The N&O reported today the death of Edwin Flythe, founder of Flythe Cyclery on Peace Street. The store is one of the last-standing piece of old-Raleigh retail, and its German facade has always added to the character of downtown. Flythe Cyclery is now its third generation and is one of the few bike stores around with friendly, humble help.

Flythe battled prostate cancer for many years, but finally succumbed last week. He was 94.

Durham has apparently made the very short list of cities that may get a Tesla dealership. The first dealership for the all-electric sportscar opened on Thursday in Los Angeles. According to Autoweek, the next wave of stores will come to Menlo Park, CA (Silicon Valley), New York, Miami, Seattle, and Chicago. The third wave, however, mentions Washington, Boston, and Durham.

The Tesla is the first wide production all-electric sportscar. It boasts acceleration of 0-60 mph in under 4 seconds and tops out at 125mph. Delivery time is currently 15 months for the $109,000 cars.

Cherry Modern Design has decided to close shop in late May. The modern furniture store moved from Glenwood Avenue to Cameron Village just over a year ago. While many browsers were wowed by the selection, ultimately (and unfortunately) the market in this area is just not that keen on the modern look.

Word is that frequent customers got wind of the news and bought up a lot of good stuff in the last couple of days…but there is still some left! Carlton & Co. will move to the space currently occupied by Cherry.

I heard a rumor today that a “noodle store” is going to open in the former Grape spot in Cameron Village. Anyone heard more? Soup? Fresh pasta??

The AT&T store in North Hills is now open in its new location, between the escalators and The Q Shack, near the theaters. The store was formerly next to ArtSource, facing Six Forks Road.

National Art Interiors has moved from its prominent location at Hillsborough St. and Glenwood Ave. to the Zaytoun Orthodontics building on Six Forks Road. The store will open tomorrow.

map it

Local kitchen and bathroom upfit specialists Kitchen & Bath Galleries will soon open a showroom in The Lassiter at North Hills, across from Tyler House.

map it

Beginning at 10 a.m. tomorrow, the Carolina Clothiers sale will begin in the former Storehouse location at North Hills. The sale features "top designer men’s clothing" at discounts of 50 to 80 percent off retail. The sale is expected to run through the end of March.

Bloom, Food Lion’s techie grocery concept, is coming to Raleigh, according to an article by Sue Stock this morning. The store offers personal handheld barcode scanners that let you scan as you shop with no checkout line. They also are aiming at a totally different feel and experience in their stores. The store will be located in a new strip center at Ray and Strickland Roads (map it).

It is surprising that Food Lion took so long to migrate their concept store to our little nerdistan. I am excited about having another shopping option, however the complaint I hear about the store is that it is supplied by the same regional distribution hubs as Food Lion uses for their main stores, so the store’s inventory is not different than a good Food Lion store’s.

A few businesses are closing on Peace Street:

• Las Cascadas Taqueria
• Woodleigh Place antiques
• V’s Teas and Treasures - V’s cites: "Due to rezoning and construction on Glenwood Avenue we are forced to close as of Feb 1, 2008. We have lost our parking. Please keep checking for our relocation plans. Thank you."

Rumor has it that one of the street-level retail slots in the new 222 Glenwood will have a Dunkin’ Donuts. DD would join the Cinellis’ new family+fine project Gianni & Gaitanos opening in the Summer.

The rerouting of Cary’s Walnut and Holly Springs roads has created another major intersection (for the creation of another brick strip mall and full compliment of stand-alone pharmacies). The intersection’s NW corner features a new shopping center named Tryon Village. The lineup so far is a pretty nice one for a shopping center of its size:

• Yoho Asian Bistro
• Breugger’s Bagel Bakery
• Harris Teeter
• Walgreen
• Starbucks
• Impressions Hair Salon
• Rita’s Ice Cream
• Pinky Toes (girls clothing)
• Jill’s Beach
• Jimmy John’s
• Suncom Wireless
• It Figures
• Pacific Nails
• Ruckus Pizza
• Snap Fitness 24/7

About 2/3 of the center is leased, and it will interesting to see what Harris Teeter, Yoho, and Breugger’s do for the area. (map it)

WRAL is reporting that Wal-Mart will not build a store that was planned for Sunnybrook and Rock Quarry Roads. Good news or bad news? SE Raleigh has a dearth of new retail, but is Wal-Mart what it needs?