"I'd love to go to a bookstore. I haven't been to a bookstore in forever," Amanda Anderson remembers thinking after a meeting at Congdon Yards. She searched for the closest one, and it was 32 minutes away in Greensboro. "That's insane," she told the High Point Enterprise.
That search led to Spindle & Spine, an independent bookstore at 504 N. Main St. It's one of several High Point openings this fall, and the timing of each one is worth a look. A business that wanted to catch out-of-town traffic made sure to open before the High Point Market. The businesses built around what locals asked for are opening after the showrooms empty. Market runs October 17 through 21 this year, and it splits the fall calendar in two.
The fall calendar, in order
Here is every confirmed or announced opening as of October 4, 2026, with how firm each date is.
| When | Where | Address | How firm the date is |
|---|---|---|---|
| Opened Sept. 29 | Smitty and Pearl's | 211 N. Lindsay St. | Open now |
| Soft launch underway | Nonna Rosa's, inside Stock + Grain Assembly | 275 N. Elm St. | Open now |
| Oct. 17–21 | Fall High Point Market | Downtown showrooms | Official dates |
| Thursday, Oct. 29, 4–5 p.m. | Spindle & Spine ribbon cutting | 504 N. Main St. | Chamber event listing |
| Late fall | First Watch | 274 Eastchester Dr., Suite 135 | No exact date yet |
| December target | Shop on Washington | 614 and 747 Washington St. | Renovation target for occupancy |
The first two rows were finished before Market. Everything below Market on the list is scheduled after it.
Before Market: the big room was built to be ready in time
Smitty and Pearl's held its public grand opening on Tuesday, September 29. It's a 35,000-square-foot restaurant and entertainment complex built from the ground up at 211 N. Lindsay St., across from Truist Point and the Congdon Yards campus. Co-owner Mark Penley told the High Point Enterprise the project met its goal of opening before fall Market, and that about 275 people had been hired.
Penley told FOX8 the idea started during COVID as an oyster bar and grew from there. Seafood still leads the menu at the front of the complex. The main entrance opens into Umbo on the first floor, with the Siren Lounge upstairs. Both have a seafood theme and raw bars serving oysters, crabs and caviar.
The hours tell you which parts are open to locals on an ordinary week:
- Siren Lounge has the more upscale menu. It serves dinner to the public on Thursday, Friday and Saturday, and it's reserved for private events the rest of the week.
- Jungle Bar is on the other side of the complex. It's a sports bar with 10 lanes of roller-ball bowling and indoor and outdoor bar seating, open daily from 11 a.m. to midnight and until 2 a.m. on Fridays and Saturdays.
- The arcade and karaoke are in a separate room next to the Jungle Bar.
Umbo's weekly public hours weren't in the opening coverage or on the restaurant's website, so check before you head over on a weeknight.
A block away, Stock + Grain Assembly at 275 N. Elm St. added Nonna Rosa's, an artisanal pizza concept from culinary director and executive chef Kevin Timm. The menu is built on what the press release calls "handcrafted 36-hour pizza dough, developed specifically for the restaurant." That makes eight independently owned vendors in the food hall: Nonna Rosa's, B3 Smokehouse, Atomic Rooster, Smash & Sizzle, Taco Street, Fig & Olive Mediterranean Deli, Cara's Cookie Co. and Yumi Sushi. The hall also has two bars and the Carolina Core FC Merch Store.
Both openings sit right next to the stadium and Congdon Yards, which are the blocks Market visitors walk through.
After Market: a bookstore that fills a gap from 2023
Spindle & Spine is headed for the other end of downtown on North Main. The High Point Enterprise first reported a store opening in mid-October and a grand opening in late October, "after the High Point Market." Since then, Business High Point-Chamber of Commerce has listed the ribbon cutting and grand-opening party for Thursday, October 29, from 4 to 5 p.m., describing it as the event to "officially open the doors." No exact date has been posted for an earlier soft opening, so October 29 is the date to put on your calendar.
The gap Anderson wants to fill is a specific one. She called the store "a passion project for me to bring something back to the community that's been missing," referring to the closing of the independent Sunrise Books in the summer of 2023. She announced the plan in April on World Book Day. Before she had a storefront, she said, she was getting messages "probably 400 times a week" asking where the physical location would be.
The store has a little of High Point's furniture identity too. Anderson worked in the furniture industry after college, and Spindle & Spine will sell small, curated pieces from local artisans next to the books. "We have so many people who are very talented, whether it's taking old whiskey barrels and making something out of them, or maybe taking a tree that's fallen in the backyard and using it to make an end table," she said. Shelves will also carry art, coffees and teas, soaps, candles and bookmarks.
A few practical details for a first visit:
- The space at 504 N. Main St. used to be A Special Blend coffee shop, and it's leased from First United Methodist Church.
- There's parking in the lot beside the store and in front-facing spaces on North Main Street.
- The store will also serve as headquarters for the Cover the City Project, Anderson's nonprofit that provides blankets for people experiencing homelessness in High Point.
By December: Washington Street storefronts picked for what the neighborhood needs
The same pattern is clearest on Washington Street. On September 22, Business High Point broke ground on Shop on Washington Street, an initiative that is renovating two long-vacant buildings for four small businesses. According to the High Point Enterprise, the district was the business and cultural hub of High Point's Black community during segregation. Over time, most of the businesses that filled the blocks between N. Centennial Street and today's Penn-Griffin School for the Arts moved away.
At the groundbreaking, Telisha Roberts, executive director of Business High Point's Thrive HP 2.0 program, said the first businesses were chosen to address needs in the community like health, nutrition and mental health services. Here are the tenants:
- 747 Washington St. will house Skin Lounge Beauty and Wellness, owned by Nicole Howie; Carolina Core Nutrition, owned by Kim Correa; and the SEL Group, a mental health services provider owned by Keith and Nannette Funderburk.
- 614 Washington St. will be Kimyon's Beauty Supply, owned by Joy Alston.
Howie explained why she chose the street: "My parents actually grew up on Fourth Street off of Washington, so I have always had a connection to this area, and that's the reason why I wanted to be here."
Both buildings are aiming to be ready for occupancy in December. That's a renovation target, and individual opening dates will follow.
Late fall on Eastchester: breakfast hours that fit a weekday
Up on the north side of the city, First Watch is expected to open in late fall at 274 Eastchester Drive, Suite 135. The announced buildout is about 5,000 square feet, with a patio, a bar, more than 170 seats and a local mural. Daily hours will be 7 a.m. to 2:30 p.m., and the company expects to add about 30 jobs. A restaurant that closes by mid-afternoon is built for the regular weekday schedule of people who live and work nearby, not for showroom traffic.
Planning around the split
In practice, the next two weeks are the easiest time to try Umbo or the Jungle Bar before Market brings out-of-town crowds to the blocks around Truist Point. Showrooms are open October 17 through 20 from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. and close at 5 p.m. on October 21. Eight days later, the Spindle & Spine ribbon cutting on North Main is the first event on the resident half of the calendar. Washington Street and Eastchester follow as the year winds down.
Shopping for a home and want to know which parts of High Point put North Main, Washington Street or the stadium blocks in walking distance? Melanie Pipes can walk you through the map street by street and help you build a plan that fits your budget. Schedule a Free Consultation, and let's talk it through.
