Looking at that spot, it just seems to lack the ability to grab any and all impulse restaurant eaters. It’s in a weird area of Cary. Cary is already car-centric, but this area is about as car-centric as it gets. Even with that considered, it lacks any and all aspects location-wise of what would make a very good car-centric business that advertises itself.
On one side of the street, when approaching the business, once you can actually see the business, there’s no turn lane until AFTER you pass the restaurant. On the other side of the street, the entire restaurant is blocked out by trees.
This location is more suited for an office space or apartments. No idea why anyone would think a restaurant would or could be successful in that spot without changing a lot about how that restaurant can actually be seen.
This is so much of Cary - just insular, closed off developments that only activate the area immediately within them, completely hidden from the outside world - i.e. Fenton. Not a fan.
Ironically if any of the Bu-ku family of restaurants were at Fenton, they’d probably be doing really well. Still super confused why So-ca closed because that location was great.
Seriously, plenty of parking right along a high speed median divided office park boulevard with no sidewalks? How does this building keep hosting failed restaurants sitting on a goldmine location?!
Those kinds of areas are fine in the short-term. But give it one decade, two decades, etc, these kinds of areas fall out of fashion fast. We’ve seen it with those old drive up street markets. We’ve seen it with large indoor malls. We’ll probably see it with areas like the Fenton as well, although I’d argue that it’s a lot more resilient due to the fact that it, unlike those other areas, also carries apartments/places to live.
Having been to the Fenton recently, I actually think it’s quite nice. They are missing a grocery store to make in an all-inclusive solution for what I’m sure their residents want, but I actually found the area incredibly pleasant.
Having grown up in Cary, I agree across the board. Yuck. That said, I still think there’s a decent market for what the Fenton is selling. Mixed-use with residential on top and everything you need on bottom. I prefer downtown, but some people want to live in an ivory tower.
What? Fenton is glorious. Clean, walkable, parkable. Movie theater, might even have a fountain. Everything that DTR isn’t! Needs some of those Israelites dudes with a megaphone I suppose if you want the true urban experience.
Cary Town Center was also once clean, parkable, headline-grabbing, shiny, and new. Today it’s a pile of rubble.
It’s a known fact that these types of master planned shopping destinations go to shit in a couple of decades.
Parts of North Hills that were really “hot” just 10-15 years ago are looking tired now.
Come on man! That’s the best you got? All properties get worn down over time. The good ones get renovated and keep on going just like the Village District with acres of free parking and the king daddy drive thru Chick-fil-A! 50 years strong!!! By the way the downtown Chick-fil-A is no more ……
Independent of what? You can chop up your retail space and lease to more tenants or combine and lease to fewer. Has nothing to do with longevity which was your primary criticism.
Independent businesses, mostly smaller businesses with only a few William Sonoma level chains. A larger variety of smaller retail spaces is more resilient than fewer larger and more expensive retail spaces.
I know you come here to post “a different perspective” but sometimes there are just empirical facts to reckon with. Land use matters, and is the reason VD has been successful over the decades. I don’t claim to know that Fenton will fail i.e. go into financial restructuring with many vacant spaces in the long run, but it certainly has a higher chance than VD. The access to adjacent neighborhoods is starkly different. Below are images of parcels surrounding VD and Fenton using the same scale of map:
Village District has survived because of its location. It has siphoned retail out of downtown for decades. You could put a Target and a Dicks and an Olive Garden here and it would still work. Why do these smaller retailers seem to last longer at the Village District than downtown I wonder???
Because it’s a retail destination. Density matters. This is why Glenwood South is successful but Fayetteville Street is not. Fayetteville Street has no density of retail. Isolated units fail because they have no center of gravity
Speaking of density of retail… we got out to Blackbird yesterday and IDK if good coffee (they serve Black & White!) and some books was just the missing piece, but City Market actually feels… pretty nice now. Since we’d walked all the way there on a hot day we decided to stay downtown til lunch and finally visited Copperline Plant Co, too. Turns out I knew the owner from high school. She’s doing a great job with it. Decree is another interesting place to browse, across the corner.
I’d love to have that central event space replaced with something more community-oriented, and I wish that homegoods store had survived, but overall I could see us returning soon. Moore Square and City Market are the most realistically walkable places for us downtown and I’m happy with the direction of both so far.
The only other place in the area that I know of that serves Black and White is my living room. If I’m out of coffee or just lazy, I’ll be damn sure to pop in there over the other options in the area.
Personally hoping that city market gets some of those retractable bollards in the near future. Would love to see less cars parked here.
EDIT: speaking a bit more on the subject. I’ve heard that social status will likely be expanding their space at some point onto the adjacent building. Not personally my type of retail, bit if they’re expanding it must mean they’re doing pretty well.
