Episode 13 transcript:
The Farmacy, an organic grocery is the first vendor to pull out of North Quarter Market, a charming coffee shop and retail space on the 1st floor of NORA apartment building at 855 N. Orange Avenue in the North Quarter district of downtown. The remaining vendors include Credo Coffee and Pop Parlor. Traffic wasn’t busy enough to warrant the organic veggie vendor to remain in the space. They’ll open a space in downtown eventually but for now are retreating to their charming Winter Garden location at 18 E. Joiner Street. Coffee will work in this space but nothing else except grab and go meals. The building needs to subsidize the space for new vendors to take the risk or it’ll never take off. Or just rent it out to Dunkin. Who cares? It’s the North Quarter, a district named by developers and at the same time ruined by the work of those developers. It’s all apartment buildings with next to zero retail options. I did a piece about it a year ago but my boyfriend told me to take it down. I walked readers building by building, business by business, proving the area is dead retail-wise with very few exceptions. Continue Reading …