Downtown Raleigh to get first ABC store since the 1980s

Downtown Raleigh is adding something it hasn't had in nearly 40 years — a liquor store.

Driving the news: Wake ABC General Manager Bryan Hicks told CBS17 it plans to put an ABC store inside of the former Kimbrell’s furniture space on Fayetteville Street.

• It would be the first liquor store to operate downtown since 1985, Hicks told the television station.

Why it matters: Downtown Raleigh has been desperate to bring more activity to its Fayetteville Street corridor, as the central part of downtown struggles to recover from the shift to remote work.

• The store also comes as downtown's residential population has swelled in recent years thanks to a boom in new apartments — a trend that is expected to continue with more than 2,000 apartments currently under construction, according to the Downtown Raleigh Alliance.