Downtown Raleigh retail updates

[ncwebguy]

The new second half of the southern Taz market had some cleaning supplies, paper products, etc. on the shelf the other night, but the store itself was closed. The two halves might be kept seperate since the new half has its own counter/register space.

Only the new store near Hargett hass open at night the last two nights. It has a decent beer selection and a few wines in the cooler. There are a selection of larger bottles/cans, including 40 ouncers, but they have a good selection of six packs as well, including local breweries (Big Boss, Carolina Beverage in Holly Springs) and other microbrews -- Magic Hat, a brewery in Atlanta, and Kona from Hawaii. It is not the same selection as Seven Even (aka Peace Street Market), but is better than the original Taz and the store next to Dive Bar.

The glass was in on the Blount side of the Edison parking deck, with more glass coming soon for the Wilmington side. RBC Plaza will do a much better job at connecting to the sidewalk/street compared to every other large buiding on F Street!

[RaleighRob]

Just caught this one today: http://tinyurl.com/5p8eqk

Conti's Italian Market is up For Sale.

[Jones_]

That place is a big perk for Blount Street Commons(and the whole downtown). I hope a capable new owner arrives on the scene.

[ChiefJoJo]

That place is a big perk for Blount Street Commons(and the whole downtown). I hope a capable new owner arrives on the scene.

Ditto. Conti's is a true hidden gem in Raleigh. I'm going to make a trip up there soon before he leaves. Let's hope that a dedicated "fan" decides to buy it and keep the tradition going.

[North_Raleigh_Guy]

The Capital City Grocery Store celebrated its one year anniversary with wine tasting, live music from three bands, and free food samples yesterday from 5-10pm. I'm glad to see this place going strong. Here are a few pictures from the festivities from yesterday.

[ncwebguy]

I *hope* the one year anniversary of Cap City Grocery and the closing of Conti's is not related... Conti's has crazy good canolli, and a lot of interesting frozen pastas, sauces, etc. Their hours were not conductive to me shopping there for more than the occasional weekend dessert or drink, but I thought there would be more than enough support from Oakwood and Mordecai residents. Conti's has closed and reopened before... hopefully someone will come to the rescue again!

The only other Italian grocer I know of is a place off Millbrook just north of Glenwood, and I don't even know how much of a "market" is there vs. a restaurant that happens to sell pasta and a few other items.

[miamiblue]

I don't know if anyone mentioned this already, but the Boylan Bridge Bewpub is scheduled to open August 25th. I was on a walk this weekend and briefly took a peek inside when the owner let me in. They just finished tiling the bathrooms and the brewing system is all set up. Things are looking good! There is still work to be done, but he seems confident of opening on time.

Can't wait!

[reed]

Looks like Holly Aiken's shop is moving into the Ladies' Hat store on the Hargett/Wilmington corner. good to see some more retail in this area:

http://www.newraleigh.com/articles/archive...wntown-raleigh/

[Jones_]

^Thats a great spot for her. Her stuff makes for great window shopping and fits with the funky building. Glenwood (her old spot was behind Rockford) will never be a retail corridor, just bars and restaurants, but Wilmington/Hargett, has potential to be a little retail area.

Edited July 29, 2008 by Jones133

[ChiefJoJo]

Oh, and I thought Reposition (art for under $300--in the space now) was going to be permanent. Well, either way, that's good news. Some added retail in that area that ISN'T more bars and restaurants (which we have plenty there & on the way) is a VERY good thing.

[North_Raleigh_Guy]

Anybody know what is going in that new little brown 1-story building across the street from the McDonals on Peace Street? I think it is 702 Peace Street.

[reed]

Anybody know what is going in that new little brown 1-story building across the street from the McDonals on Peace Street? I think it is 702 Peace Street.

Hookah bar/coffee shop.

[North_Raleigh_Guy]

Hookah bar/coffee shop.

Really? There's a starbucks right across the street and a Hookah bar around the corner on Glenwood. Seems like a strange pick.

[Gard]

Article in the N&O this morning on the Mint:

http://www.newsobserver.com/news/story/1163411.html

[cthayes75]

Article in the N&O this morning on the Mint:

http://www.newsobserver.com/news/story/1163411.html

I want my tax dollars back.

[ChiefJoJo]

Solas opens thursday. It will be interesting to see what this does to the scene on Glenwood South.

[miamiblue]

Solas opens thursday. It will be interesting to see what this does to the scene on Glenwood South.

Sorry this is off topic, but did anyone else find that news story a little strange? The title suggests that downtown residents are complaining about noise, yet Mr. Silver states that the reason many people live downtown is that they like the 24-hour aspect of city living. It seems like this was an attempt at bashing urban living without the residential complaints to back up that stance.

The hidden message in the article I think was that the planning department is looking at building codes to make sure downtown residences are built in such a way as to reduce sound intrusion into the dwelling.

I am not really sure how exactly Solas fits in with the rest of the article. There are not a lot of residences that are close enough to it to be a major problem unless they are planning to blast music from the rooftop bar extraordinarily loud. Even though it's a little ways up the street, I would hope that for the prices people are paying at 222 this type of issue was taken into consideration.

[RaleighRob]

^Agreed, it was a very weird article. Solas isn't even near much residental for starters. Secondly, most folk who are sensitive to noise would probably not live in the downtown core to begin with.

I, too, was confused from reading it.

[NCpride]

Funny, I thought the same thing when I read the article this morning. Looks to me like the main point of the article was to plug Solas.

[ncwebguy]

Walking around last night, Posta Tuscan Grille is open in the Marriott. The bar is open till midnight every night, and 1 am on fri/sat. The restaurants is high end, serves breakfast!, and takes all of the F Street frontage, with what appears to be a banquet room on the F Street/Lenoir corner. There were a handful of people at the bar and several tables in the restaurant around 8-8:30 Tuesday. Starbucks' hours are posted at the hotel lobby entrance, but not at the street entrance (yet).

On Hargett, Club Ital Lion looked closed, and the N&O is reporting the owner is overdue on tax payments. Also, it appears the Wake County Sheriff's office has padlocked the space at the corner of Hargett and Salisbury that was rumored to be the location of the downtown Waraji (sp?). Work slowed down a month or so ago, even though some low walls were starting to go up in the dining area. Further down, there seems to be some work in the Raleigh Furniture building, but no signs of who the tenant is yet.

Yancy's in the Hudson now has paper up on the windows, but no signs of what is to come there either.

[Jones_]

Sorry this is off topic, but did anyone else find that news story a little strange? The title suggests that downtown residents are complaining about noise, yet Mr. Silver states that the reason many people live downtown is that they like the 24-hour aspect of city living. It seems like this was an attempt at bashing urban living without the residential complaints to back up that stance.

The hidden message in the article I think was that the planning department is looking at building codes to make sure downtown residences are built in such a way as to reduce sound intrusion into the dwelling.

I am not really sure how exactly Solas fits in with the rest of the article. There are not a lot of residences that are close enough to it to be a major problem unless they are planning to blast music from the rooftop bar extraordinarily loud. Even though it's a little ways up the street, I would hope that for the prices people are paying at 222 this type of issue was taken into consideration.

My high school english teacher would have flunked me for that article...

Other observations....the building next to Slims on Wilmington is having its first floor upfitted as is a storefront close to Contis on north Person. Random thought....if north Person ever takes off we can name the district "Nope"...

Edited August 7, 2008 by Jones133

[cthayes75]

Heard a pretty good rumor that Aries will be closing soon, undergoing some renovations and reopening with new management and less of an "eclectic" nightly themes format. It'll be more mainstream nightclub like Ess Lounge.

[Redman84]

Passed by "The Hook Up" on St. Mary's this evening and paper was over the windows. Checked their MySpace page just to make sure I hadnt mistaken what I saw and comments were left about it being closed. Once again, it seems this location is cursed.

[RaleighRob]

Passed by "The Hook Up" on St. Mary's this evening and paper was over the windows. Checked their MySpace page just to make sure I hadnt mistaken what I saw and comments were left about it being closed.

Darn it! Now where am I gonna find cheap seafood that isn't the yucky southern "Mayflower" type?

Once again, it seems this location is cursed.

Eh...if you depend on "word-of-mouth" or "seeing-it-as-you-drive-by" to do 99% of your advertising, then yes...it is a cursed location.

[Jones_]

huh..it was open Saturday night but only about 10 people were in there. Maybe now that 3rd place closes at 7pm, another late night coffee shop would work there. That corner needs about a 5 story apartment building with a retail corner...I just don't think the patio thing is much fun when there is no people watching involved....patios on Glenwood are fun with lots of people strolling by

Edited August 19, 2008 by Jones133