New tenants announced for shopping center near Raleigh’s Wegmans. When will they open?
Construction on a new restaurant and a bank is underway at a busy intersection in Raleigh.
The two businesses, Guthrie’s Chicken and TD Bank, will be at the corner of Wake Forest Road and Six Forks Road in Raleigh’s Midtown, across from the Wegmans shopping center.
They are being built on the site of the former Courtney’s restaurant and Raleigh Auto Spa car wash. Courtney’s, which closed years ago, struggled after the owner, Jeff Seidenstein, was diagnosed with cancer and, weakened by treatment, was unable to run the restaurant, The News & Observer previously reported. At the time, employees had started a fundraising campaign to purchase the restaurant from Seidenstein and share ownership of it.
The developer is South Carolina-based Columbia Development, the firm behind projects including Fenton in Cary and the Costco-anchored Nichols Plaza in Apex, construction documents show.
Triangle Business Journal first reported on the new retailers.
Here’s what we know about the two new businesses.
Guthrie’s Chicken comes to Raleigh
Guthrie’s Chicken didn’t begin the way it is today. In 1965, Alabama native Hal Guthrie opened a drive-in restaurant in Haleyville, Alabama. Chicken fingers didn’t make it on the menu until years later, and it wasn’t until the 1980s when the first Guthrie’s to serve only chicken fingers opened, the restaurant’s website says.
Over the years, the Guthrie family brought the restaurant to Georgia and Florida and expanded throughout Alabama. Now, Guthrie’s Chicken operates in West Virginia, Ohio, Mississippi, Kentucky, Idaho and Arkansas, in addition to the original states.
The Raleigh location appears to be the first Guthrie’s in the Carolinas, according to the restaurant’s website.
It will be located in a 2,177-square-foot building, according to construction documents, at 2907 Wake Forest Road, where Raleigh Auto Spa was formerly located. The car wash has since moved to 3334 Capital Blvd. in Raleigh.
Guthrie’s is known for its chicken tenders, available in a box combo with sides including fries, cole slaw, Texas toast and a serving of its signature sauce, or in a sandwich or bucket. The “snack” includes three chicken fingers, fries and the signature sauce.
The restaurant will join Chick-fil-A, another chicken-forward fast-food chain, at the busy intersection.
Guthrie’s did not respond to The N&O’s request for more information about the location.
TD Bank finds new Raleigh location
Courtney’s has been demolished, and a new structure is taking shape on the site at 407 E. Six Forks Road.
The building is expected to house a new TD Bank location. According to construction documents, the building will be 2,500 square feet.
“We can confirm that TD leases the property at 407 E. Six Forks Road, but we do not have any plans for the location to announce at this time,” TD Bank said in a statement emailed to The N&O.
TD Bank only has one other branch open in the Triangle, on Creedmoor Road in North Raleigh, according to the bank’s online locator.
The bank is headquartered in New Jersey and is a subsidiary of The Toronto-Dominion Bank, a Canadian firm.
Other developments at the Wake Forest-Six Forks intersection
Restaurants are filling up spaces at several corners of the busy Raleigh intersection.
- La Farm Bakery opened its first permanent Raleigh location at the shopping center at 404 E. Six Forks Road earlier in January. The store is unique among the other La Farm locations because it will serve pizza, The N&O reported.
- Umiya Sushi & Hotpot, an all-you-can-eat restaurant, is open in the former Tuesday Morning space at 404 E. Six Forks Road.
- Texas-based fast-food chain Whataburger plans to open a restaurant with a drive-thru at the corner where the now-closed Applebee’s is, The N&O previously reported. Whataburger locations in the Raleigh area are expected to start opening in 2026, the company told The Charlotte Observer.
