It appears Raleigh soon will be losing yet another of its historic commercial buildings. I am speaking of the former Bing Lee Chinese Hand Laundry, located at the corner of West and Jones Streets, across from the 42nd Street Oyster Bar. The 2-story brick structure has stood on that corner at least since the early 1930s.

The structure is a typical small-scale industrial building of its era. Oversized, industrial glazed windows originally allowed natural light to stream into the interior space. At some point, though, these were bricked up, and replaced with the present-day scaled-down versions. Its solid red brick walls have been painted over many times through the years. A rampart of red terra cotta tile delineates the second floor roofline, in what looks to be a nod to modest Mission style ornamentation.

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Hipsteria Modern is the newest small business to appear downtown, located in the left side of the Carter Building near the intersection of Hillsborough Street and South Glenwood Avenue. Open for only a few days, the husband and wife team that run the place were still in the process of getting everything organized when I met with them to talk about their new shop offering mid-century furniture and accesories.

This new small business located in a former textile/sewing factory is the culmination of something that was somewhat of a weekend hobby of the proprietors, Ben and Lee: bringing the gems of mid-century modern furniture to those who love it, at a reasonable price and with the artistic expertise to assist in proper placement in the home.

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Katie and Kristin enjoying a brief pause during a game of pool at Jackpot!