A familiar name in Raleigh's fashion history has returned to the Triangle - Virginia Crabtree.
The women's clothing store, which opened in Cameron Village in 1952, was the place where the Triangle's fashionable women shopped. Owners Lawrence and Virginia Crabtree even got a write-up in Women's Wear Daily in 1967.
The couple passed the shop down to their daughter and her husband, George Hall, who expanded into seven cities across the state before closing the stores in the late '80s to try the wholesale side of the business.
Now their children, Mary Catherine Hall and George Hall, have re-opened the store in Raleigh's Lafayette Village.
"I told them it would be neat to bring Virginia Crabtree back home to Raleigh," Mary Catherine Hall said in a phone interview. "They told me, 'You can do whatever you want. We're done.' "
Hall grew up working in her parents' stores, sleeping in the closets during the annual sales.
Hall and her brother picked Lafayette Village because the developer wanted only locally ownedbusinesses.
"I think it's something my grandmother and grandfather would have gone to," she said.
Hall has spent the past 10 years in Emerald Isle helping her parents with a store they opened there during their "retirement."
That store, Islamorada, which they recently closed, provided some inventory for Virginia Crabtree. But Hall said she and her brother are busy meeting with buying agents to line up the exclusive lines they want to showcase.
"We do it all," she said. "We're the buyers, the managers and the housekeepers."
Since the store opened Monday, Hall said, the best part has been visiting with former customers. "The name still means a lot in this community," she said.
Blue Bell, the third best-selling ice cream in the country, will soon be available in a number of Triangle locations.
Beginning March 19, Blue Bell products will be sold in Kroger, Lowe's Foods and Walmart, and at some independent grocery stores, drugstores and convenience stores.
The ice cream has long had a cult following in its home state of Texas. The company was founded as The Brenham Creamery Co. in 1907 inBrenham, about 70 miles northwest of Houston.
Blue Bell has 17 standard flavors and produces 30others offered for limited periods throughout the year.
Blue Bell is temporarily leasing warehouse space in Morrisville while it looks for a permanent site to build a distribution facility.
Impressa Jewelry is closing its location at the Streets at Southpoint at the end of February. Store owners Steve and Lori Boole will consolidate their business into their Crabtree Valley Mall store, where Impressa has been since 1990. A moving sale is in progress at Southpoint.
Saints and Scholars Irish Pub has opened at 909 Spring Forest Road in Raleigh. The pub has 15 beers on draught, five of which are from North Carolina breweries, and Irish chef Sean Mullen serves authentic Irish food.
The restaurant will host several charity events, such as a St. Baldrick's Event on March 31, as well as fundraisers for Triangle Spokes.
