Garner offers convenience
Staff Photo by Robert Miller
Garner's Main Street is tucked away along the railroad tracks between U.S. 70 and Garner Road.

Location lures stores, industry and commuters

By SABRINA JONES, Staff Writer, The Raleigh News & Observer, June, 1998


     GARNER -- A growing number of commuters who travel to jobs in Research Triangle Park or the state capital are making this town on Raleigh's southern side their home.
     Garner, the third largest city in Wake County after Raleigh and Cary, has seen its population balloon to nearly 19,000, up from about 14,700 in 1990.
     Garner has several large shopping centers, three public parks and recreation areas within its 12.6 square miles.
     Town officials are renovating what once was Garner Elementary School into apartments for senior citizens. The building will include an auditorium for cultural events organized by the Garner Arts Association.
     Today, Garner is the place to find the benefits of city living without the metropolitan sprawl.
     Residents crowded into downtown Garner this year for the third annual Historic Garner Festival to listen to a local band, The Continental Cowboys, to learn line dancing and to shop for arts and crafts. Regulars pack the booths at the Toot-n-Tell restaurant for breakfasts of eggs and bacon.
     A 711-acre golf course community is being planned, with 600 homes ranging in price from $130,000 to $250,000. Moteco, a Swedish antenna maker, this year announced its plans to move into a 3,000-square-foot office on U.S. 70. The sales and technical support office will be the company's U.S. headquarters.
     The 450,000-square-foot Garner Towne Square, at Timber Drive and U.S. 70, is drawing shoppers to its Kroger supermarket, the United Artists theater, Blockbuster Video, Home Depot, Target, OfficeMax and PetsMart, as well as a number of small businesses, including a coffee shop and restaurants. The Garner Station shopping center opened a few years ago at the convergence of U.S. 70 and U.S. 401.
     Perstorp Corp. recently dedicated its $25 million manufacturing plant in Garner. The plant employs about 75 people and will add 300 workers by the end of the decade. Domino's Pizza has proposed building a $4.5 million distribution center at Greenfield Industrial Park