Farmers markets to bloom

As the weather turns warmer, it's only natural that produce lovers would start dreaming about summertime farmers markets.

But this summer, there may be more options for fans of local produce.

In Cary, the Western Wake Farmers Market opens May 2 in the Carpenter Village Marketplace on Morrisville Carpenter Road between N.C. 55 and Davis Drive.

The farmers market will be open Saturdays from 8 a.m. to noon through November. It will feature 20 vendors selling fresh produce, honey, meats, cheese, eggs, flowers, coffee and baked goods.

A new farmers market may also sprout in North Raleigh this year.

N.C. Cooperative Extension is surveying residents of North Raleigh to see whether they would support it.

If there is enough support and if the logistics can be worked out, there could be a North Raleigh farmers market as early as May, said Morris Dunn, who is overseeing the survey for Cooperative Extension.

No location has been selected, but Dunn said he is thinking of areas outside Interstate 540.

A decision on whether to proceed will be made in the next month or so.

The new markets will join others that have cropped up in the last few years, including the farmers market at North Hills and one outside of A Southern Season in Chapel Hill.

People are flocking to farmers markets as they put more emphasis on eating locally grown food and also eating more healthful foods. But whether the area can support all of the new markets remains to be seen.

And in one other related item, the Cary Downtown Farmers Market will move when it reopens for this year's season.

The market, which has been at the Amtrak depot, will open April 4 in Chatham Square at 744 E. Chatham St. The market will continue to be open Saturdays and Tuesdays. Its lone year-round tenant, Spahr's Produce, is open Saturdays in the old spot until the move.

In Durham at Northgate mall, Hibbett Sports is opening in April, selling sporting goods equipment and apparel.

Hibbett has almost 50 stores in North Carolina, but the only one in the Triangle thus far is in Smithfield.

OTHER ITEMS: In Wake Forest, at the new Gateway Commons shopping center at N.C. 98 Bypass and Jones Dairy Road, Lowes Foods and Ace Hardware will open in March. ... At Raleigh-Durham International Airport, XpresSpa opened a second store in the new Terminal 2. ... In Raleigh at the N.C. State Fairgrounds, The Purple Pretzel is open in the Atrium, selling soft and stuffed pretzels on weekends. ... Also in Raleigh, Latin restaurant Copacabana has opened in the old Red Palace spot at 3945 New Bern Ave.

A note on last week's column: In it, I mentioned an expansion of the Snoopy's Hot Dogs & More in Raleigh's Pavilion Shopping Center at Spring Forest Road and Atlantic Avenue.

As I said, Snoopy's is taking over a neighboring space that used to be a travel agency. But Argo Travel did not close. It simply moved to a new spot within the shopping center.