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9:46 p.m. • 6-19-13

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Published: 2008-07-03 21:33:00
Updated: 2008-07-03 22:55:44

Downtown gets third grocery store


Downtown grocery store
Downtown grocery store
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With more than 7,000 people expected to call the downtown area home by the end of the year, city leaders celebrated on Thursday what they refer to as an integral part of the area’s development – a third grocery shopping option downtown.

Taz’s market, 207 South Wilmington Street, opened its doors. Owner Taz Zarka said opening the store at a time downtown Raleigh is thriving made good business sense.

“After studying the best locations, we found it should be in the heart of downtown,” said Zarka, who also owns the original Taz’s market, 335 South Wilmington, also downtown.

A few blocks north near downtown, Capital City Grocery has been operating for almost a year. Management said they are counting on business from three new condominium developments set to open in this Fall.

“We have so many condos coming and they’re going to need somebody to really service them,” store manager William Spence said.

Mayor Charles Meeker, who attended the ribbon cutting at Taz’s market Thursday, said the store is yet another phase in the city’s downtown development.

“As the condos open, this will be a place people can come for their groceries. Right now, it’s more of a convenience store, but it could grow into a grocery store over time,” Meeker said.

Meeker said downtown development is picking up. Besides condominiums, nightspots and restaurants, Meeker envisions more office buildings and hotels.


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Does anybody on here every have anything positive to say? People downtown really need a grocery store. And really a lite rail is also very much needed. With all the planned events downtown I would love to drive to a park and ride. It would be economically feasible. I actually love Downtown but the traffic is a headache. If I had the money I would love to invest in a store in Downtown.

I liked the really old picture of downtown used for the article...(psst..its changed a little since than)

Raleigh is going to have to make some major changes in all the weekend road shut downs for marathons, that beer fest, or a dog show to make it more appealing for someone to live downtown. During April and May, I believe the downtown streets were closed at least 5 of 8 weekends for different events. Talk about your headaches. To be living there would be a true nightmare. You should have seen the drivers from out of town trying to figure out where to go when all the police just kept pointing them to follow the flow of traffic.

Who would want to live downtown in a small condo that costs premium? Oh boy I can make my way past panhandlers to the local convenience store, oh joy! The only thing downtown that seems prominent is bars and bad restaurants. Downtown Raleigh is a joke. If they had actually bothered to put in our train system, we could have taken a relaxing trip to DC and gone for some real shopping.

“As the condos open, this will be a place people can come for their groceries. Right now, it’s more of a convenience store, but it could grow into a grocery store over time,” Meeker said

So it's not really a third grocery store. it's a Fast Fare with a little more food?

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