Chapelboro’s “Mind Your Business” series summarizes some of the latest stories, announcements, and updates from businesses in the community every three months. From local openings to closings to everything in-between, we are sharing a snapshot of what’s happened in the most recent quarter of the calendar year.
The report will roughly go in chronological order of the developments, and will conclude with a section of any general updates on ongoing projects that are undated. The previous edition, covering January through March 2026, can be found here.
Do you see something that is missing or want to share an update about your own business? Get in touch with us by emailing news@wchl.com with your announcements!
APRIL
• National Burrito Day, April 2, brought big news for local burrito lovers: Carrburritos in Carrboro announced plans to relocate from its longtime West Rosemary Street home to Carr Mill Mall. After spending 29 years in the current space, owner and operator Rae Mosher told 97.9 The Hill the restaurant is excited to upgrade its kitchen and seating space by moving to the former suite occupied by Elmo’s Diner and, most recently, Grata Café. Carrburritos is going to keep operating out of 711 West Rosemary Street as it prepares for the move, which its targeting to be completed in the late summer.
• A new pottery studio, Clayboro, officially welcomed members inside on April 1 before holding a grand opening celebration on April 11 for all customers. The new venture opened at Carrboro’s 101 Lloyd Street — the space previously home to The Merch — after Clayboro owner and pottery instructor Rebecca Graham moved from Florida. Graham documented her work refitting the space and preparing to host classes on the business’ social media pages in the lead-up to the grand opening. The studio offers work space for members with 24-hour access, while hosting regular wheel throwing classes for adults and children.
• In mid-April, the Indian restaurant CholaNad closed without warning to its customers. As the days stretched on and potential patrons wondered why, the reason surfaced: owner and operator Mathivanan Pothiyappan was arrested twice earlier in the month, with the most recent crime being attempted murder of a family member. As of June, CholoNad’s listing on Google is now permanently closed and a sign in the window advertises a new Indian dining concept called Taal. Taal’s website and social media say “opening soon,” but don’t yet indicate when or what to expect.
• Much of Chapel Hill turned from Carolina blue to Banana yellow for the weekend of April 11-12. The Savannah Bananas came to town and played a pair of “banana ball” games in UNC’s Kenan Stadium to sold-out crowds, delighting the fans with trick plays and special guests. The Town of Chapel Hill worked with downtown businesses to capitalize on the Bananas’ popularity and attract foot traffic from people going to the games. Afterward, UNC and the town government shared the Savannah Bananas’ visit generated more than $17 million in direct economic impact to the community.
• Two tenants at the Eastgate Crossing shopping center in Chapel Hill reopened after sustaining flood damage last July during Tropical Storm Chantal. The Thai restaurant Twisted Noodles opened the week of April 13, restoring business where it’s operated for more than a decade. A few days later, the German-based grocery store Aldi welcomed its own customers back on April 16. Aldi has been open in Eastgate Crossing since 2022.
• The Mebane manufacturing plant of Japanese candy-maker Morinaga held a ribbon-cutting ceremony on site April 21, as the company celebrated the end of construction for a $136-million expansion of the facility. Several company leaders, the Japanese consulate to Atlanta, North Carolina Governor Josh Stein and three Orange County commissioners were all on hand for the event. Morinaga, which makes the popular fruity Hi-Chew candy, expects the added manufacturing space will add more than 200 new jobs and double production — meaning the Orange County site could make around 14 million pieces of candy every 24 hours of operation.
• A new cocktail bar, called Good Fortune, opened in Chapel Hill on Apr. 21 — having moved into the 405 West Franklin Street space previously home to Schoolkids Records. According to Carrie Brogren of the Chapel Hill-Carrboro Foodies Facebook group, the bar is the latest venture from the same entrepreneurs behind The Quarter cocktail longue in Greensboro. Good Fortune is open daily, with hours ranging from the afternoon to 2 a.m.
• After announcing its plans to expand to Hillsborough in Oct. 2025, the Wake Forest-based mental health office Bright Path officially opened its new location on April 24. The business became one of the latest to open along Corporate Drive, with the deal brokered by Pickett Sprouse Commercial Real Estate. Like its original location, Bright Path will use its Hillsborough office to offer mental health services to teenagers 12 to 18 years-old, using evidence-based and “ethically delivered” care.
• A Belgian beer holiday made its way to Hillsborough on April 25, with the Wooden Nickel Pub hosting to a party for Zwanze Day. The bar was one of 95 businesses across the globe that partnered with the century-old brewery Cantillon, which is known for making world-class sours and organizing the bi-annual celebration. Wooden Nickel welcomed community members and travelers alike for a pop-up beer garden, live music, and several Cantillon beers on tap — including a pair of Zwanze Day exclusives that were used in a worldwide toast.
• The Chapel Hill-based All About Insurance agency earned a big statewide honor at the end of April. Auto-Owners Insurance recognized AAI with a “Sapphire Agency Award,” which goes to the top three independent agencies in the state and celebrates its growth and performance. AAI held a celebration with all of its staff and a release to the public, in which co-owner Nick Vitali pledged to “set the bar higher” for the agency’s business and service.
MAY
• A new jiu jitsu school in Carrboro welcomed its first classes on May 4. Pure Jiu Jitsu is the latest venture from Jake Whitfield, a former professional fighter and founder of a Goldsboro jiu jitsu academy, and is partnering with instructor Megan Katsaounis to hold classes six days a week. The building at 104 West Main Street in Carrboro was previously The Clean Machine bike shop and was transformed into a space for training in the self-defense martial art.
• The West King Street enterprise Lloyd’s Pharmacy has been a staple of the Hillsborough small business scene for four decades. But its doors have not been open for several months now, with its Google Maps listing saying it is permanently closed and the News of Orange posting in early May about a sign slapped into the window by someone pleading for the space to be filled. There’s not been any official word from the business, but its worth noting: longtime owner and operator Evelyn Lloyd, who is also an elected town official, has not been at the last several Board of Commissioners meetings as she attends to her health.
• After closing under its old ownership in December, a group of entrepreneurs — Scott Huskin, Jason Dettman and Dave Vannier — joined forces to take over the Casual Pint location in Chapel Hill. Like the other franchises in the “beerstro” chain, the bar along South Elliott Road is known for its wide variety of beer options, bottle shop and pub-style food. The new ownership group reopened the Casual Pint on May 7, debuting its revamped menu with more salad and wrap options alongside customers’ old favorites. The pub’s kitchen opens at 4 p.m. on Tuesdays through Thursdays and opens with the bar at 11 a.m. on Fridays through Sundays.
Scott Huskin, Jason Dettman, and Dave Vannier stand behind the Casual Pint Chapel Hill’s bar in early 2026. The trio each individually own other locations of the taproom and teamed up to keep the Casual Pint at its South Elliott Road location after it closed last winter. (Photo via The Casual Pint.)
• A Pittsboro golf club weathered a loss to many of its golf carts on May 8. A fire broke out in the cart barn of the Golf Club at Chapel Ridge, causing a significant fire-rescue response and destroying everything inside. The club welcomed golfers back with little-to-no delays of service, but warned golfers to expect to walk the course until temporary carts could be brought in.
• Al’s Burger Shack in Chapel Hill is no stranger to winning awards. One of the latest came from the website Fast Food Club on May 11, which slotted Al’s into its list of “The Best Cheeseburger in Every One of the 50 States” as the pick from North Carolina. Al’s Burger Shack Co-owner Jason Kesler said about the recognition: “When you see Al’s standing alongside the best burger spots from across the entire country, it reminds you why we do what we do every single day.”
• The Crumbl Cookies location on West Franklin Street in Carolina Square shut down in May and left little public explanation why to customers, with only a sign on the door encouraging patrons to check out other Crumbl locations. The local branch opened in February 2023 and gained some recognition with its in-game promotions for UNC’s basketball programs — but that’s the way the cookie crumbled (crumbld?) for the the bakery chain claiming to have “the world’s best chocolate chip cookie.”
• After operating for years out of the basement of UNC’s Carroll Hall and then an office space on East Franklin Street, Blue Sky Robotics expanded with a move into the Innovate Carolina Junction building on East Rosemary Street. The Chapel Hill Town Council approved parking incentives that cemented the move on May 20, allowing the town to retain the home-grown robotics company instead of seeing it move elsewhere. The venture led by associate professor Steven King designs both robot hardware and software to help automate production-related tasks, and will scale up to provide 152 full-time jobs with average salaries at or above $77,300.
• In Hillsborough, the Six of Cups plant shop and Spiral Studios Jewelry completed a swap of spaces. The pair of businesses shared a building at 115 North Churton Street — and switched places, with Six of Cups closing down its storefront in mid-May to move street-side and renovate the space for their needs. Meanwhile, Spiral Studios moved to the rear and now faces the parking lot, having finished its relocation and reopening on June 17. As Six of Cups finishes its move and refurbishing, the plant shop is still attending local farmers markets on the weekends and occasionally holds pop-up displays on the street.
• An expansion to brick and mortar didn’t work out for a Triangle-based Central American food truck. The Latin Effect opened in September 2025 as a way to better allow owner and chef Alberto Chedrani to share traditional, regional recipes with a dine-in crowd and catering customers. Despite positive reviews from customers, the restaurant held its final service in the 504 West Franklin Street space on May 27 and pivoted back to solely its food truck and catering operations.
• The News & Observer reported details on the Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing made by the Wedgewood Cheese Shop on May 29. The business on Carrboro’s Brewer Lane later testified its struggles to manage the debt caused from renovating its space into a cheese shop and sit-down restaurant, asking for aid in restructuring its debt payments and aiming to fully reorganize the company. Ahead of the filing, the News & Observer said Wedgewood fired several of its salaried staff in an effort to cut down on expenses — but still required a bankruptcy court judge to sign off on paying its staff a week’s worth of wages at the end of May.
• The Chamber for a Greater Chapel Hill-Carrboro held ribbon-cutting ceremonies on back-to-back days at the Greenbridge complex in Chapel Hill off West Rosemary Street. It first celebrated the recent opening of Concierge Medicine of Chapel Hill — which focuses on customize-able primary care and women’s health services — on May 28. Then, chamber leaders returned for a ceremony honoring Locale601 — a co-working office space — on May 29.
JUNE
• Months of preparation led to the official open of Géos Tavern & Oyster Bar in Chapel Hill on June 8. The latest local venture from the Giorgios Hospitality Group and partnership with Chef Dan Jackson, the restaurant took over the former Tobacco Road and NoDa space in the East 54 development and created an elevated neighborhood watering hole with an elevated, seafood-forward menu. That includes meals like: scallop fra diavolo, western North Carolina trout, shrimp and grits, and — yes — plenty of oysters on the half-shell.
Some of the food available at Géos Tavern & Oyster Bar. (Photo via Giorgios Hospitality Group.)
• Car mechanics and technicians sometimes never know what they’ll see when they open up the hood of a vehicle. For a group of Chapel Hill Tire employees on June 9, that included a kitten. A social media post from the car care brand’s center in Chatham County captured the community’s attention as it showed a scared black cat, who apparently hung on for dear life while the car was driven to the shop. After going unclaimed by the owner of the vehicle, the kitten — named Batman by the Chapel Hill Tire crew — was taken home and adopted by a customer the next day who learned of his story.
• The local saga of North Carolina’s first Buc-ee’s travel center took its next step on June 10, as representatives from the gas station chain, Alamance County, City of Mebane and North Carolina legislature gathered for a groundbreaking ceremony. The project at 1425 Trollingwood-Hawfields Road in Mebane will eventually build a 74,000 square-foot facility that is expected to be completed by Nov. 2027. While the project spells a boost for local tax revenue, some community members are voicing their concerns about its impact on the area and environment. Buc-ee’s had previously explored a site in Orange County off of Interstate 40/85 in Efland before a blend of resident protest and county commissioner requests led the company to retract its proposal.
• After the sign for the former military surplus store Surplus Sids was taken in March, it unceremoniously reappeared on June 10 — leaned up against the closed shop with a note attached apologizing and admitting the culprit did not realize its importance to the Carrboro community. The sign’s return was met with joy on social media, built around the initial discovery by co-owner of The Merch, Chip Hoppin.
• Since it was last in Chapel Hill, Details has made some changes. When operating within the University Place mall building, the small business was primarily marketed as a jewelry shop with many other home goods. Now, Details has moved back to Chapel Hill from Durham and opened in a suite at Mariakakis Plaza on June 14. The store — still owned and operated by its original owner, Doug — has downsized and rebranded to focus primarily on home and personal items, but still features its same level of curation and style.
• Ayra – an incoming fine-dining Indian restaurant in Chapel Hill’s East 54 Development – is continuing renovations of the space and shared renderings of its interior in mid-June. The venture is headed by Michelin-starred Chef Sujan Sarkar alongside Mayil Rajendran and Ravi Jeyaraman, the co-owners of Lime & Lemon Indian Grill & Bar who also own the 2110 Environ Way space. Sarkar’s vision is to offer an Indian-inspired cocktail bar, a private room for guests ordering a tasting menu, and a dining room for ordering à la carte, all of which will have moody lighting and a variety of textures featured on the walls.
The cocktail bar being planned for Ayra. (Photo via Finley Design/Ayra.)
• The MOSAIC mixed-use development at the edge of Chatham Park shared a batch of updates on incoming business tenants to its buildings in late June. Three of those businesses will be food-related — as the breakfast and lunch eatery Flying Biscuit Cafe, locally-owned Italian restaurant a Tavolo, and Florida-based ice cream chain Pecan Jacks are joining the lineup of options. Verizon, First Horizon Bank and New View Eye Care are also planning to open within MOSAIC. Pecan Jacks and a Tavolo are expected to open before the fall, while Verizon aims to open before the end of the year and the rest are targeted different times within 2027.
• After more than a year of demolition and construction, the Refuel service station and market at the corner of U.S. 15-501 and Smith Level Road in Chapel Hill reopened on June 27. Gas stations don’t often attract a lot of attention when they close or change — but the demolition of a beloved Dean Smith mural on the side drew lots of reactions from the community. Refuel partnered with the piece’s artist, local painter Scott Nurkin, to create a new mural for the updated gas station. Similarly facing Smith Level Road, the piece is even more visible and features several examples of Chapel Hill iconography.
• After two decades in business, Red Lotus in Chapel Hill shut its doors for the final time. The Chinese restaurant in the Elliott Square shopping center began when Kevin Zhu and his family decided to share some of the traditional Shanghai cuisine and recipes with the Chapel Hill community that his parents brought over when they immigrated in the 1980s. In a message posted to its Facebook page, the restaurant said it was closing with “heavy hearts” and thanked its patrons for “the love and support over the last twenty years.”
• On the final day of June, the wine bar Postino announced plans to add a fourth North Carolina location and its first in Chapel Hill. The growing chain of restaurants boasts its wide-ranging wine selection alongside bruschetta boards, charcuterie and paninis. The Chapel Hill expansion will be at University Place, taking up a suite on the new construction side of the mall and facing The Commons activity area. In its announcement, Postino said it aims to open this fall, but did not share a specific date.
UPCOMING
• After teasing its plans to move down the block in Southern Village earlier this year, La Vita Dolce is planning a July 2 grand re-opening in its expanded location. The espresso and gelato café is in the process of moving to 700 Market Street, where owner Annie Johnston previously ran the fine dining restaurant Market and Moss. Johnston says moving La Vita Dolce there not only triples the business’ space, but will enable her to achieve a vision of an all-day café with full breakfast and lunch options during the day and full bar service as night.
• Einstein Bros. Bagels appears set to open in Chapel Hill’s Eastgate in the coming weeks. Located in a standalone building on the East Franklin Street side of the property, the bagel chain will take over where a different bagel chain operated for years. Bruegger’s Bagels chose not to reopen after last July’s flooding from Tropical Storm Chantal.
Einstein Bros. Bagels’ signage popped up within Eastgate Crossing Shopping Center in recent weeks, teasing the return of a bagel shop to the shopping mall. (Photo by the Chapel Hill Media Group.)
Featured photo via Carrburitos.
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