Common Market | From banking to building legends on #OuiTalkRaw

Welcome everybody to Oui Talk Raw. I am your host, Jennifer Busco. Thanks for tuning in. I am so excited today to hang out with people that are here. We are here with someone who has a lot of self -worth. Let’s talk about that. Mr. Graham Worth, tell us what you do, Graham. 

I am the owner of Common Market. And it’s genuine to give a rundown since you’re there all the time? 

I am there probably too often. No, no. 

You’re a welcome sight. 

So I remember when the very first Common Market opened on Commonwealth because I used to live on Commonwealth. And my kid, what year did that very first one open? 

It was 2001, I believe.

One, okay. So maybe this was a little bit further on because I moved around that area around 2007, which back then, that was really the only cool market. So it was very new and fresh. And I had a little plastic car that I would push Oliver in, like one of those like poles. And the front had a hood. And I’d go to Common Market, put a six pack of Amstolite and then push Oliver back home. I thought that was so cool. That was a long time ago. But now I’m more in the Oakhurst, Oakwald area. So I frequent the Common Market Oakwald, which is where I see you often. And I have so many friends that I see when I go there, people that are there day in and day out. Hashtag Greg, right? Hashtag Nick. All these people that we know and love that we see there very often. And I also spent a lot of time at the Common Market South End when I was doing a lot of teacher trainings in yoga at the Charlotte Yoga South End. So we have been seeing each other for many years. 

Indeed. 

Yes. So when did you fall into the whole situation?

I got involved in 2016. So the Common Market South End, the old Southend had just been announced it was closing. 

Oh, I love that place. That little courtyard was so cute. 

So cool. You would have never built that building today, but it was just so unique. 

It’s like almost in a weird triangle.

Yeah, triangle. So I moved back to Charlotte and I was looking to get involved with a small business. I met with a guy I worked with right out of college 10 years before, and he suggested we meet at Common Market South End.

So you weren’t meeting about Common Market?

We were not meeting about Common Market. And I told him, you know, I just wanted to get involved with a small business. And he said, well, I know the guys who own this place if you want to talk to them. And that’s how random was. 

So you weren’t even trying to get into the market business, just a small business. What were you doing before that? 

I was doing banking for a while and I did real estate for a while. And then directly prior to that, I was doing just kind of some independent consulting to try to pay some bills while I was looking for a business to get involved in.

So then Common Market Southend closed in that location and then you opened the current one. Is that how it worked? 

Correct. Yep. So I got involved right before the old South End one closed. I went to the closing party with Chuck. Chuck Barger ran that store. He and Blake were partners. 

What year was that? Oh, you said, 2016, yeah.

And then it was so cool to see that because there was just so many people that came out to that. It was, in a way, kind of the end of an era for South End because that was right before all the development really started to happen. After that point, we moved down the road to Tremont, but in the meantime we opened the location off Monroe Road in May of 2017. 

Which is known as Oakwald, correct? That’s all we’re saying. 

Exactly, that’s all we’re saying. That one’s been open a little over seven years since South End’s been open. Coming up on six years now. 

You have two more? 

We have two more. We have one down in Rock Hill that’s been open that’ll be open three years in December and then we opened up in Durham nine months ago. 

Is this all you or do you have like a team of people that are kind of helping you? Do you have to travel around?

I travel around, yeah. We have some people in kind of executive type tiers within the company but I’m kind of managing it from store to store so it’s fun some days.

How stressful is it?

It’s stressful. I think the one thing people don’t realize about owning a small business is there is no out of office, right? 

Something breaks in the kitchen and you’re on vacation. You have to deal with it. 

Yep. Knock on wood. The only time we’ve been broken into, I was in Colorado. 

Like robbed broken into? 

Yep. Front door was smashed. 

Which location? 

At South End. Yep. And I got to call at 4 o ‘clock in the morning when I was in Colorado. And so, you know, we had to get the front door replaced, all the stuff. You set your own hours per se, but at the end of the day, you still really never feel like you’re able to fully step away from it.

So even when you’re on vacation, you still can’t get that, like, sense of relief and relaxation. 

Exactly. Chuck, who was one of the partners in the original South End store, made this comment to me, and I’ll obviously never experience one of these, but he said the only thing more overrated than natural childbirth is owning your own business. 

Oh my gosh, that is hysterical. 

He said that to me in 2016 and I was like I don’t really know what either of those mean. 

Meaning that it’s really hard.

It’s really hard, right, and people think it’s great. You own your own business but once you’re really in, it’s a different ballgame. 

There’s no clocking out.

That’s a quote that he said and at the time, I was very confused. I was like I don’t really know what that means. 

I’ve had natural child of birth but I don’t own a business so I can’t speak to that fire but was not fun.

That’s right, so yeah. Each day brings a new challenge and a new experience but it’s it’s been a lot of fun along the way.

But your last name is Worth so your self worth must be high. 

Right. That’s what I tell myself. 

You know your worth. You know your value. So we talked about this yesterday on the phone, but I would love to share that story that you told me about how the market sort of scene started in Charlotte. 

Yep. So Blake started at Laurel Market, which still exists today. 

Which is so good. If anybody’s ever been there or not. 

It’s great. 

Sandwiches are delicious. 

They’re delicious. 

Long lines, though. Long lines. If you get there at noon, oh my gosh. Bring a cigarette. Yeah, I mean, Jesus. 

What, that’s, that’s so true. 

Don’t bring a cigarette. 

I think what Blake took from Laurel Market, which they did a great job of and still do, is a sense of community. There are people who go up there to grab coffee. 

They’re sitting on the benches just drinking coffee, chitty chatting. Yeah, just strangers. I do it. I do it. 

And that’s another thing we talked about is that people go up there, not knowing who’s going to be there, but knowing they’re going to see someone or be able to connect with someone, which is really special.  Blake used to describe Common Market like the old general stores of the past, where people would go sometimes just to hang out, retired people or just, they weren’t necessarily going to buy something. They were going to interact with people. 

But you don’t want to tell people that. Don’t go to Common Market and not buy stuff. 

No, but I mean, I think it’s true. There’s part of it where it’s healthy for, you know, certain types of people want to be around other people. They thrive off of it.

Yes, that’s me, 100%. 

And I think you especially see it with people who retire. They stop working and it’s kind of like they kind of feel lost. 

They have no routine. It’s like people have that routine of going to Common Market every day at 5 o ‘clock.

Yep. So Blake worked at Laurel Market for a while and opened the first Common Market in Plaza. 

And Laurel Market was like, that’s cool. Just don’t do it close to us.

He said, don’t do it close to us. And Blake, it’s really interesting how Common Market evolved because it started off similar to Laurel as a convenience store. Then they got enough money to open a deli. Then he started selling alcohol. Then he realized people like to drink there. So, then opened a bar. 

I remember that you’d see like the wine rep at Common Market, like Rob, he’d be in there like ‘oh what what kind of wine do you like?’ You don’t see that typically in the market setting. Someone that has wine knowledge that’s directing you towards certain bottles of wine. 

Exactly. It evolved. Ehen we open a Common Market today with all these different things, that was not how the original store started. It kind of evolved into what the customers wanted. That was such an emphasis on Blake, always saying that he would adjust what he was selling. The operations of the store based on how the customers in the neighborhood were using his store. So when we open a new store, we don’t have a laminated template of this is how it’s going to work, this is what you’re going to sell. You just kind of have to throw everything out there and see how the people respond. 

So, each store has different products. 

Very different products. If you’re using Plaza Midwood an example, they sell a ton of energy drinks.

PBR’s? 

Right, top 25 in the country in PBR sales really 15 years in a row. 

Seriously?

Oh yeah, dead serious.

Oh, wow. 

But then the store on Monroe, you know, we sell more Diet Coke. It’s just the demographic. We sell the same amount of beverages dollar -wise, but the actual beverages that sell between the different stores vary wildly. So you just kind of have to figure out what the business is within the neighborhood, which is unique. 

Wow, that’s very unique. 

So it’s not like this is what you need to carry because you’re going to have to kind of change.

That must be a lot of work for you. 

It’s really just you can bring things in and figure out what people want and what people don’t. Then the customers do a really good job of letting you know.

Oh yes. 

What they would prefer to have in there.

We talked about that yesterday with Johnie, the Vaulted Oak Beer people. 

Yeah. Well, the other thing that’s really funny, and I get this all the time checking people out is ’I think this is the best Common Market or I like the one of the best.’ It’s completely unsolicited. And I love it because what it means is that you actually care, right? 

Right. 

If you weren’t saying that, then, I mean, you’re just there to buy a sandwich. You don’t really care what happens. But it’s so funny how people always have a strong opinion about which Common Market. 

It’s almost like there’s like a sense of belonging, that primitive need that we all have to belong to something and have a tribe. It’s like no, this is not my tribe, that’s my tribe, you know, it’s primitive in a way. 

Yeah and I feel like the customers feel like they have ownership in it in that sense. I was talking about this the other day, there are so many things in our store that customers bring us. You know, we got a new table yesterday at the Oakwald location. And the guy was like, this has been sitting in my kitchen. I never use it. I know y ‘all could. 

Where did you put it? Just in the front area? 

Yeah, it’s just randomly in the store right now. That’s awesome. But it’s funny because people always will clean out their attics or their garages and drop off things that we just put up on the wall. You know, now they feel like, hey, I brought this in here or something, which is kind of cool, because people are like, where do you get this stuff from? And half the time, I’m like, I have no idea where that came from.

That’s hilarious. But that is really a great balance to, I think, the development of Charlotte right now because everything is, like, so new and pristine. There’s almost like a sterile energy to it, you know, where you’re kind of keeping that old school, like you were saying, general store energy, community. 

I think, you know, with the demographic of Charlotte being a very… banking basically drives this town. I feel like part of what makes Common Market interesting is people feel like it’s really different or dangerous or they’re going to see people with tattoos there, you know, interact with people that they wouldn’t. And I do feel like that is the draw sometimes because, as you said, it’s not a sterile environment. You know, it’s very unique and that’s true of every store. No store looks the same. 

That’s true, 

They’re all very different with the furniture, with the products. 

Which ones the busiest?

The Plaza store is definitely the busiest. If you drive there at three o ‘clock. 

Oh my gosh, yes.

It’s packed and I feel like what’s been interesting is as that store has remained the same. That the neighborhood has developed around it and there are some still.

Those random parking spots you have to like back in now.

I think plaza is the most interesting, unique neighborhood in Charlotte, right? If you brought someone here I’d say you should go to Plaza Midwood. 

Totally.

There are cool, local businesses, everything else that’s being kind of pushed around with some of the development, I think that’s where Common Market remains unique over there. You go over there and it’s the best people watching in Charlotte.

100% yes.

You can sit there and entertain yourself just by hanging out, watching people for hours. 

I do feel a little old there. I don’t feel old at oakwald. I feel old at the Plaza Midwood.

Well, the joke that we have is people graduated from Plaza and started at started coming to the—

That was me essentially, that was me. 

Either had kids and needed more space, couldn’t live in Plaza anymore, you moved out, you grew up, you quit smoking, whatever. People drifted to the Oakhurst neighborhood Monroe Road, in that area and so it’s so funny because you have so many people we say graduated retired from the store.

That is hysterical and I always talk about this. I love when places have parking lots like, I love that Oakwald has its own parking lot. It makes such a difference when places don’t have parking. 

I feel like the south in general, you go in the Northeast, people are much more accustomed to parking and parking decks and walking it’s not going to change. In the south, you have to have parking and the Monroe store has an abundance of parking.

Abundance of parking.

And, you know, just the other day, I had a guy, you know, where the heck am I supposed to park? I’m like, man, we have there. You might have to walk a little bit, but there’s a ton of parking. 

Oh, yes, there is. So let’s go back to the history. So Blake started Common Market, Laurel Market, Common Market Plaza. And then you started South End or you took over. 

No, so Chuck, he started South End with Chuck in 2008.

The other location. 

Okay. And what’s really funny about that is a lot of people thought that was the original location because they only went to the South End location. They had no idea. 

There was a plaza. Wow. Such creatures of habit.

Yeah. So that was another thing that was really funny that people are still confused about. 

That’s interesting. And then you start, then you started the second location of South End. 

Correct. So Chuck and Blake, I met with them. Chuck was about 60 at the time, Blake was about 50 and South End was closing down. And I honestly think they took it personally, right? You know, this was their baby. They had cultivated such a unique atmosphere over there. And they were basically like, I don’t want to run this with all the stress. I’ll never forget Chuck saying, I want to go to bed, not worried about if the pipe’s going to break and I’ve got to deal with it the next day, and he was, like I said, he was about 60. And so they were just ready to partner with someone else to kind of pass it on. And it ended up being a great relationship and marriage. And that is oftentimes not the case with business partners. It can be extremely challenging sometimes. So it’s been great. And they’ve taught me so much about the community and how to interact and how to run these stores as a business, while also keeping in mind that you have to pay attention to customers. They’re the ones come in every day and keep the store alive. 

Yeah, and they’re talking. They’re talking to people, you know, like if there’s something they don’t like, they’ll tell people at the bar or the news will spread if they like or dislike something.

Yeah, we’ve never done any paid marketing ever. We were solely word of mouth, which makes that, to your point, so much more important. 

That is amazing.

That was one thing that Blake and Chuck were adamant about, that  the best way that people understand about your business is the word of mouth and their personal experience with it.

That’s great. Rob, who was the wine rep at Common Market, started the Rhino markets, so there’s a family tree going on here the family tree of markets in Charlotte.

There are a lot of them out there in Charlotte and I think they each offer different things depending on what you’re kind of looking for, which i think is great and kind of unique. 

Yes, so what do you want people to feel when they walk in the doors? 

I want people to feel relaxed. That’s the number one thing. Chuck said it was like a community living room and I love that, you know, that you feel like you can come in. I want you to feel relaxed and accepted. That’s a big thing. You know, we did like a market study and one thing a customer said, which I’ll never forget is Common Market’s the only place in Charlotte where they can go in, no matter what they were doing or what they were going to do. And I was like, what do you mean by that? And she said, whether it’s, I’m working out, whether I woke up in my pajamas, whether I’m coming home from work, whether I’m going out on a date. I’m not going to walk in there and someone’s going to be like, why is this person here? You know, based on what they’re wearing or what they look like. 

Yes. 

And I always found that statement extremely unique because they’re not a lot of places you could walk in, doing all these things. 

Like acceptance. 

And they’d be like, oh, okay, well, they’re probably here to eat or whatever. You know, you’re not going to get double looked from people.

I agree with that. And before I met my boyfriend, so it’s been about almost 10 months, I was single for a long time, like four years. And I really valued the places that I felt comfortable going out alone too. So Common Market was definitely one of those places on a Wednesday night. I don’t have my kid sit at the bar get a bottle of wine and just see what happens. 

Well, why did you feel comfortable? 

I don’t know, it’s just like an energy. I just felt like there are some places that may feel a little intimidating when you go by yourself, like almost like too swanky or too bougie. 

They keep asking you, are you waiting for someone else? 

I’m so sorry you got stood up, but definitely i have been at Common Market by myself many many, many, many times and even just to, you know, to the open mic on Wednesday nights of Oakwald just to hang out and whether I’m playing or not, just watch the people. And you always make a friend, you know, whether it’s someone you’ve known or a new stranger. 

Yeah. Well, I think that’s what’s so unique about that location particularly. I was in there the other night and there was a table full of hardcore regulars from 25 to 65 years old and they’re all friends and I’m pretty sure they didn’t know each other before you know coming up to common market but I feel like that’s that’s really cool that it’s kind of brought people together 

Oh, that happens to me often. I’ll see Greg, who’s at a table with like 10 people. At the end of the night, I know all of them, we’re exchanging social media handles or whatever. Emails, business cards talking about what we do or or what’s going on so you definitely have that vibe going on.

Yep. 

So how do you manage when you are stressed out? Like what is your toolbox of not freaking the you know what out when you know what hits the fan?

Yeah. 

Like do you go for a walk? Do you meditate? Do you talk to someone? Do you have a mentor? Do you read books? Like what do you do to deal with those really challenging days when things are very stressful.

That’s a great question. I think this is one of the benefits of having a business partner that you can bounce stuff off of all the time. And Chuck’s basically retired. Blake’s pretty close to it. So they’re kind of from that perspective. But that is something that I struggle with from that side of things is that you don’t have someone who can, you know, relate to some of those things that as a small business owner, you take on. 

You can’t just call your friend from college as a banker and be like, I’m going through this. That makes sense. So you need like a like mine or someone that’s in the field. 

And I try to connect with other small business owners probably quarterly, just to sit down and it’s always and they’ll come into Common Market too and I’ll talk to them about that. The owners of Social Pet, down the street, were in there the other day. I always chat with them about you know, what’s going on, what are you struggling with? That’s part of the relief, when you talk to people like that because you realize you’re not alone. 

100%. Being in the spiritual in the healing world, it’s very similar with me. Like, if I have a healing session, I’m like, oh, my God, like, this trauma happened. You know, I move this energy. Like, I can’t just tell the Harris Teeter cashier about it. Like, I need to find somebody that’s, like, also in the field that understands what I’m going through. And there’s a comfort in that. There’s only a handful of people that I can talk to about things that happen in the healing and spiritual world like that. So there’s definitely that comfort, I think, is really important. 

Yeah. You just feel like you’re not alone in that thing, you know, in the whole process. I do go for walks. I try to go for long walks. You know, sometimes when I get home. 

Like, how is your self -talk? Do you feel like it’s pretty positive? Or do you have to quiet it or recognize it? Like, I find myself shaming myself and I have to literally be like, Jennifer, shut the you know what up. 

I don’t struggle with that so much. 

Because you have worth. Graham Worth. Haha 

That’s right. It really swings, though, for me because some days I’m like, oh, this is great. You know, things are running smoothly. And then, you know, the next day it’s, hey, the refrigerator’s broken. The AC doesn’t work. Everything else. But I’ll tell you, I feel like, especially, and I’m definitely not alone in this, but, you know, I have kids and my wife basically holds it down. If you’re running a small business and you don’t have someone from the home side, it’s impossible. What really helps me relax honestly is you go home and my kids are four, two and almost one and they have no idea what’s going on right? So it’s just really cool to hang out with them. 

You have that grounding sort of like everything’s taking everything’s taking care of. 

That’s great. My day wasn’t that fun but you know so that makes a big difference.

A nice, supportive, loving partner that you know has got your back. Oh, you love your wife. 

Most days. Anyway, sorry. 

Well, let’s take a quick break. We’ll be right back after this break. 

Welcome back to Oui Talk Raw, I’m Jennifer Busco, your host. We are here today with Mr. Graham Worth from Common Market. Graham, tell us your quote.

The quote I often think about is from Mike Tyson, “Everyone has a plan until you get punched in the face.” That’s what we felt like during COVID. it really put a lot of things into perspective and it really made you have to adjust on the fly. I think we were far from alone in that, with all small businesses, but it was one of the more challenging times.

Just the unknown, right?

The unknown.

At first, we were like oh, this is only going to be 2 weeks. That was not the case.

No, not at all.

How did y’all deal with that? Did you close?

We never closed during COVID. The main thing is, we still to this day have a lot of employees that were there during COVID and are still with us. I had people who were wanting and willing to work. You could have had people wanting to take unemployment and I think that speaks to what we talked about earlier, people want something to do during the day. So we have incredible employees throughout the Common Market that were willing to kind of do whatever. At one point, we were delivering food. Taking food and alcohol orders over the phone. 

Could you walk in the doors though?

You could, but a lot of people were afraid of that. It was so funny because, it felt kind of awkward because we were going into customer’s homes to drop off food. It was like, now I know where you live haha. The funny thing was, if you got a delivery of alcohol from us, we put a roll of toilet paper in there because there was the giant shortage of toilet paper.

Aw, that’s so sweet.

So we found someone who had a bunch and it was the running joke, like, ‘you spend $50, you get a roll of toilet paper.’

So how long did you do that before people were coming in?

We did that for about 2 or 3 months and we would just drive around and deliver food, alcohol. We did like homemade burger kits. So, you know, we’d have all your burger patties and give you chips and everything else. So it was, it was fun because we were sitting around there. I was like, I don’t know. What are we supposed to do now? 

So that’s your punch in the face. 

Yeah, that was the punch in the face. We, you know, because a lot of business had to completely shut down. We went down to four or five employees. So it was extremely minimal. And then, you know, you couldn’t hang out there and drink a beer. We had a regular who said he was shopping. So we would give him a beer while he shopped for 45 minutes.

That is hysterical.

It was such a crazy time to think about, but it made you really think about what you would do in these situations kind of moving forward. 

This too shall pass, you got through it. 

That’s right and you know, if we didn’t sell alcohol, I don’t know if we’d be in business because our food sales fell off a cliff. Everyone was sitting in home, they couldn’t go anywhere, couldn’t go on vacations, weren’t going out to eat, so people were just drinking beer and wine. So ended up, ended up okay. 

That’s nice. Well, speaking of employees, can I share a story? 

Sure. 

So Roger, who I love, I’m a fairly green musician. So I’ll do like small open mics, like, you know, the one at Common Market, but I have not done the Smokey Joe’s one yet. I’m too scared because the stage is too big. And I’m very new at like performing, being like the lead singer with, um, you know, acts and stuff like that. And y’all had the party where the Beaver Boys were doing the country. 

Oh yeah. 

The country music was like an open mic or karaoke. There was a band. 

You could sing with.

You could sing country music songs. And it was just a Saturday afternoon. And Roger literally called me. He was like, Jennifer, you were coming to perform. What song do you want to do? I’m like, what do you mean? He’s like, You need to get here at five. He’s like, you’re performing. He’s like, what song do you want to do? I’m like, Jackson by Johnny Cash. I went. And that was literally, I think, like the biggest stage I’ve ever sang on, being like a lead singer. 

That is awesome. 

And it was all because he literally called me. He was like, I was like, do you have my number? God? Who is this? And I was like, I was so high after. Like, there were so many people in the in the parking lot because it’s the outdoor party and I feel like I killed it. I was just like oh my god, I feel like I’m a part of the Common Market family that he did that 

That’s awesome.

Yeah, it was really cool. 

Roger does a great job at that store just making people feel welcome and comfortable. My favorite thing he does is that if you try to sneak in the store and don’t say hey, he will scream your name. 

Oh, he does like hey Jenniferrrr! So you have great employees.

We have great employees. I mean, and that is what makes any business go. You know, you have, we have a lot of people who care, you know, which sounds very simple. 

Well, Sarah’s the one I was at the bar and Sarah’s like, you need to interview Graham. She said, ‘he’s for the people.’ Like he is for the employees. She’s like, he’s such a great leader. So that’s why I reached out to you. 

Well, thank you. And thank you, Sarah. Yeah. But to find people who care is unique. We have so many great employees that show up to work, care about the product that’s being put out there, care about the customers who they’re serving. It’s not just a ring at the register. We like to talk to people, see how they’re doing. Because some people, you know, that may be the only conversation they have during that day. I think you take a lot of that for granted from our side, but you don’t really think about it from the other side. And our employees do a great job of that. 

I agree.

At that store, we have, I think there are six or seven people who’ve been there over five years, which is crazy.

How long has Oakwald had been open? 

Seven years. 

Wow. 

So we have, I I believe there’s, I think there’s seven that’ve been there over five years and some over six years. So it is, and that’s great. That’s what keeps people coming back. You know, when you know, you’re going to see people.  Woody talks about what he works every Sunday night. He talks about how he runs a therapy session from four to nine. 

Bartending. I love him. 

Yeah, of customers who come in and they’re like, all right, Woody, let’s talk. 

Well, every time I see him, apparently, he’s like from the country somewhere. 

He’s from Mount Olive, North Carolina. 

Mount Olive, interesting. And apparently there’s like a dirt bike place called Busco’s.

Oh, in Mount Olive. 

Yeah, there’s like some sort of, I think it’s like a dirt bike, farm or track. And it’s called Busco’s. And every time I see him, he’s like, I’m going to get you that t -shirt. The next time I go home, I’m going to get you a Busco’s t -shirt. It’s like some random, I don’t even know what it is. 

I just need to do it for you. Yeah, I was talking to him the other day. And he goes, we were talking about something. He goes, oh, Graham, you wouldn’t believe the things customers tell me. 

Yeah, they say like bartending. 

Yeah. That’s it. If you’re a bartender, I mean, you hear everything that you ever wanted to know from someone. But Woody is also so approachable and, you know, likable from that side. 

Yeah, there’s no bad seeds over there. No, No bad apples, in my opinion.

That’s right. 

So let’s shift gears a little. Like what advice would you give someone that’s thinking about doing what you do? 

Sure. I think the first thing that people don’t realize is, it is very hard. You know, it’s time consuming. When my kids go to bed, I’ll work another hour or two, work on the weekends. And that makes it very challenging and deters a lot of people. But it is also very rewarding from a fulfillment standpoint. I’m not talking about a monetary standpoint, but I’m talking about you feel like you’re contributing something with our business in particular. And that’s important. You know, if I was working banking or real estate, I’d go in, sit in my cubicle, do my job, interact with those 10 people, you know, that you work closely with and then leave. 

And that might work for some people, but that’s not really your path, yeah. 

Well, and that was the one thing I wasn’t anticipating happening with Common Market was it forced me to meet so many different people.

Are you extroverted by nature? 

I am. Very much so. So it’s fine for me to do that. But, You know, it forces you to do that, but you also get to meet so many cool, unique people like yourself that do so many different things. 

You never know what people do. 

Yeah. And, you know, I have a, I have a guy or a gal for all these different things. Like, I have someone who does hand painting letters. I have someone who does neon. And this is all from just working in the store and asking people, you know, what they do for a living. I feel like that has been so cool to—

It almost makes the work worth it. 

It forces you to get involved with their community where other people would have to find other outlets. Volunteer or do whatever that allows you to connect with your community. I go in and check people out and I get to meet you know 50 new people a day which is cool. 

I mean, if I made a list of all the people I met at Common Market Oakwald, I’m sure it’d be really long. I never actually thought about it that way. But the connections that I’ve made and even, you know, musicians playing open mic, stuff like that. Like, it’s, yeah, be a long list. So thanks for doing what you do, Graham. 

Thank you. Thank you. There’s a customer. I’m not going to say her name, but she’s—

Say it! 

No, she’s been going into the store forever. I’ve literally seen her kid grow up, he was two years old when we opened. I checked her out the other day and she was like, you know, Graham, I don’t drink anymore. I’ve been sober a year. And she was really proud about that. I was like, well, you know, she was joking. You know, you know, I did drink a lot here. I was like, yeah. I’m glad you don’t anymore. And that’s great. And you still come in and she can hang out and have a fun time. But it was just cool to see she’s grown up a lot, and I feel like that was her saying that, not so much me. But, you know, her kids had grown up a lot. And it was, it was crazy to see that. 

It’s wild. And I don’t think y’all are going anywhere. You’re a staple. You’re a Charlotte staple. I mean, it’s definitely like you were talking about. It’s like that general store where it’s timeless and classic. And you’re going to fit in with any evolution that happens. Don’t you agree? 

Yeah. And we’ve talked about that. Like, we’re not trying to do anything crazy or trendy or special. We’re just trying to provide a place where you can get a good sandwich, good beer, good wine, whatever else, and just hang out with friends. 

Speaking of good sandwich, are you ready for our closing game? 

Let’s do it. 

Okay. So it’s called Death Row Meal. So you need to say why you’re on death row.

So you’re about to die real soon. And you get to pick your last meal because you’re on death row from the Common Market menu. You get one appetizer, whatever you want that to be, an entree, a side, a dessert and one drink or bottle of something So, why are you on death row? 

Why am I on death row? 

You’re too nice to break the law.

I think the only reason you’d be on death row is if you killed someone. 

Who’d you kill? Oh, Lord. Let’s not get into politics. I almost said it. 

I don’t know why I would be on death row. That’s a tough one. But I’m there.

Okay, you’re there. 

I’m there. 

Maybe you don’t want to share what you did. You have too much shame.

Yeah, I probably do. 

So you’re on death row. 

I’m on death row. I am not vegan, but my final meal would be the Thai goddess from the Monroe menu. It is vegan. 

Is it a wrap? It’s like a spinach. It’s like a spinach wrap, yes. 

It has seitan as the protein, which people always think is pork, which is hilarious. We had these guys order it the other day. And there were some construction guys that came back in. they’re like, can I get that pork wrap? I was like, we don’t have that. 

And they ate it and they didn’t know. Oh my gosh, that’s great. 

My dessert would definitely be the peanut butter pie we make. 

Ooh, yeah. What about cider appi? Appi could be chips because that you don’t want. Well, you do have appies in the night menu. 

Yeah, we do have some. I’m a tater tot person. But I’ll stop and say we randomly use different seasonings on our fries from the daytime menu and the nighttime menu. I’m not sure how it started, but I would do our nighttime crinkle -cut fries with this seasoning. 

And what about an appetizer? We’re going backwards. We need to know. The world needs to know. 

I need a salad with falafel. 

So you can die with nutrition. 

Yeah, die with nutrition. 

Vitamins and minerals. 

I did this one time. I ate healthy healthy right before the end. The other thing I’ll say is I think we actually have a really good Philly cheese steak.

You can do a vegan one but I want real cheese. I don’t want the vegan cheese. Your buns are good. 

Bread makes such a difference. 

It really does. If I’m going to eat carbs, it better be good. I’m going to eat a big roll. It better be worth it is what I’m saying. So do you have any events or anything you want to promote? Anything that’s coming up with any of your locations? 

Well, whenever you’re going to be playing up in my kitchen. 

Wednesday nights 7pm. 

We have School of Rock playing this Saturday. 

Fun. 

And if you’re not familiar, they’re teenagers. It is the School of Rock. At Oakwald. Yeah, they’re teenagers. 

I’ve heard them played other places. They’re great. Lots of energy. They’re loud and fun. 

They’re loud. So we have that Woody host star trivia every Thursday. and we actually have a really great lineup of music this month at the store on Monroe Road. And the last thing I’ll say is we do an open mic night every Friday at Southend. Comedy.  

Ooh. 

It is awkward, it is funny. 

Is that kid friendly? Not to do it but just to go, like if I wanted him to watch it. 

Oh yes, everything’s free. That would be something fun for us to do because you know there people will get up there thinking they’re about to just drop. 

Stand -up comedy is not easy.

It’s not easy, it’s all open mic and we have a great crowd for it. We have a couple of comics who kind of guide it and lead it.

I want to go. 

Yes, it is very entertaining, every Friday night 

Do you have a night menu there or sandwich menu? 

We have a night menu there.

Same as Oakwald? 

It’s a little different. We got a couple different things. each store kind of tweaks it based on the neighborhood. 

Right, there we go. Graham, thank you for doing what you do and for representing the Charlotte community and all that you do in Durham and Rock Hill.

Well, thank you so much for having me on. 

Thanks for coming. Everyone go and check out. Follow the Common Markets on social medias. Go grab a thai wrap. Thai goddess rap and a beer. All right. Thanks for tuning in, y ‘all.