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Writer's pictureJim Fagan

Arthurs Restaurant in Charlotte: Wine Store Turned Sandwich Shop

bar located in mall
Arthurs Located in Belk in South Park Mall

In 1972, Arthurs Gourmet Shop (then located Uptown on East 5th St.) was purchased from the founder, Arthur Pressma, by the Balsley brothers - Robert, John, & Steve.


Originally just a wine shop, the brothers soon realized that they were going to need to do more than sell wine to pay the bills. So they started making sandwiches for the Ivey's Department store employees who worked in the Ivey's flagship store across the street. Soon thereafter customers would form a  line out the door to get one of those "Arthur's sandwiches."


In the summer of 1973, the Balsleys learned that their building was going to be torn down to make way for street-level parking. However, an Ivey's executive got wind of this news and asked the brothers to relocate in the lower level of the department store across the street. The move occurred in the fall of 1973 and was quite controversial. With Charlotte located squarely in the Bible Belt, some people felt that a department store allowing the sale of wine and beer was inappropriate. But despite the controversy, the brothers saw their sales quadruple over the next 12 months.


Ivey's was a locally-owned department chain, similar to Belk's, but a bit smaller. After Arthur's success inside Ivey's flagship store George Ivey, the CEO of the company, asked the Balsleys if they would expand into other Ivey's store locations. Ultimately, Arthur's opened locations in multiple cities across North and South Carolina.


When Ivey's was sold to Dillards Department Stores in 1990, the Balsley's found themselves having to relocate once more. At this point, they were back to one store in SouthPark Mall and were able to move into the Belk department store located in the mall. While moving once or twice within Belk, they have been going strong there now for 27 years.


I (Jim) first started going to Arthur's when I was in high school in the 80's when it was located in the Ivey's store in Southpark Mall. Known by some of my friends to be a creature of habit, I still find myself often ordering the same thing today that I did then: the Turkey Grinder.  Back then, Arthur's always had Cream of Broccoli soup - a favorite of mine. So I would get the Grinder, some soup, and polish it off with some of Arthur's sweet iced tea. Unfortunately now they don't serve Cream of Broccoli every day.  And having to watch my waistline a bit more today than I did in the 80's, I sometimes forgo the tea and choose the Mandarin Chicken Salad (which is great) in lieu of the Grinder. This is also Beth’s choice as well. The boys like the hamburgers which feature freshly handmade patties. Check out the desserts which are all made locally.

 

Arthur's continues to offer an extensive offering of wines at its adjacent wine shop.  Before the grocery stores expanding their wine departments and stores like Total Wine and More came to town, Arthur's was where all of the city's wine connoisseurs and collectors would shop.  It still has quite a following amongst that crowd, partly, because the Balsley brothers are so knowledgeable.


The restaurant offers a broad selection of their wines by the glass.  And look for wine tasting events that are held throughout the year at the wine shop.



Source for some of the history came from: https://arthurswineshop.com/history/


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