Father and Son, longtime vintage store in downtown Raleigh, finds a new home

Father and Son, the downtown Raleigh fixture that has been under pressure to find a new location, has done just that.

The vintage thrift store will be moving from its home for more than 20 years on Hargett Street in the central part of downtown several blocks away to South West Street.

“We’re really excited,” owner Brian Ownbey said Monday.

The new home, at 302 S. West St. near the intersection of West Martin Street, has been vacant since Flanders Gallery closed last year. It is next to where the new transit hub, Union Station, is scheduled to open next year.

Father and Son will have to squeeze the wares it sells into a building that is less than half the size of its current location.

“We have a lot of space we haven’t utilized the best we could here,” Ownbey said of the three-story building crammed with Mid-century modern furniture, antiques and collectibles.

Ownbey said he had considered two different locations, but when his father died unexpectedly, he decided to scale back and simplify his professional and personal life.

In December, Ownbey and his wife were informed their building was under contract to be sold. Then in April, a commercial and residential real estate limited liability company, MMP Hargett 107, bought the property for $900,000, and gave them until the end of 2017 to move.

A date for the store’s move has not been set.

Ownbey said he didn’t know what might replace his store on Hargett Street.

The announcement followed another downtown move announced Monday. Deco gift shop and Deco Home furnishings shop will move around the corner from Hargett Street to South Salisbury Street, opening up two storefronts to new retail.

This story was originally published October 30, 2017 at 5:26 PM with the headline "Father and Son, longtime vintage store in downtown Raleigh, finds a new home."