P.T.'s to reopen as similar restaurant, Tarheel Book Store closes

Franklin Street shoppers will see one more empty storefront today, adding to a growing number of vacancies throughout the downtown area.

But not everyone is closing up shop. As the Ackland gift shop prepares for a May opening, other entrepreneurs are also trying their hand in downtown Chapel Hill.

Restaurant moves in at P.T.’s

The former site of P.T.’s Olde Fashioned Grille will re-open tonight under new management and will change its name and brand in coming weeks.

P.T.’s closed in early January following a Christmas-party fight between the former owner and an employee.

Owners will change the name of the restaurant to The Lodge in a month, and it will be similar in menu and service to its predecessor, co-owner and manager Patrick Shields said.

“We want it to be simple and efficient so that we get people in and then get them out, and make sure they’re happy,” he said.

Shields, a 2010 UNC graduate, shares ownership with Frank Bece and Errol Jenghis, who own the Franklin Street pizzeria Artichoke Basil.

While the cooks have changed, many of the bartenders and several employees from P.T.’s will work at The Lodge, Shields said.

There are also plans to open the terrace on the second floor for dining, Shields said.

Junior Maria Harrigan said she is excited a new restaurant is coming to town, but P.T.’s will be hard to beat.

“P.T.’s was a Carolina staple. I hope The Lodge lives up to the P.T. standard,” she said. “It has some big shoes to fill.”

Tarheel Book Store closes

When students close their textbooks for the last time this semester, they’ll have one less place to sell them back.

Tarheel Book Store, located at 119 E. Franklin St., closed its doors Wednesday. The store sold textbooks, UNC apparel and school supplies and has been open since 2004.

Scott Steger, the store’s textbook manager for the past four years, said the store lost business as students turned to online marketplaces.

“It’s been a struggle,” Steger said. “It wasn’t just one thing that did us in. We’ve been hanging on the edge.”

Tarheel Book Store is owned by a group of shareholders that own several campus bookstores throughout the country, Steger said. The owners made the decision to close the store after a visit to Chapel Hill around a month ago.

“This last semester was really rough, and they decided to pull the plug,” Steger said.

Sophomore Alanna Davis, who used to work at the bookstore, said she was shocked and disappointed when she heard it was closing.

“It sucks because it was a staple of Franklin Street, and they had a great collection of UNC clothes, and the cheapest books around,” she said.

Heather Lugar, retail division manager at Johnny T-Shirt, said the bookstore’s closing came as a surprise but isn’t necessarily a sign of decreased demand.

“It may close the market a little, but it opens up space for others to move in,” she said.

Contact the City Editor at city@dailytarheel.com.