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Weaver
Street Market offers Outdoor Office Space
Just when you think you've
seen it all, another innovative move has helped solidify Weaver
Street Market's position as the leader of the Big Three(Earthfare,
Whole Foods and Weaver Street Market). What is this innovation?
Adding revenue to it's owners and offering office space to those
people who spend most of their day(or even some of their day) working
there.
The rent is based on
the table type, size, condition of the table and location and there
is a little room of negotiation with the management. Some renters
have a complimentary cup of coffee and a refill a day added to their
lease, while other leases contain clauses that allow the office
space to be sublet.
The Carrboro News took
a stroll down to Weaver Street one day to investigate how the program
was working.
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Donovan has chosen
to lease one of the wooden 4-seater wooden bench models, located
under the shade of the tree(and in the downward trajectory
of debris dropped by the squirrels above). Being a puppeteer(artist),
money was a considerable factor in Donovan's decision and
he chose the office space with the rotten board in exchange
for a reduction on his monthly rent. Donovan probably could
get by on a smaller model, but he likes to have more room
to spread out and when he brings one of his 16 foot puppets
to the office, he needs the extra space.
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James Cameron is
a builder and likes to meet his clients in town instead of
making them drive way out of the way to Pittsboro, so a Weaver
Street Market office was the perfect solution for him. With
the rise in gas prices James commute from Pittsboro has cut
into his office budget so he opted for a 2-seater wooden bench
model right next to the road. The carbon monoxide and noise
levels are a bit high at that location, but it helps to keep
the meetings short.(Did we mention that James is on the hourly
lease program?).
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Kirsten has opted
for one of the 3-seater metal table next to the window(comes
in a 4-seater away from the window also). This is prime real
estate as you can work in all weather, are close to the coffee
machines and have electrical outlets within laptop cord distance
of your office. This is one of the higher priced spaces and
becomes even higher when you add in the liability insurance
to cover any accidents caused by pedestrians tripping over
your power cord. (The insurance is mandatory and can be purchased
at the customer service desk where Allstates Bill Marney has
set up his little office space.)
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Right now about 45% of
the available office space is leased and we expect the rest of it
to be leased once we release this edition of The Carrboro News.
There are a few pondside tables available and one pondview space(both
wooden bench models) as well as The Pecans(located under the pecan
tree), but they are not selling quickly as it's pecan season and
the chances of having a half-chewed pecan dropped on your head or
in your cup of coffee is increasing on a daily basis. These offices
are traditionally leased after Labor Day once the pecan season is
over.
As we work closely with
Weaver Street Market, if you mention that you read this article
they will add a cup of coffee and a Danish a day to your lease.
There is also indoor space available, but most people want to lease
that after Thanksgiving, so if you're planning on getting inside
space, you'd better reserve it early!
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