Durham neighborhood plans grocery co-op

In Durham, a group of neighbors has been quietly building support for a neighborhood co-op grocery store similar to Carrboro's Weaver Street Market.

Now they are ready to push their efforts into overdrive.

The Durham Central Market will work like most co-ops. That means anyone can shop there, but owner-members will get special discounts and have voting privileges that will affect the operation of the store.

A committee is now evaluating locations in the Central Park district of Durham, near downtown and the farmers market. If all goes as planned, the store will open next year.

Since July, the group has sold about 170 owner shares at $100 each. The goal is to sell 300 shares by the end of this month. Ownership is open to anyone 18 years or older living in North Carolina. People who buy shares can add additional adults living in their household for $40 each.

If you would like to learn more, visit the market's Web site at www.durhamcentralmarket.org.

In Morrisville, the first retail tenants for the 100-acre Park West Village development have been announced.

Construction will begin in February and is expected to be completed in 2010. When the retail tenants begin opening, they will include some newcomers to our market: Buy Buy Baby, an affiliate of Bed Bath & Beyond that specializes in children's furniture, toys and gifts; Urban Active, a 50,000-square-foot fitness club; and a 14-screen Stone Theatres movie theater. Leases are still being signed for the smaller spaces.

After traveling the world working on cruise ships for almost a decade, Yogi and Jill Zonruiter settled in the Triangle and are opening an antique shop in Cary. Streets of London Antiques will open Saturday at 928 W. Chatham St., in a building that has previously been home to a number of bars and taverns.

On Fayetteville Street in downtown Raleigh, G. Patel, who owns sushi restaurant Sono, is planning to turn the nearby former Yancy's space into an upscale pub called The Oxford.

Yancy's opened in late 2006 and was heralded as a cornerstone of the downtown revitalization effort. It closed in July, a few months after its owners filed for bankruptcy. The Oxford is expected to open later this fall. Work has already started on the space.

OTHER ITEMS: In Raleigh, a flooring sales and installation business called Cover My Floors opened at 201 Tryon Road. ... Also in Raleigh, there's another new scooter store. Scoot Scoot is at 3037 Medlin Drive. ... In Durham's Northgate mall, the Nail Care store is adding salon services including waxing and facials and changing its name to Nail Care Spa. It will remain open during construction. ... At Crabtree Valley Mall in Raleigh, Diamonds Direct and Francesca's Collections opened this week. ... And in Cary, Cary Nutrition is open at 915 Kildaire Farm Road. The store sells smoothies and drinks, plus nutritional products and supplements, and offers weight loss programs. ... In Raleigh, the Dollar Tree in Tarrymore Square off Capital Boulevard relocated down the street to Plantation Point, at 6421 Triangle Plantation Drive. The new store is open.