Hot Sheet: Poppy's Popcorn pop-up shop opens; West Asheville cat cafe possible; skating fans want Asheville roller rink; Huli Sue's and Little Chango restaurants open

Also, an Amazon distribution center project in the Enka community may be dead

Poppy’s Popcorn has opened a pop-up shop next to the Whole Foods grocery store on Tunnel Road. The pop-up is open Wednesdays through Sundays./ photo courtesy of Poppy’s Popcorn

Note: This story sponsored by Citizens Fuel Co., a family-owned Asheville company.

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Now here’s more of what’s going around:

Poppy’s Popcorn has opened a pop-up retail shop next door to Whole Foods grocery store on Tunnel Road. The inventory for the shop includes the year-round, cheese and savory flavors, as well as fall and holiday flavors. Those include Southern Pecan Pie, Asheville Mix and Reindeer Crunch. The shop is open Wednesday through Sunday.

Hi-Wire Brewing has opened its new beer garden at 284 Lyman St. in the River Arts District.

Hulie Sue’s BBQ and Grill has opened in the Grove Arcade downtown.

Little Chango Hispanic Craft Kitchen has opened at 134 Coxe Ave. Mountain Xpress has details here.

Mother AVL, an artisan bread shop, is coming to a space at 20 Artful Way. That location is the new Radview building across from Wedge Studios.

Kathmandu Cafe on Patton Avenue downtown is closing and a retail shop called Treasurers of Earth is planning to open in the space, according to construction permits.

A cat cafe may be coming to 863 Haywood Road in West Asheville, according to city construction permits. Someone is considering converting the 3,800-square-foot building there that’s home to Dutch Girl Coin Operated Laundry into a food and beverage cafe that also serves as a cat adoption center.

Fans of roller skating in Asheville are organizing online to turn their dream of an Asheville roller rink into reality. They’ve created Think Rink Asheville, a Facebook group where members pitch their ideas of a multi-use space that would include a roller rink, a stage, a restaurant/bar, arcade and more.

Construction has started on a large mixed-use development along South Bear Creek Road./ photo by Jason Sandford

Clearing, grading, utility, infrastructure, and nature trail work began in late October for a large mixed-use development at 20 South Bear Creek, a spokeswoman for the developer tells me. The plans were met with resistance from local residents worried about the size of the development, which initially called for a mix of 800 homes and apartments. Developers eventually scaled back their plans, and won approval late last year from the Buncombe County Board of Adjustment. The infrastructure work will continue through early summer of 2022 and the first phase of 262 multi-family units is set to break ground in the late spring or early summer of 2022. There's a lot of grading going on that is easily visible from the popular Hominy Creek Greenway trail across Hominy Creek from the development property.

Word on the street is that Amazon is not planning to move ahead with building a distribution center that it received construction permits for earlier this year. Plans called for a nearly 130,000-square-foot distribution center with parking for 700 delivery vans and a dozen loading bays on the former site of the American Enka (and later BASF) manufacturing site in Enka. Representatives for the company planning to build the warehouse had also promised to fix up the 139-foot-tall, brick clock tower that was built in the 1920s and still stands. The main access to the site was going to be via a bridge off of Smokey Park Highway that’s never been fully finished and opened.

A developer is looking to build 15 two-story buildings containing a total of 45 residential units on 8.36 acres of land at 50 Selwyn Road off of Sand Hill Road.

Demolition of the former Denny’s restaurant at 675 Patton Ave. is planned, according to city permits. Police found a body inside the structure during a routine check of the long-vacant building. They later reported the cause of death of the 49-year-old woman to be “suspicious,” and were continuing to investigate.

Charlie Jackson, the founder of the organization that would become the Appalachian Sustainable Agriculture Project, will retire at the end of April 2022, according to a press release. Starting Jan. 1, Molly Nicholie will become executive director of ASAP, and Jackson will shift to a strategic advisor role. The nonprofit’s mission “is to help local farms thrive, link farmers to markets and supporters, and build healthy communities through connections to local farms.” More from the press release:

Anticipating dramatic changes coming to agriculture with the end of tobacco as a dominant crop, a group of farmers, agricultural support professionals, and community stakeholders formed to address these challenges. They launched a local food campaign in 2000 to raise awareness about agriculture, educate consumers about the benefits of buying local food, and create viable market alternatives for farmers in the region. ASAP officially incorporated as a nonprofit organization in 2002. Its programs now include local food and farm promotions, farmer and farmers market support, grower-buyer connections, Local Food Guide, Appalachian Grown certification and branding, Asheville City Market, Farm Tour, Business of Farming Conference, Local Food Research Center, and Growing Minds Farm to School.

Simply put, we wouldn’t have the local food and restaurant scene we have today without the work of ASAP and Jackson. Congratulations!

The United Way of Asheville and Buncombe County recently celebrated the nonprofit’s 100th anniversary.

Twice Round Vintage store on Haywood Road./ photo by Jason Sandford

The owner of Twice Round Vintage at 665 Haywood Road says he’s planning to buy the building and give it a little TLC. The little wig shop located in the back half of the building has been emptied out.

VaVaVoom, the “boudoir boutique & adult toy shop” downtown, is looking to open a location at 723 Haywood Road in West Asheville.

The Story Parlor is the name of the business planned for 227A Haywood Road, according to city construction permits. The building is adjacent to Short Street Cakes, and across the street from Urban Orchard.

Racing fans gathered over the weekend at the WNC Ag Center to reminisce about the days of short track racing in Asheville. The New Asheville Speedway reunion also served as a memorial to local racing legend Jack Ingram, who died in June. The Buncombe County native and resident is a NASCAR Hall of Fame member who raced at the former track down by the river on Amboy Road. For more memories, read Edwin Arnaudin’s Mountain Xpress story from September.

Thanks for reading,

-j