Even if you don’t know the name Tracy Gower, you’ve probably felt her impact. A dedicated entrepreneur, Tracy has nourished and caffeinated residents of Southern Wake through Drive Bru coffee hut, FuQuay Brus café and bakery (predecessor of BOLT Drinks and Coffee), Brus on Main brunch hotspot, and now Gracy & Co. Boutique and Barkery.
“I love creating food,” Tracy says. Her cafés have been known for their boozy beverage flights, coffee beans sourced from her home state of New York, hearty breakfast and lunch fare with creative weekly specials, and commitment to helping neighbors in need.
At Brus on Main, Tracy instituted “pay what you can” meal days, offering hot meals at reduced or no charge — no questions asked. For Christmas and Thanksgiving holidays, the restaurant prepared and distributed full dinners to families in need, sometimes rolling up to 40% of their profits into their free meal program.
Gracy & Co., the newest venture by Fuquay entrepreneur Tracy Gower, showcases the creativity of hand-selected vendors and supports the Fuquay community through free meal kits.
Tracy’s passion for feeding the community took root because she witnessed the need firsthand.
“I pay attention to people and the things around me. It just really bothered me, so I decided to start feeding people,” she says.
Tracy sold Brus on Main last year, and the location is now home to Truman’s Steakhouse and Kitchen, but she packed up her love of feeding folks and relocated it around the corner, to Gracy & Co., her new venture on Raleigh Street.
“I love Brus on Main. I miss the heck out of it. … It was hard to keep a staff, and you can’t run a restaurant with a couple people, so it just became overwhelming.
“If I’m not going to have Brus on Main, I’m gonna have to have something. And I knew that I still wanted to be able to feed those in need. I’ve always wanted to have a little boutique with a little coffee, a little just … something fun,” she says.
Enter Gracy & Co. Boutique & Barkery, which Tracy calls a “new-age general store” full of sweet treats, gift items, home goods, pet supplies, and all things pink and girly, open in downtown Fuquay since last April.
“I started buying pieces and products. I started reaching out to vendors while I still had Brus on Main. It was another opportunity for me to stay in the community.”
Gracy & Co. showcases the handiwork and expertise of many women-owned micro businesses, several with their own programs to give back to their own communities, Tracy says.
Tracy’s meal kits feed up to four people and cost between $5 and $8 to make. Those in need can help themselves — no questions asked — to the supply available outside of Gracy & Co.
In the shop, you’ll find a bakery case filled with treats from I’ll Cake That, a Holly Springs–based custom baker, and gluten-free goodies from Bake Lab, a small-batch confectioner from Lillington.
Candles from FranCee Farms, handcrafted woodworking from Deep Roots Workshop, simmer pots, bath teas, linen spray, specialty popcorn, bulk candy, gourmet dips and sauces — the list of artisan offerings goes on.
Tracy maintains a Christmas nook filled with holiday decorations and ornaments year-round.
“This is probably my favorite part of the entire shop, because Christmas just makes me happy. I’ve always loved Christmas lights since I was little, so I keep these lights on day and night,” she says.
Treat yourself, your pets, your friends, and your neighbors with gifts, snacks, home accessories, toys, bath and body products, and even year-round Christmas decor from Gracy & Co.
“I don’t want to be that boutique that you think about only at Christmas. I want to have something that — if you need a card, if you need a small gift, if you need a teacher’s gift, if you need a treat — you’re not gonna find anywhere else. I want to become the best regular destination for that.”
More importantly, Tracy wants to be known as a welcoming space where help is given to those in need. Tracy continues to offer free meals to the community, now through prepackaged meal kits that she assembles herself weekly. The kits are available for pickup — again, no questions asked — right outside Gracy & Co.’s front door.
“I had to get creative, and I found a lady who runs a ‘dollar meal’ website. I started following her and really watching her ideas,” Tracy says.
Think: a box of pasta bundled with shelf-stable protein and a jar of sauce, or cans of soup with beans and a protein to add bulk.
“The meals cost me $5 to $8 to build. It’s a full meal that’ll feed two to four people,” she says. “They’re not expensive meals, and they’re not gourmet meals. People don’t care. They want food.”
Kits have included chicken, gravy, and potatoes; chili mac ’n’ cheese; beef stew; and chicken and cheese alfredo. Cat and dog food is also available to those who need it.
“Animals are just as important to me,” Tracy says. In fact, the whole back half of Gracy & Co. is devoted to pet products, from treats to toys, and even an adoption board for pets awaiting forever homes.
Tracy encourages anyone who can to stop into the shop and spend $5 or $10 on a unique gift or sweet treat, knowing their dollars support individual vendors and local residents.
“We try to have something for everyone. So when they come in, the more they buy, the more I can feed people.”
Facebook: Gracy & Co.
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