Reid’s Fine Foods has expanded its presence in uptown Charlotte with a second store.
The specialty grocer opened a roughly 2,600-square-foot location on Thursday at 135 Levine Avenue of the Arts, between Fin & Fino and Starbucks.
It marks the second location for Reid’s uptown in just over a year. The specialty grocer returned to uptown in July 2019, with a location at the corner of Trade and Tryon streets.
“We think the demand is there. Our plan was always to have two stores uptown,” says Tom Coker, managing partner.
Reid’s also operates stores in Myers Park and SouthPark.
Expect the location to serve breakfast, from avocado toast to Southern-fried chicken biscuits, with an a la carte option and brunch on Saturdays. The lunch-and-dinner menu offers wraps, soups and salads, along with Reid’s classics as well as weekly specials, such as half-price steak burgers or fried chicken Friday’s.
Coffee is available at this location. There’s also a wine bar that seats 20 inside and a patio with French bistro-style seating for 60.
Reid’s also offers frozen entrées to go, retail offerings including wine and specialty treats as well as catering.
Specialty items and prepared food offerings are a key component to Reid’s success, Coker says. He notes that prepared food now accounts for roughly 35% of sales at Reid's.
“We consider ourselves a specialty grocer. We definitely don’t want to move away from our core capabilities,” he says.
Reid’s history in Charlotte dates to 1928, when it opened as a gourmet market. That brand left uptown Charlotte in 2010, before returning last summer.
Coker is eying sites for potential expansion north and south of Charlotte. He sees room for one to two more locations in the market. He’s also considering stores in the Raleigh, Charleston and Greenville, South Carolina markets as well as in Atlanta.
Right now, the brand is internally financed. Coker anticipates opening one store a year — but that could ramp up if Reid’s lines up additional funding sources and a supply chain is put in place to support new markets.
Coker says that smaller-footprint stores cost about $1 million to open, while larger stores represent an investment of at least $2 million.
Trips to other markets have allowed Coker to benchmark Reid’s against competitors and embrace strong ideas others have implemented.
“We can’t become complacent if we want to continue to grow,” Coker says.
Charles Thrift with Thrift Commercial Real Estate represented Reid’s in the transaction. Susan Clements with Childress Klein represented the landlord.