TBJ is reporting that Chapel Hill’s Performance Bicycles is opening a store in Sutton Square in May. The store will be about 9,000 square feet. The bike chain has 90 stores nationwide.

It’s been at least eight long years since I walked into a retail store and was awestruck. That period of time ended when I recently visited The Meat House. The store is a national chain of butcher shops, but don’t be fooled. There isn’t a local merchant within at least 30 miles (maybe hundreds more) that remotely comes close to delivering the incredible product I saw.

The heart of the store is its meat counter, where a myriad of fresh meats are presented for the picking. Seafood is not available (except for some megashrimp), but pork, poultry, and a slew of red meat options are. I counted 10 variations on “steak”. The store also stocks a deep supply of frozen, difficult-to-find items such as venison, pheasant, duck, fois gras, ostrich, and more.

The Meat House is more than just a meat counter, though, as the specialty grocery items are larger in scope than expected. A new kind of tortilla chips I haven’t seen are delicious, as well as the three accompanying sample dips displayed (I especially liked the artichoke dip). The store also stocks prepared meals from Cafe 121 in Sanford. The meat prices are more in line with the Fresh Market, so it is noticeably cheaper than Whole Foods.

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While the Meat House’s standard meat counter is unmatched in the eastern half of the Triangle, the store really shines with its semi-prepared foods. I counted 25 different marinated meats, pinwheel steaks, kebabs, and the like. The store has a grill outside, and they constantly keep a chafing dish with two samples going at all times. I have tried 5 items now and each has been incredible. The chicken wings and the Sundried Tomato and Herb-marinated Chicken were fantastic, and so were a couple of marinated beef tips. The Burgundy Wine marinated Beef Tips, however, were so remarkable I have thought about them while trying to sleep. Not only are the marinades excellent for these items, but the quality and tenderness of the meat is so good that it shines through even the strong marinades.

If the store is a success, the owners will continue their pursuit of a North Raleigh location. I sent along my recommendation (of going in where Blockbuster on Wake Forest Road was), and it appears that their site selection criteria are on par with what will be a true success for Raleigh one day. The nearby Trader Joe’s opened with much fanfare a couple of years ago. However I never felt it was worth the drive to Cary. The Meat House, on the other hand, undoubtedly is.

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Back in the early 70’s North Raleigh had just a few grocery stores. North Hills had a Winn-Dixie, there was a Big Star next to the Six Forks K-Mart (where Borders is), and an A&P was in Colony (now Food Lion). As North Raleigh grew and bigger, nicer grocery stores opened, the Winn-Dixie in North Hills Plaza deteriorated progressively, but inexplicably remained open (probably because the Big Star closed and the Holly Park Winn-Dixie came and went). Finally the grocery gods granted us mercy and closed the Winn-Dixie, replacing it with a swank, clean Harris-Teeter about a decade ago.

That store location, the one that has fed me for most of my life, closes at 6pm tonight. With it go many memories: watching the live lobster tank, shouting on the store PA from my child’s seat, the Long Island woman singing about bagels (whatever those are!) on the P.A., racing out to the parking lot to repark our car that had drifted away in neutral, and meeting employees who would become close personal family friends. The memories aren’t just the old ones, either. The Indian store manager has been one of my little girl’s favorite retail personalities. (He, incidentally, is moving back to the Glenwood Village location). The store, while not stocking the wide range we have all had the luxury of knowing in the modern era, was still great for staples and extremely convenient.

Tomorrow everything changes. A new, 48,000 square foot Harris Teeter will open across the Mississippi (Six Forks Road) literally in North Hills East’s parking garage. The store is two-stories, but don’t worry about that second level. It reportedly will contain coffee, flowers, and gift cards. (How long until they recognize that sales of those items will be non existent, and move more necessary household items up there?). The stock from the Lassiter location will be divided among 12 different Harris Teeter locations. Managers and their staff will come in and take an aisle-a-piece in order to distribute the merchandise and offer North Hills customers a turnkey experience during the transition.

Much like the closing of the Cardinal Theatres, the closing of a grocery store in old North Hills Plaza means the end of an era for North Raleigh. Perhaps the store will be filled with books in the moderate future. Perhaps it will be something equally serviceable. What it won’t be is food, and it will never quite be the same. As they say, “the only constant is change”.

In the summer of 2001 I was eating at Pulcinella’s in North Raleigh. As we left the restaurant, it dawned on me: what if this L-shaped shopping center were reoriented to two parallel strips, and the facade where broken up to look like Franklin Street (in Chapel Hill)? At that point many in Raleigh were worried that the dying North Hills would be replaced by a big box store, a few outparcels, and sea of asphalt. The idea of a village-like shopping center excited me, so I put some thoughts together on paper and dropped them in new North Hills owner John Kane’s mailbox.

Kane kindly responded that wheels were already in place for a very similar project, which was a huge relief to my family. The letter became the seed for the Raleighing.com project, but has not made an appearance on gogoraleigh. So, to celebrate gogo’s 2nd birthday, here is what started the whole blogging thing for me:

September 7, 2001

Dear Mr. Kane:

I am ecstatic that you are interested in redeveloping the North Hills Mall property. I grew up in the mall’s back yard and always felt that it could do more for our area. It is GOOD to have local ownership again!

I am troubled by the recent events with Neal Coker’s Oberlin project, and fear the same from some of the similarly short-sighted neighbors of mine in the North Hills subdivision. When I hear of residents intending to treat the 100-foot buffer like a forest preserve, I worry that logic is being trampled by an emotional fear of change. North Hills Mall is a dump, and it is time to put something there that makes Raleigh a better place to live.

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The Meat House, a national butcher chain, is now open in Cary’s Saltbox Village. The store aims to replace our missing neighborhood butcher. As with Trader Joe’s, as soon as this site gets off the ground, the store eyes expansion in the North(ish) Raleigh area. The store is open from 9am to 7pm daily.

The long-awaited full-scale Harris Teeter at North Hills East is set to open on February 10, according to the North Raleigh Observer. The existing store at The Lassiter will close upon the new store’s opening. Nothing has been officially announced about a new tenant for the space in The Lassiter, but don’t expect another food venue (Fresh Market, Dean & Deluca, etc). Be thinking more along the lines of a book store.

Varsity Mens Wear, one of the only remaining non-anchor tenants in its original space in Crabtree Valley Mall, is closing up shop and moving to North Hills East in the space next to Charlotte’s. (That sure is close to Lile’s) Hopefully they will bring back the tartan carpet!! (not likely)

I am certainly more out of touch with Crabtree than ever, but I can only think of Hudson Belk, Kanki, Merle Norman, and the Hallmark store as being the only remaining original tenants in their original spaces. Is there one I’m missing?

Sue Stock is reporting today that Crabtree has nailed a deal to bring the state’s first H&M store to the mall. It will be located in part of the former Thalheimer’s/Lord & Taylor space on the lower level (under Belk Men).

Time Warner Cable announced today that it will officially launch 4G wireless service in Raleigh, Charlotte, and Greensboro on December 1. This will be called “Road Runner Mobile”, and prices start at $35 per month (for TWC Triple Pay Customers on Price Lock Guarantee).

Download speeds will be up to 6 Mbps. Unlike Verizon’s Mifi dongle, this service will be received via two types of USB dongles: Motorola USBw100 USB card (WiMax-only) and the Franklin Wireless CMU-300 USB card (dual 3G/WiMax). More options are said to be available after the service’s launch.

Note (10/15): Also being launched on December 1 is Time Warner’s CradlePoint device, which will also deliver Road Runner Mobile. The device is a portable wireless router that connects up to the internet wirelessly, much like Verizon’s Mifi.

The introduction of fob-based internet connectivity makes things interesting, especially for people who live alone. With this kind of device and a Wifi-capable “phone” device, one could use Skype for their telephony over wifi and avoid having to exhaust all of their patience with a terrible cellular phone carrier (I’m talking right at YOU, AT&T!)