James Iranzad, Josh Pape and Nick Miller of Gooseneck Hospitality have secured the old Charles Grocery location at 580 East 12th Avenue for the purpose of turning it into a little sandwich shop, cafe and corner store.
I don’t know the full history of the place, which located two blocks north of Robson Park and Savio Volpe, but I’m pretty sure it was shuttered for well over a decade until 2019 when it was reopened as a cafe grocery. The new owner didn’t have an easy time of it during Covid, and so was in the mood to sell.
The Gooseneck guys signed the deal two weeks ago. Their plan is for a quick renovation inside and out, launching at some point in May, 2021. They don’t have a name or a concept fully fleshed out yet but the goal is to keep it a 15-seat cafe grocery dedicated to serving the needs of the immediate neighbourhood, not unlike other refurbished corner stores such as Le Marche St. George, Finch’s, and the Federal Store. They’re especially excited at the prospect of doing a weekly series of pop-ups, guest chef feasts and other special events out of the space and its potential wraparound patio, so it’s safe to expect a pretty dynamic end result.
We’ll have more on this project as it comes together in the weeks ahead. In the meantime, take a look…
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Moving in around the corner in April and Im beyond excited for this!!
Charles Cafe used to be called a Charles Grocery many years ago. I would go there as a kid in the 90s to buy 5c candy by the piece, run by a Vietnamese family.
I used to go here as a kid too as my neighbourhood store. I have fond memories of going there with my parents.
This is exciting news, but sad for the owners of Charles Cafe. It was a great little neighbourhood cafe with nice coffee, excellent, very well priced sandwiches and baked goods.
I’m sorry it didn’t work out for them.
I wonder how many “LIttle Free Library” boxes are in the neighbourhood?
No mention of a liquor license. That’s good not to have.
It might be a stab of gentrification into a stable neighbourhood. I guess Windsor Grocery is next.