Grocery tries again

Let's call this take two for the Capital City Grocery store in Raleigh's Seaboard Station.

The market opened with great fanfare in October and was the fulfillment of downtown residents' longtime wish for a grocery store. Still, despite the initial excitement, the store closed in April after customers stopped coming, complaining about poor selection and an understocked store.

Now under new ownership and newly renovated, Capital City Grocery reopens to the public today.

The store has a new look and has obtained a license to sell beer and wine by the glass for patrons who wish to use the in-store or patio seating.

And there will be more prepared foods that customers in a hurry can pick up, a sushi chef and an expanded deli. The organic and natural food sections have expanded, including twice the amount of space for produce.

Despite the fact that Capital City will face stiff competition from Wal-Mart and warehouse clubs such as Costco and Sam's, independent groceries can be successful. In 2006, there were 8,211 independent stores, which made up 24.1 percent of all grocery stores, according to the Food Marketing Institute.

Seaboard Station is a development in a former warehouse area near Peace College. Along with the grocery, popular local restaurant Tookie's Grill will open its newest outlet there in about a week.

At Raleigh's Crabtree Valley Mall, fashion retailer Forever 21 will open its first area store on Dec. 1. Forever 21 targets young shoppers by selling fashionable clothes cheap. The store will be on the first floor by Macy's and will be pretty big, at 21,176 square feet. It will also be one of Forever 21's new Forever XXI stores, which are larger and carry more items. The Crabtree location has been designated the flagship store here, which I take to mean that we may see more announcements from Forever 21 soon.

Hair salon Fantastic Sam's is preparing to make an aggressive expansion push in Eastern North Carolina. With six Triangle stores and 26 in the region, Sam's is looking to have 50 stores within the next three years. The first three will be in Garner, Holly Springs and Sanford -- all in new Wal-Mart shopping centers being built in those communities. Stores in Holly Springs and Sanford will open in early November, and Garner will be late next year.

Other items: In Apex, the Riz Raz restaurant at 700 E. Williams St. is under new ownership and will change its name to Jessica's. ... In North Raleigh, gift shop Aly's is planning to close for a few days in August to entirely renovate the store. At 7430 Creedmoor Road in Stonehenge Market, Aly's is probably best known as one of the area's top places to find the stuffed animal Webkinz that are so popular with kids, but the renovation will bring a bigger selection of adult gift items. ... And in Clayton, Papa John's is open at 251 N.C. 42 East.