HILLSBOROUGH — When Weaver Street Market opens its new store Thursday, it will be official: Hillsborough will be a walkable community, and not just on Saturdays when the farmers market sets up shop.

Many residents have waited for a grocery store to come to their historic downtown. For years, one could find a wine store, antique shops, patisserie, coffee shop, bait and tackle, hardware, the post office and county court building.

But there was no real place to buy basic groceries – a village staple, for sure.

“Just being able to walk to a grocery store . . . will make it a truly walkable community,” said Elizabeth Woodman, who said she has lived in and around Hillsborough for nearly 25 years.

Weeks before the food co-op was set to open, a handful of people were sitting outside the store at the iron bistro tables underneath the shaded overhang that runs the length of the Gateway Center, a new brick building the market shares with some county offices at 228 S. Churton St. There will be more than 9,000 square feet of retail space and 30 staff people.

Bob Connor, another Hillsborough resident eager for the opening, read the paper in the sweltering heat. “It’s an important part of the revitalization,” he said. He’s also looking forward to saving money on gas by walking to the store.

Margaret Wood Cannell, executive director of the Hillsborough/Orange County Chamber of Commerce, said a food store downtown will bring things full circle.

“It’s returning to the way it was, I guess you could say,” Cannell said. About two-thirds of the town’s just more than 6,000 residents live in the commercial district and are capable of walking or biking to do errands.

The new Weaver Street Market, the third to open since 1988 when the food co-op first came about in Carrboro, will be much like the others. There will be farm-fresh produce, eggs and dairy, meat from locally raised animals, coffee, wine and dry goods.

Like the others, there also will be a hot bar, deli and café. To handle this additional food production, Weaver Street Market has also opened a food house where the prepared food will be made, including soups, salads and fresh breads. The food house is located on Dimmocks Mill Road, less than two miles from the new Hillsborough location, and will also be home to administrative offices.

Tony Zuco, the food house manager, said they hope to bring 100 percent of the food production for all three stores to the food house in Hillsborough. As it is, the Carrboro location is home to food production for the Chapel Hill (Southern Village) site as well, and neither store can stand to grow any larger.

It is this demand for growth that led Ruffin Slater, general manager of Weaver Street Market, to open the third location. “It’s an exciting time for Hillsborough and we’re excited to be part of it,” Slater said.

The Hillsborough project has been in the works for five years, and was partly funded thanks to 500 new households that have become member-owners of the co-op (member-owners enjoy a 5 percent discounts on many products, as well as other perks.) Member-owner donations contributed over $1 million alone, Slater said. Other funding came from the other stores’ profits, along with a private mortgage.

“The whole idea came from the community,” Slater said. “There’s been great support.”

One such supporter is Heather Delisle. She and her husband bought in at the Chapel Hill location when they moved to the area in 1997. They contributed again when they learned of the Hillsborough location. For years she has driven to Durham’s Whole Foods for groceries, and has already rigged her bicycle with baskets to pedal the mile and a half home with goodies for supper.

“I’ve been waiting for this for years,” she said. Part of the appeal of being a member-owner is knowing she’s supporting local farmers, a local business and the local residents who work there as well. But the food is important too.

“I cannot wait to get sushi again for lunch,” she said.

Readers may contact Elizabeth Shestak at eshestak@mac.com.

THE NEW STORE

Weaver Street Market

228 S. Churton St.

Hillsborough, NC 27278

(919) 245-5050

Hours: 7 a.m. to 9 p.m., seven days a week

ABOUT WEAVER STREET MARKET

Total member-owners: About 10,000 consumer-owners and 95 worker-owners

Cost to buy in: $75 for a single adult household, $135 for a two-adult household and $175 for a three- to four-adult household

For information, visit www.weaverstreetmarket.coop.