Hopey & Co. to move to E. Asheville; Hatch Innovation Hub expansion to take its place

ASHEVILLE – A longtime local grocery store’s move will make room for the massive Hatch Innovation Hub coworking space and startup incubator, a project of Venture Asheville and the Hatch AVL Foundation.

Hopey & Co., formerly Amazing Savings, is relocating from 45 S. French Broad Ave. to a 25,000-square-foot unit at River Ridge Shopping Center, 800 Fairview Road, in a unit next to Mr. K’s and Ace Hardware.

The South French Broad store will remain open until near the end of 2021, which is when the Hopey family expects their new East Asheville space, in the former A.C. Moore art supply store, to be ready for occupancy.

“We plan to stay open during the move so that we may continue to serve our Asheville community to the best of our ability,” said Heather Hopey, part of the family behind the local discount organic food store.

Hopey’s Black Mountain location will also remain open, and the company plans to bring more than 30 new jobs to the area with this move.

First opened nearly 30 years ago, the family-owned grocery store sells an assortment of discounted organic foods and artisan deli items, including local cheeses and charcuterie, It also boasts a large wine and local beer selection and a bulk aisle for stocking up on beans and herbs.

The pandemic has brought some interesting new products to the Hopey & Co. shelves, and the new space will be perfect for displaying it. It’s a trend that, whenever there’s economic instability, the discount store gets an abundance of overflow goods, Hopey said.  

“We’ve got tons of new food accounts, plus some weird new stuff I’ve never seen before,” she said. 

“Beautiful stuff we don’t normally get,” added her mother and store co-owner Danette Hopey. 

That means everything from fun beach furniture and lots of sunblock to an abundance of organic cooking oils and, in the thick of the pandemic, an overabundance of toilet paper. 

You can still shop the bargains downtown until the end of the year. The Hopeys said they plan to make the transition as seamless as possible.

A hub for innovation

Meanwhile, Venture Asheville’s Jeff Kaplan said Hopey & Co.’s soon-to-be-vacant space will serve as home to what will be the 40,000 square foot Hatch Innovation Hub.

The project will be led by a new partnership between the Hatch AVL Foundation and Venture Asheville, both nonprofits dedicated to helping entrepreneurs launch new businesses.

Kaplan envisions the space as a regional hub for startup entrepreneurs, creatives and innovators to bond over morning coffee. With the ability to add more coworking, meeting and event space, it could act as a center of gravity for the many entrepreneurs spread throughout the 18-county Western North Carolina region, he said.

“That density is going to drive so much collaboration,” he said.

The hub will also be home to Venture Asheville, whose portfolio of mentored and funded startups has created more than 275 jobs at an average salary of $61,000 per year, Kaplan said.

Pisgah Fund, a new $50 million health innovation fund supported by the Dogwood Health Trust and HCA, will also have a presence in the Hatch Innovation Hub, Kaplan said.

In addition to workspace for startups, the hub will offer collaborative space for meetings and events and even a high-tech “pitch studio” in the theaters vacated by Grail Moviehouse, which has moved to 17 Foundy St.

Kaplan thinks the Hatch Innovation Hub can help nurture creatives in fields including tech, green industry, makers, nonprofits and food and beverage entrepreneurs.

The pandemic, he said, spurred a new way of thinking about doing business. One reason for the staffing crunch, he posited, is that people are looking to work for themselves.

Kaplan is optimistic that offering a physical space where entrepreneurs can interact can help increase Asheville’s economic diversity.   

Hatch AVL founder and chairman George Glackin said his nonprofit’s entrepreneurial support can further help launch local startups.  

“An advantage of Asheville’s and Western North Carolina’s ecosystem is the amount of talent and availability of mentors,” he said in a release. “Our expanded place allows us to bring more startups and founders under one roof, and more effectively deliver the programming and mentorship they need.”

Mackensy Lunsford has lived in Asheville for more than 20 years, and has been a staff writer for the Asheville Citizen Times since 2012. Lunsford is a former professional line cook and one-time restaurant owner.

Reach me:  [email protected].

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