Retail Moves
Fickling scopes Triangle for another Houlihan's
Triangle Business Journal - by RenéE DeGross
Houlihan's restaurant franchisee Tom Fickling of F&P Enterprises is looking at sites for his third Houlihan's restaurant in the Triangle. He opened the first Houlihan's at Crossroads Plaza in Cary. A second Cary location is planned at The Arboretum, a Churchill & Banks development on Harrison Avenue near I-40 that is scheduled to open in 1998. Houlihan's is based in Kansas City.
Hard Times Cafe, a chili chain from Alexandria, Va., is planning its first North Carolina restaurant in Raleigh and has plans to open up to three more by the end of 1998 in Cary, Chapel Hill and Durham.
Owner Dan Rowe said no sites are nailed down, but he's looking on Glenwood Avenue at the former Pine State Creamery site or Carolina Power and Light's buildings at Jones and West streets. Both sites are expected to be renovated for retail and office use over the next year.
The four-store chain plans to open more than 20 new cafes in the next two years, mostly around the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area. Most of the expansion will come through franchising.
Rowe purchased a 50 percent stake in the company last December from brothers Jim and Fred Parker, forming American Chili Management Inc. He was part-owner of Virginia-based Chesapeake Bagel Bakery, an interest which he sold six months ago.
Bassett Furniture Industries, a major Virginia-based manufacturer, plans to open a 10,000-square-foot furniture store at 8301 Glenwood Ave., an undeveloped piece of land just west of Lake Ann Drive in Raleigh, real estate sources said.
Carolina Design Builders' Haywood Hughes, a Raleigh developer of the 10.6 acre property, said a letter of intent is signed for the front 2.5-acre portion. He wouldn't say if the buyer is Bassett.
The development plans call for a new mixed-use retail and office space that will be named Glenwood Stations Business Centre.
Hughes also said he is selling his interest in the property to his minority partner, Dan Scala of Raleigh-based DTS Enterprises. Scala said he bought the acreage with the contract intact and has plans to start grading the land in August.
Another bread-baking company is rising in the Triangle.
Atlanta Bread Co., an Atlanta-based seller of specialty breads, is putting its first Triangle store in Peachtree Market on Six Forks Road, near Vinnie's Steakhouse & Tavern. The company is taking 4,200 square feet, said James Mattox of Hunter & Associates, which manages the shopping center.
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