Pedal Cab Co. gets rolling on Asheville streets; Brewwell brewery plans come together; TEDx Asheville returns; Story Parlor celebrates 2nd anniversary; more
Also, a stinky Voodoo Lily is blooming now at the N.C. Arboretum, and more
This newsletter sponsored by Citizens Fuel Co., a family-owned Asheville company.
In this edition of the Hot Sheet: news about a new Asheville pedicab service; an update on Brewwell craft brewery; details regarding Story Parlor’s 2-year anniversary celebration; Shaa’bingo Jamaican food truck’s plans; word of a stinky lily in bloom at The N.C. Arboretum; and the opening date of The Freeze ice cream shop. Spring is upon us!
Pedal Cab Co. has launched in Asheville. The pedicab company is a passion project by husband-and-wife team Tyler and Aundrea Roach. Tyler and Aundrea are veterans of the bicycle manufacturing and food/beverage industries, respectively. After moving to Asheville about three years ago, Tyler worked with Industry Nine, while Aundrea took on a general manager’s role at Biscuit Head. But the two longed to go into business themselves, and decided to invest in a couple of pedal-assist bikes that can seat up to three passengers each. Their goal is simple: to help get people where they’re going in an eco-friendly way. Pedal Cab Co. doesn’t have a specific service area to start. “We’re trying to figure out where we’re most needed,” Tyler says. He and Aundrea add that they’re thrilled to join the list of local entrepreneurs following their dreams. Check ‘em out.
Waggin Meals Pet Nutrition Group has opened a brick-and-mortar location at 460 Johnston School Road. The locally owned business started as an online seller of nutritional dog food made at the owner, Christie Willet’s, home. The business includes a cafe, a dog park and more. The location was most recently home to West End Paw Park and Red Truck Cafe.
Musician’s Workshop held its final close-out sale at its Merrimon Avenue location on Sunday. The business owners have closed shop after 56 years.
The Freeze ice cream shop at 1091 Patton Ave. re-opens for the year on March 14. Spring has sprung!
Shaa’bingo Jamaican Street Food, a food truck, plans to operate from noon until 6 p.m. on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays at 131 Sweeten Creek Road, which is home to Devil’s Foot Beverage craft soda maker and its taproom, The Mule.
Crust Pizza is coming to the Asheville Mall.
Speaking of the mall, has anyone ever eaten at Thunder Burgerz? The eatery has a spot in a Mountain Energy gas station shopping center at 301 Smokey Park Highway, in addition to its mall location.
Brewwell, a new brewery and wellness center, is moving ahead with development plans at 51 Sweeten Creek Road, the former location of Down Dog yoga studio and dog bar. Josh Brewer, a veteran craft beer brewer, has a vision to build a destination that appeals to “beer connoisseurs, wellness enthusiasts, young adults, parents, those who do drink, those who don't drink, and everyone in between.”
TRVE Brewing, the Colorado-based craft brewer that calls itself “Denver’s true heavy metal bar,” took over the former Eurisko Beer Co. location at 255 Short Coxe Ave. late last year and has announced plans to open on March 15.
Abode Homes and Abode Interiors has announced that it plans to close its brick-and-mortar shop at 4 Biltmore Ave., with plans to keep an online business going. There’s a sale now through March 23 at the downtown retail shop.
There’s a plan under consideration to build two residential apartment buildings and one mixed-use building on about 1 acre at 183 Broadway St.
There’s a plan to build for a 4-story, 48-unit condominium complex with parking on .83 acres at 75 Thompson St. near Biltmore Village. The project has been dubbed The Thompson at Biltmore. That location is home to a condo building called Mica Village.
TEDx Asheville, the locally produced event that spotlights speakers who give short, impactful talks styled after the influential TED conference, is set for March 15. This year’s line-up has some great speakers, including: Aditi Sethi, founder and executive director of the Center for Conscious Living & Dying in Asheville; David LaMotte, acclaimed singer-songwriter and ambassador for world peace; and Melissa Red Hoffman, the Associate Hospice Medical Director at Care Partners in Asheville and just one of 90 U.S. surgeons board-certified in hospice and palliative medicine. Check out the full line-up here. This year marks the 15th anniversary of TEDx Asheville. (PS: I’ve been a fan of TEDx Asheville since the beginning.)
Cash Wheeler (Daniel Wheeler), a champion pro wrestler who was born in Asheville and grew up in Old Fort and Marion, is facing criminal assault charges connected to a road rage incident in Florida. Wheeler wrestled under the name Dash Wilder in the WWE with tag-team partner Scott Dawson. The duo won a handful of titles, then moved to the AEW, where they continued their winning ways and wrestle under the names Cash Wheeler and Dax Harwood and the tag team name FTR.
The Voodoo Lily (Amorphophallus konjac) in the N.C. Arboretum’s Baker Exhibit Greenhouse is in full bloom now, and boy is it stinky. The Voodoo Lily emits an odor that mimics the stench of rotting meat, which is meant to attract the lily’s natural pollinators - flies. Arboretum folks say it won’t be in bloom for long, so get out to see this odiferous wonder.
Dan Pierce, one of Western North Carolina's most well-known historians, is retiring. The UNC Asheville history professor and department chair, is leaving UNC Asheville as the college struggles with a $6 million budget deficit. Pierce is a Great Smoky Mountains National Park expert, though he may be best known as a NASCAR historian and for a book on moonshining. Pierce is taking advantage of a faculty retirement incentive program and will be done at the end of the semester. Asheville Watchdog has the latest on UNCA’s planned budget cuts here.
The Asheville Explainer is a new weekly newsletter by Blue Ridge Public Radio designed to help readers engage civically, think deeply and understand the biggest stories in Asheville and Buncombe County. Expect digestible recaps of City Council and Buncombe County Board of Commissioners meetings, BPR’s latest growth and development reporting with additional narrative context from the news staff, and a curated collection of additional local stories to read each week. Go here to sign up for the free newsletter.
Story Parlor, the West Asheville listening room that champions storytelling in all forms, is celebrating its 2-year anniversary in a couple of different ways. First, it has opened the application window for two of its signature programs - Story Parlor’s story/arts residency and its creative facilitator training. Go here for more info. And second, Story Parlor will celebrate its anniversary with an April 27 event that will include a few set performances, as well as time when the stage will be open to anyone who wants to share an original 5-minute piece, whether it is stories, music, comedy, poetry or prose, with the theme of “toasts, traditions and trips around the sun.” Founder and Artistic Director Erin Hallagan Clare has done an incredible job with Story Parlor, having hosted more than 300 workshops and events.
Secret Agent 23 Skidoo and Street Creatures Puppet Collective are teaming up for an all-ages storytelling extravaganza at noon on March 23 at The Grey Eagle. Go here for tix and more info. Fun!
Sharon Leya, a voice-over actress formerly of Asheville, and Jennifer Saylor, a writer, editor and digital communications professional who was a key contributor to Ashevegas in years past, have co-authored a children’s book, “Gabriels Tooth Fairy Tale.”
PennyCup Coffee Co. recently celebrated it’s 10th anniversary. Owners Amber Arthur and Bill Tanner have steadily grown Pennycup, which includes a wholesale business and three PennyCup coffee shops around town. Congratulations!
Thanks for reading,
-j