Weaver Street Market is a community-owned business in Carrboro that opened in June 1988. It was founded with help from a loan from the Self-Help Ventures Fund, a Community Development Block Grant from the town of Carrboro and individuals in the community. 

The business was created with the intentions of becoming a community-owned commercial center. Its mission statement maintains that business must meet local needs and keep profits within the community. It also states that the market must work in harmony with the environment and be accessible to the entire community.

Locations

In addition to the original Carrboro store, Weaver Street Market has locations in Hillsborough and the Southern Village community in Chapel Hill. The Southern Village and Carrboro locations are open seven days a week from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m., while the Hillsborough location is open seven days a week from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. The Southern Village location was the second, established in 2002. Many of the products at this location are produced in Hillsborough and then delivered to Southern Village every day. In 2007, the Hillsborough store was established.

Community Ownership

Since Weaver Street Market is a community-owned business, customers are encouraged to invest and become an owner of the business by making a one-time payment for a share. Share prices are based on the number of adults in a given household and range from $75-$175. Owners receive coupons and dividends of profits. 

Products

Weaver Street Market offers local meat, including grass-fed beef from Snow Camp, N.C., and Troy, N.C., and pasture-raised pork from Plymouth, N.C. The store also sells local products from small producers like Mapleview Dairy in Hillsborough. The store also sells beer and wine from across the state, and has employees on hand that are knowledgeable about the little-known local breweries and wineries like Mystery Brewing and Buck Shoals Vineyard.  In complying with the ecologically friendly aspect of its mission statement, Weaver Street Market is committed to selling fair-trade chocolate. 

Events

The market is not just a place to purchase groceries and other local fare, but also a place of community interaction. The original Carrboro location hosts events like the Community Non-Profit Day, Friday night wine tastings, Music on the Lawn and After Hours. In addition to these events, Weaver Street Market hosts more than 250 events every year to truly fulfill its mission to be a community commercial center.