[ ABOVE: Note: this is conceptual – the design is in no way final. Rendering provided by Chris Stone with LS3P Associates // White Duck Logo by Cara Brewton ]
Hampton Station location to open January 2016
Asheville’s White Duck Taco Shop co-owner Ben Mixson had been eyeing Greenville since 2011 when a customer approached him about opening another location.
“Greenville would be great,” Mixson remembers telling him. “I think it would do really well.”
By 2013, Mixson said that he and his partner, Laura Reuss, had decided that they just weren’t ready to own another location.
It took a few years, but that interested customer from Asheville turned his interest into reality. Richard King, along with his friend Daniel Singletary, both Asheville residents, are the franchise co-owners of the newest White Duck Taco Shop, opening in Greenville in the Hampton Station development at 1320 Hampton Ave.
White Duck will join Birds Fly South brewery that recently opened in the old cotton mill development.
The other five taco shop locations are in Asheville, Charleston, Columbia and Johnson City, Tenn.
King said his wife and children were such big fans of the restaurant, he asked Mixson about franchising when White Duck was still just one location.
King, who formerly owned a construction business, and Singletary, who recently left his job as a camp director, worked the restaurant scene in their college days, but haven’t since. That isn’t a deterrent in the least.
“White Duck has such a strong brand and product,” King said. “To me, it’s a no-brainer. There’s already a system in place.”
Commercial real estate broker Caldwell Johnston of Flagship Properties helped King and Singletary find the location near the Swamp Rabbit Trail.
What sold them were the similarities between it and the original White Duck location in the Asheville Arts District, from the water tower to the barbed wire to the redevelopment occurring.
“We’re excited about the kinds of growth Greenville’s having and that we can be involved,” King said.
LS3P architects in Greenville designed the plans for the new space. Exterior construction has already begun, and construction on the rustic modern interior, which will include using as many reclaimed materials from the old cotton warehouse as possible, begins in two to three weeks.
Mixson said the Greenville shop will keep the chain’s casual counter service, have ample parking, tons of outdoor seating and serve Birds Fly South brews.
“We’re designed for frequent taco consumption,” Mixson said. “We’re focused firmly on food and value.”
Mixson said even though King and Singletary are the franchise owners, he and Ruess will be heavily involved in brand management.
“Greenville is one hour and 20 minutes from my front door,” he said. “It’s important for me to get it right.”
The new location will keep the same menu, which includes a variety of tacos such as banh mi tofu, black bean, Bangkok shrimp, lump crab, Korean beef bulgogi, duck with mole, lamb gyro and Thai peanut chicken, among others, as well as fresh sides and desserts.
