Oakwood is going old-school.
Quality Grocery, an old-time cafe, restaurant and grocery store, is set to reopen soon in Historic Oakwood, near downtown Raleigh.
Owners Jay Wellons and Jason Howard, who are behind the Rockford restaurant on Glenwood Avenue, have created a neighborhood country store in the building that has served as an on-again, off-again market since 1909, Howard said.
“We’re really just trying to do what this store has done at one point in its lifespan,” Howard said. “It would be a tragedy not to do it all again.”
The restaurant’s menu will have breakfast items such as hash browns and handmade biscuits with homemade sausage, country ham or egg and cheese. Lunch will consist of dishes such as fresh-ground burgers, chicken salad, egg salad, rib sandwiches and hot dogs – both red and brown.
Lunch also will be available throughout the evening. Dinner will be a different meal each night, but consistent from week to week.
Dinner “will be one thing,” Howard said. “You can either get it hot here and eat, or you can get it to go and take home. If you don’t like what we’re doing on Monday night, you can always get something off the lunch menu.”
Hand-scooped ice cream, coffee, grocery items and prepared foods will be available all day. The store will carry staples such as cheeses, eggs, milk, potatoes and onions.
The business partners aim to “stay as local as possible” with products and ingredients, and cater to the store’s surrounding community.
“This is for the neighborhood,” Howard said.
Wellons and Howard also are using area businesses, including Blue Sky Farms in Wendell, The Bread Shop in Pittsboro, Maple View Farm in Hillsborough and Counter Culture Coffee in Durham, for items such as coffee, produce and bread.
Quality Grocery will serve beer and wine that will be available to drink at the store or to take home.
Prepared foods will be served in to-go containers. Customers can take food home or eat in the 1,600-square-foot space that seats 41.
Quality Grocery is at 701 E. Lane St., at East Lane Street and Linden Avenue.
Sorry State Records, a Carrboro-based punk rock record label and online store, is opening a brick-and-mortar shop Oct. 26 in downtown Raleigh.
Owner Daniel Lupton, who has run the company out of his house since 2005, wants it to serve as a gathering place for its customers.
The space will offer listening stations and tables and chairs. Lupton encourages customers to bring coffee, and “hang out and meet like-minded people.”
“My goal is to have an atmosphere that’s more boutique than other stores,” Lupton said. “Other stores can feel claustrophobic where you feel like you can’t move. We have really tall ceilings.”
The store’s selection, which will be slightly different from what’s on the website, is made up of albums that Lupton has been collecting over the past 18 months.
“I’ve been opening the shop for well over a year,” Lupton said. “I’ve been putting stuff in storage for a year and a half. The way you get most of the good stuff is through the grape vine. Occasionally, I’ll hit thrift stores and flea markets, but that’s a needle in a haystack proposition.”
Like its online shop, Sorry State will carry a selection of punk rock and heavy metal. The store will, however, offer some softer albums from indie bands such as Raleigh’s The Love Language.
The new spot will mostly sell new and used vinyl, but will also carry cassettes, band merchandise and T-shirts, and have consignment services.
Lupton said prices should be cheaper than those of most other record stores because he works directly with labels and bands to get his music, something he said makes him stand out from the competition.
“Lots of it comes directly from bands and small labels themselves,” Lupton said.
Sorry State’s prices will vary. There will be a section devoted to $1 and $3 records. Rare items could cost about $100. New LPs cost $10 to $20, depending on the label and packaging.
Sorry State Records will be at 317 W. Morgan St., near The Borough restaurant.
BeyondBlue Interiors has moved around the corner. The furniture gallery, which offers home decor, lighting, rugs and design services, is next to Moe’s Southwest Grill at 4350 Lassiter at North Hills, Suite 102 in Raleigh.
TCBY, a frozen yogurt restaurant, has opened at the Shoppes at Kildaire in Cary. The shop will hold a grand opening from 11 a.m. until 9 p.m. Saturday. It’s at 1369 Kildaire Farm Road.
Several changes are coming to Cary’s MacGregor Village. Orchid Nail, a nail and beauty salon, will open a 2,359-square-foot space this month. Several other places will open in November, including Big E Bounce, a 13,633-square-foot kids’ bounce house, video game and private party facility; Cilantro Indian Cafe, an Indian take-out restaurant and convenience store; and nuLumina, a women’s empowerment space that offers classes, workshops and seminars. Bella Tan, a tanning salon that offers spray tan technology, is expected to open in the spring.
Giglio: 919-829-4649 or jmgiglio@newsobserver.com; Twitter: @shoptalk_nando
