When I refer to “renovation” I am more referring to how Best Buy moved there store on Glenwood ave to the smaller version at Crabtree Valley Mall. Owners can “gain” a lot buy even a minor redo as it can sometimes really help with stores that have smaller foot prints…imo
The problem with that location is, like Cameron Village, it’s close but it’s not downtown. Having grocers within walking distance to a significant customer base should be our model for urban grocers going forward. That’s what is going to make Publix a differentiator.
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I agree. I never thought it was a great place for one because walking to Seaboard is a pain…it’s a car oriented setup there. Our downtown groceries need to help free us from car dependency.
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Yeah its there and its been changing what it carries to match new demands in the area. It’s pretty nice for a Food Lion but service can be super slow.
I was there over the weekend and it was a good store but you’re right the service was super slow. Glad it’s there though.
I believe it opens in the next couple of months. It is taking FOREVER to build out.
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My wife reached out and they’re now hoping for end of August.
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lol… I’ve been wondering the same thing! What is going on in there?? haha
Maybe they are planting fruit an veggie gardens in the building and waiting for the harvest?
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They claim Saxapahaw will open next year or sometime in 2020. I walk by Transfer Co. a couple times a week, and considering they haven’t broken ground yet or even announced a start date. I’d be surprised if they were serving groceries out of there by 2021.
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I think they are waiting for the last section of townhomes to finish. No extra room for construction staging.
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I can probably find out from the GM when they anticipate starting to build Sax (know him personally) but I will also bet that they’re waiting to finish those townhomes and sell them off - huge source of revenue, and then your point about freeing up space for staging. They have finished the interior of the Food Hall proper, and the rest of the interior (Burial expansion, Longleaf Swine, event space and co-working space) is already well underway.
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Ask the GM if Transfer CO is building the General Store and Saxapahaw is leasing the space or vise-versa.
Also Burial, the event space and the co-working have been completed and are up and running.
The last time I looked inside Longleaf Swine the progress had nearly come to a stand-still. It’s not a very big space either so the amount of up-fit should only take a couple months. I know they still have plans to open just not sure when, I will try and take a picture sometime today.
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I’m a Wegmaniac myself (the first time I went into the new Raleigh Wegmans, it was seriously like being swaddled in a blanket of pure joy), but my wife is a Publix fanatic. I have a hard time articulating what exactly makes them different, but it is a very nice, high-quality grocery store, and it inspires a lot of brand loyalty.
Funny story: A lot people on the forum probably already know this, but the way David Cox actually vaulted to prominence and launched his political career was by leading the opposition that got a Publix killed in North Raleigh. I told that story to my very, very apolitical wife, and she was absolutely flabbergasted. “What kind of a monster would try to prevent someone from building a Publix?” she yelled at me.
But with Smoky Hollow, ITB Raleigh will soon have a Wegmans, a Publix, and a Weaver Street Market. Pretty, pretty, pretty cool!
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ITB also has Trader Joe’s and Costco.
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Just barely ITB on those 3 (TJ, Wegs, CostCo) grouped on WF Road and supported as much from the OTB crowd as the ITB crowd in my experience. Certainly nice to have for all parties IMO.
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Sorry David but +1 for your wife. 
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I lived in the subdivision where that Publix was supposed to go. David Cox and his followers were absolutely relentless. It was Nimbyism at it’s worst. If you dared to say that you supported the Publix, you were practically ostracized from the community. They canvassed the community collecting signatures for a petition and hounded people. My teenage daughter ended up signing it just to get them to leave her alone. It was a ridiculous chapter in our communities history.
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