Fowler's becomes Parker & Otis -- and adds grocery basics

More news on the re-imagining of Fowler's under new owner Jennings Brody. In mid-May the shop at Peabody Place across from West Village Phase II will re-open as Parker & Otis. Besides breakfast/lunch and gourmet food items, P&O will feature grocery staples like Maple View Farms milk, vegetables and fruits, and "other necessities." (The N&O's Durham News featured this and lots of other news about downtown in a great article by David Newton yesterday.) Looks like the website is under development, and shows the hallmark of another Flywheel Design project.

This is a solid step towards more grocery services downtown, and really hits the mark for what downtown residents need. Downtown advocates and residents of nearby urban neighborhoods have consistently asked for two things: a downtown grocery store (with Trader Joe's the desiderata for some), and the elimination and adaptive re-use of the dead, open parking lots that are eyesores and poor land use in much of the urban core. Of course, these two goals are in perfect contradiction, as even smaller grocery stores generally are standalone buildings surrounded by a sea of parking spaces.

Assuming P&O hits the mark with the right selection and just enough variety -- and has sufficient hours of operation -- it could present exactly what a downtown resident needs: bread, dairy and other everyday items a short walk away. Most downtown residents in a Sunbelt city with underdeveloped transit like Durham are still likely to own a car and to hit the Whole Foods or Kroger for their main shopping, but won't want to drag themselves up to North Pointe or down to South Square for a quart of milk. Everyday staples in walking distance really hits today's core needs.

In the same article (and back in the Old North Durham DAP-area development forum in February), Bob Chapman of TND mentions that a presumably more full-line neighborhood grocery store has been demanded by residents of urban neighborhoods and that this is one use under consideration for the old Strawbridge Studios building on Geer Street in the DAP district, along with an art gallery/studio and deli. (Given the size of the space, it seems quite likely the actual use will be a mix of various things.

Given the challenges that Capital City Grocery has had attracting traffic in Raleigh's more heavily-populated "Inside the Beltline" neighborhoods, small steps like these are the most likely steps forward we'll see for downtown grocery for some time.

Comments

[Dave S.]

As much as I'm sure Parker & Otis will have a quality selection of groceries, I'll probably only go there when I need to get something for a party or potluck (as was the case with Fowler's). Even now, whenever I spend $30 at Whole Foods, I feel guilty knowing I could've gotten a lot more food for myself at Kroger. (Yes, learning to cook would probably keep costs down regardless; I'm working on that).

I suppose the Durham Food Co-op would fill the niche I'm looking for, if only they had a bit more of a selection.

And then there probably are small neighborhood grocery stores that I've never explored due to my aversion to bars-in-the-windows. If someone can recommend one of these, I'll be happy to give one a try.

[Dan S.]

According to the staff on the back porch, all the wine, save two bottles, was purchased by 10:10am. I arrived around 11am and saw enough wine storage to hold a couple hundred bottles -- it must have been a madhouse.