Alluring.
This morning, Jeanne, Jason, and I took a trip over to PJP West End for a check-in on the building progress since it has been a few weeks. And it did not disappoint, for sure - it was a veritable hub of activity in our storefront. Our agreement with our landlord is that the space be built out to white box status (which is just a fancy term for they do all the work to get us ready to finish out the space to look like PJP…so things like electrical, plumbing, etc). In each of our stores, starting with PJP Buttonwood, Jeanne always writes “[t]he sweetness of life begins at Peggy Jean’s Pies” on the wall mid-construction and so we wanted to get that done before drywall was hung. (In PJP Nifong, she wrote it where our beautiful rustic tile wall is now.)
So let’s talk about the things people keep asking about PJP West End:
When will it open? Your guess is about as good as mine, though I think we are all collectively hopeful for early October. We are slated to participate in the annual Roots and Blues Festival this fall, though starting to worry about what it might look like to be at the festival all weekend and open a second store the next week, because that sounds sort of crazy. Even for us.
Are you going to bake pies there? PJP West End will look just like PJP Nifong, except with some minor tweaks in the back of the store that customers won’t see based on patterns we learned at PJP Nifong. We will bake all the same pies - plus prep the savory pies - and you’ll be able to order for pickup online at either store.
Will there be seating at this store? Goodness, no. As much as I aspire to it, I’m just not a girl with the patience to offer table seating. Plus, seating means plates, forks, high speed public Internet access, and a barista to whip up nonfat oat milk lattes and iced matcha teas and I just don’t have all that in my soul for one store, two stores, or 50 stores.
What are you worrying about? Oh, everything you can possibly imagine. And Chick-Fil-A traffic.
Are you taking the entire former Gap space? No, just 2100 square feet. Our neighbors to the east will be Buff City Soap and First Watch and that will be a lovely group of new neighbors. Most Team PJP members are putting in work requests based on the nearby food options and between guacamole at Panchero’s, eggs benedict at First Watch, and the nugs at Chick-Fil-A…PJP West End has the allure so far. As for Jason and I, we will probably alternate days and Jeanne….well, she does whatever her mood strikes and so that’s anyone’s guess. (Though, I promise right now she’s exclaiming “WHAT THE HECK ARE CHICK-FIL-A NUGS?!?!?!?!”).
