A deli, bar, and bottle shop with locations in Charlotte and Durham is expanding to Raleigh.
The Common Market will open at Seaboard Station in early 2026, taking over a 4,700-square-foot space at 807 Halifax Street.
The Raleigh location will occupy what owner Graham Worth describes as an architectural oddity: two adjacent structures built at different times that form one building but don’t connect on the inside, with exposed steel beams and a slanted floor plan.
“It would never be designed this way if you were going to build this from the ground up today, but it gives it a ton of character,” Worth says.
For Worth, a Raleigh native whose first job was loading plants at Logan’s nursery when he was 14, the expansion represents a homecoming of sorts. True to The Common Market’s salvage-forward aesthetic, he’s already begun collecting distinctive pieces for the space, including a five-foot steel sculpture of a biker holding a chainsaw, welded from car parts.
The Common Market began as a Charlotte convenience store in 2002, evolving into its current form after founder Blake Barnes added a deli, then a bar, as he noticed customers wanted to linger. Worth, who partnered with the business in 2016 and now helms it, has helped launch the second and third Charlotte locations and the Durham outpost.
Durham’s location, carved from an old office building near Ninth Street, has cultivated an eclectic events calendar since opening in 2023: in the past month, the space has hosted everything from a Giant Robot Fight Club and an ocean-themed storytelling event to a drag show and a ukulele orchestra.
The Raleigh Common Market will offer a full-service bar, made-to-order sandwiches and grab-and-go meals, coffee, beer, wine, and a selection of local goods. The space will include a large outdoor patio and potentially house additional vendors, though Worth says those partnerships are still being explored.
With the Common Market now spanning several cities, Worth says he’s committed to avoiding the pitfalls of chain expansion.
“We make sure we’re hiring and empowering the correct people who understand how to build a business with the customers; making sure they understand that we’re looking for a connection with people,” Worth says. “We don’t want to just be a place you walk in and grab your sandwich and leave.”
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