In Charlotte, this local bar is now serving produce, rice, recipes during COVID-19.
For the past few years, NoDa Company Store has served as an idyllic gathering space for the community. Spring evenings here are typically spent with a cold one on a porch swing, perhaps listening to live music or catching up with neighbors, drinking a NoDa Colada on the couch or playing UNO at a picnic table.
Of course, everything is different now.
The worldwide coronavirus pandemic means swings are swaying solo in the wind, empty of the joy and laughter of humans.
Ever-resourceful owners Joey Hewell, Dave Holmes and Scott Lindsley have a new plan, however. Of course they do.
Starting Monday at 11 .m., The NoDa Company Store will temporarily add “Grocery” to its name, Hewell told CharlotteFive on Sunday afternoon. The team has taken out all of the seats and tables and put up shelves.
The NoDa Company Store + Grocery will sell fresh vegetables, fruits, pastas, rice, spices, butters — and growlers. This lets people get everything they need in the center of the neighborhood. “Plus, we think people are going to start to miss craft beer,” Hewell said.
Think: Like a small, neighborhood New York City grocer with a selection of provisions. Avid cooks themselves, Lindsley and Hewell will help you if you are clueless in the kitchen. They will offer up recipes and cooking tips, tell you what to buy and all ingredients will be available at the market. They’ll teach cooking lessons via Facebook live.
If all goes well, the store may add earlier hours (beginning at 8 a.m.) for people who have health issues to be able to shop.
The store is actually zoned for retail, so it’s an easy transition for the team.
Like so many other bars and restaurants in town, the Company Store had to lay off all of its employees except for two.
“Not only does it work perfectly for what we do, we can keep our two employees working,” Hewell said. “And when people are really quarantined, this is how we can give back to the neighborhood.”
“As much as we hate to tell people to go, we want this to be done. So hopefully this is one way people can cluster less in other places,” such as the larger, more crowded grocery stores, Lindsley said.
NoDa Company Store + Grocery
3221 Yakdin Ave.
Instagram: @nodacostore
This story was originally published March 22, 2020 at 9:08 PM.
