Fancy Groceries is moving to Trade Street!
We're graduating and opening our own brick and mortar downtown!
BIG NEWS. ‘Lil FG is growing up.
We’re moving out of the barbershop and striking out on our own into the heart of downtown Winston Salem where we’ll have our very own space on Trade Street in the New Year!
I am so stoked to be among so much great shopping like Mast General, Major Tomm’s, Eyes on Trade, and Happy Hour Vintage, plus to be within walking distance of a few of my personal Winston faves like Off the Rack, Still Grimey, Mission Pizza, Aperture Cinema, Chad’s Chai, Camino, Bookmarks, and a stones throw from SaySo. And I can’t forget about Little Pep, a new natural wine bar opening right across the street from our location.
In celebration of our graduation, we’ve created a limited run of vintage ivy collegiate sweatshirts designed by local artist Matthew Cook and hand-printed by John at Two Fold Printing.
These limited edition sweatshirts are 100% 9.5oz cotton and USA-made in downtown Los Angeles. They are made-to-order and available via pre-sale only. And since you subscribe to this newsletter, you’re the first to know!
We designed these shirts based off the collegiate ivy sweatshirts of the 1950s from Harvard, Brown, Yale, and even Wake. A vibe that will never be out of style.
Once the pre-sale closes, these sweatshirts will no longer be available. By grabbing yourself a shirt (or two), you’re not only showing off your FG pride, but also helping us build the future home of Fancy Groceries at 562 N Trade Street.
Every shirt purchased will make you look like you went to the dopest college around, and also assist in expanding our current space (only 350 square feet) to a whopping 900 square feet!
What are we going to do with all that extra room?
You already know about my community based retail approach so the new, larger Fancy Groceries will be a place to hang on Trade with plenty of soft seating where you can enjoy a hot cup of coffee and chat with friends, listen to live music, and, of course, do a little (a lot) of shopping because we’ll not only be expanding upon the clothing we currently carry, but we’ll also have a permanent, rotating line of groceries for the gals too. There will also be a sewing station that will double as a patch bar.
Tripling our space and inventory is a heavy investment. These sweatshirts help ease the burden of that growth. I’ve also been told to expect a level of foot traffic I am in no way prepared to handle (haha) so we’ll also be hiring our first employees too.
Oh and as an additional thank you, EVERY PURCHASE WILL BE ENTERED INTO A DRAWING FOR SOMEONE TO WIN A $500 SHOPPING SPREE IN OUR NEW SPACE!
Just like I did for the symphony tickets, I’m going to put all your names in a hat and draw one lucky winner.
You can pre-order your shirt right now by checking out the brand new website we’ve been tirelessly working on the last few weeks!
And I must say, I really never expected this move to happen.
I have loved my time in Ardmore and am forever indebted to the Ardmore Barbershop for believing in this idea when so many other people told me that Winston wasn’t ready for a USA made men’s clothing store. Or just ready for this specific level of shopping in general. In 2018 I was told, and I quote, “Men here only want to spend their money on burgers and beer.” 🤷♂️
I remember sitting on the porch with Lauren, utterly torn about what to do. I’d been working as a video editor for over 12 years at that point. I had a good job, but I was bored. I wanted to try something completely different with my life, except Covid was still raging. Vaccines were only just beginning to roll out in 2021. I had enough money saved to give it a small go. I told Lauren, “I’ll never regret it if we try this and it fails miserably. But I will regret it forever if we never try it all. I don’t want to always be wondering ‘What if I opened that shop when we lived in Winston?’” I had to know.
Then you guys showed up time after time. You have made this move and expansion possible. We grew faster than I ever anticipated. When we opened, Fancy Groceries was nothing but socks, candles, ties, and Jungmaven tees.
Today we’re carrying some of the world’s finest garments made by socially and environmentally conscious brands like Merz B Schwanen, Gitman Vintage, Jungmaven, and Naked & Famous.
And on Trade, we’ll only be growing our lineup of fashion friends.
Okay so here’s insider deets -
Sweatshirts will be ready for ship/in-store pick-up in early December. Just in time for the holidays.
In December we’re going to throw a graduation party. One last Sunday Social in Ardmore to celebrate our time here. Two Fold Printing will be there (along with food, music, shopping, the works) firing these shirts off live and in person for you to pick up.
If you can’t make the party, Fancy Groceries will be open regular hours in Ardmore throughout the end of the year. Once they’re ready, you can grab your sweatshirt anytime.
You can currently see the sweatshirt in person at the shop, where you can also place your pre-order with me personally.
Don’t live in Winston? Never fear. Just select shipping at checkout and I will mail your sweatshirt when it’s ready.
Sizing details and more information can be found on the new site. Presale orders won’t be open for long, so act fast as I’ll need time to process orders and have the factory in LA get them here to us in time for December.
Thank you thank you thank you for your endless love of our little store. You don’t get into this side of the retail business because you want to make money. You do it because you love it and it makes you happy. I love how many people have connected and become friends at FG. I love how many of you come in just to shoot the shit and talk about clothes. I love it when you bring me your old, worn-in garments to show them off and talk fades. I love it when you guys reach out for styling advice or to recommend a rad brand you just discovered. And I love giving you a place to hang and feel inspired. I will forever be grateful, and can’t wait for 2024.
Remember: FG in Ardmore is open normal hours throughout the rest of 2023
Stay kind,
Max