Several businesses at 1600 Holloway Street, Durham, NC 27703 have closed due to
shootings, gang activity, drug activity, robbery, larceny and numerous other crimes.
If your proposed business for 1600 Holloway Street is likely to attract illegal activities , we respectfully ask that you consider an alternative location.
Businesses that typically attract criminal activity include:
- Convenience stores and mini marts (especially those open late hours)
- Smoke shops and vape stores
- Check cashing services
- Gambling establishments
- Bars and nightclubs with minimal security
Businesses of this type have repeatedly failed at this location. Previous owners believed they could operate successfully despite the area’s challenges—they were wrong. Do not make the mistake of thinking your business will be different if it shares these characteristics.
Our community is committed to living in peace and safety. We will not tolerate another business that attracts crime at this location.
We actively work with law enforcement, city council, and zoning authorities to shut down operations that endanger our neighborhood.
We are organized, persistent, and will use every available legal tool to prevent this location from becoming a crime hotspot again.
Click The Tabs Below To View Location History
EJ’s Convenience Store began operating at 1600 Holloway Street in late 2024. Primarily being a smoke shop, it did not bring anything positive to the community. Rather, it contributed to an uptick in crime in the neighborhood (see 911 Calls). Soon after it opened, members of the East Durham Bloods started to frequent this smoke shop and begun to sell drugs adjacent to the smoke shop. The area soon became an open air drug market where shootings, overdoes, and other crimes became a frequent occurrence.
In response to their neighborhood being over taken by violence, community members begun to organize. They formed a community watch, collaborated with law enforcement, and demanded legal action against the criminal activity overtaking their streets.
Sustained community pressure, increased police presence, and collapsing sales forced the convenience store to close in late 2025, less than one year after opening.
Kwik Stop Convenience Mart was established in 2018. It replaced Kwik Stop Food Mart, which was in operation from 1997 to 2018. Both stores were known as the “Blue Store”. For most of its existence, the Blue Store did not bring harm to the community.This changed around 2017 where around this location significantly increase. This most likely prompted the Food Mart to close and the store transition to a new owner in 2018.
Sadly, the escalating violence culminated with a double homicide at this location on June 2021. This incident forced the convenience store to shut down.
Crime in the immediate neighborhood dropped significantly after the store’s closure.
We envision a business at 1600 Holloway Street that our children can safely walk past, that our families can patronize with pride, and that contributes to the growth and vitality of East Durham.
What Makes a Good Neighbor?
Businesses that thrive in our community share these characteristics:
- Daytime operating hours that align with family schedules
- Destination-based services where customers come with purpose, not to loiter
- Owner-operated or professionally managed with invested leadership
- Family-friendly atmosphere that welcomes all ages
- Well-lit, visible, and actively supervised premises
- Willingness to partner with community organizations and law enforcement