as Hyatt and Crowne Plaza around the U.S., but their online customer base spans the globe with customers in Canada, China, Chile, England, Puerto Rico and all across the U.S. including customer base in Seattle, who have shown a passion for Island Joes’ 90 Mile Stretch Espresso, which will be offered at Winn Dixie and offered whole bean.

When ask what was next, Wells responded with, “We like to take it one cup at a time, meaning we are working on our orders for Winn Dixie, so we are focused on taking care of this new customer, which we should be in stores in the next few weeks, plus we are focused on continuing to offer quality service and products to our current customers. As one could look at our customer service, just like our coffee blends - we are consistent with every cup and customer.”

More

7-Eleven selling Charlotte franchises

To contact us Click HERE

Months after buying 55 Sam's Mart locations in and around Charlotte, 7-Eleven is converting many of them to franchises and selling them to local owners as 7-Eleven stores.

The retailer said it has sold three of the 55 stores, which reopened as 7-Elevens, to local franchisees. The January deal, for an undisclosed price, brought 7-Eleven back to the Charlotte market 24 years after the  convenience store operator left.

About 5,000 of the company's U.S. stores are operated by franchisees. One of those new franchisees in Charlotte is Bob Powers, who took over the store at 7740 Bruton Smith Boulevard on Oct. 8. Powers plans to buy two more 7-Eleven franchises this year, the company said.

"We expect our inventory of available stores to move quickly," said Doug Doyle, the company's manager in the Charlotte region. The company requires seven weeks of training for franchisees at an existing location, and provides support with functions such as payroll.

If you're interested in becoming a 7-Eleven franchisee, you can sign up for an informational seminar at the Embassy Suites in Concord here. The company is holding monthly meetings.

Bob Powers, courtesy 7-Eleven

And lest you think Slurpees, Big Gulps, and those hot dogs which will forever remind me of late nights in college are cheap, remember this: 7-Eleven has 48,000 stores globally, and generated more than $76 billion worth of sales last year. 7-Eleven said it plans to continue growing through franchises, acquisitions, and a program under which existing businesses can covert to 7-Elevens.

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.

Island Joe's Coffee recevies first from PO from Winn Dixie

To contact us Click HERE

Island Joe’s Coffee receives from PO from Winn Dixie

“It takes years of dedicated work to build a brand, then when you are noticed, the hard work really begins.” stated Trey Wells, co-founder and coffee roasters at Island Joe’s Coffee, located in old town Key West, Florida

First there are a few phone calls, then a few emails, which take place over a year or so, then samples are requested for review, then it seems everything stops for months and months, the waiting begins and ends many times over, as the anticipation is sometimes overwhelming, but in today’s retail market, this is just part of the normal process, but with a the proper product and perhaps a little luck, the knock will come to your door.

This was part of the process to gain the attention of the buyers at Winn Dixie Supermarkets. Winn Dixie can trace its routes to 1913 and Burly, Idaho, who has since moved its offices to Jacksonville, Florida and operates around 500 stores with around 50,000 employees.

“We are extremely excited to have this opportunity to have a direct relationship with a major retailer, as Winn Dixie,” stated Wells, “My brother, Brandon and I, have been roasting our gourmet coffee and espresso for going on six years. And it seems our hard work, plus the intense passion we have for our coffee and never wavering from producing some of the finest blends in the world is becoming more established everyday in the coffee industry, as we do not, nor will we cut corners, no matter what kind of money is involved.”

Producing some the finest coffee blends in the world, is just what the coffee roasters at Island Joe’s do, as is proven by the high ratings they have received from some of the world’s leading coffee experts I.e. Kenneth Davids at coffee review.com has awardedd the Wells brothers ratings, which has not only pushed Island Joe’s to the top rated coffee roasting company in Florida, but also with blends rating the top 5% in the world.

Some examples, which will be offered at Winn Dixie are Island Joe’s 90 Mile Stretch Espresso, which rated 90 out of 100 and Island Joe’s Breakfast Blend, which rated 91 out of 100.

IJS Coffee can be also found at limited Publix, Whole Foods Markets, Albertsons, Walgreen’s and Navy Exchanges throughout the U.S., then Tree of Life handles some of IJS’s distribution, plus Sysco Foods handles distribution to resorts and restaurants.

Not only can Island Joe’s Coffee be found at major retailers, small coffee shops, plus properties such as Hyatt and Crowne Plaza around the U.S., but their online customer base spans the globe with customers in Canada, China, Chile, England, Puerto Rico and all across the U.S. including customer base in Seattle, who have shown a passion for Island Joes’ 90 Mile Stretch Espresso, which will be offered at Winn Dixie and offered whole bean.

When ask what was next, Wells responded with, “We like to take it one cup at a time, meaning we are working on our orders for Winn Dixie, so we are focused on taking care of this new customer, which we should be in stores in the next few weeks, plus we are focused on continuing to offer quality service and products to our current customers. As one could look at our customer service, just like our coffee blends - we are consistent with every cup and customer.”

More

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.