Wheat Field Shopping Center opened with eight food-and-beverage spaces. It is the single-story strip on Rogers Branch Road, across from Heritage High School. Most of the new businesses the Town of Wake Forest has permitted there in 2026 are something different, including a reformer Pilates studio, a barre studio, a golf simulator lounge, a cigar barn, a smoothie bar and an anti-aging clinic.
The plaza's first phase gave Heritage a place to eat. Its second phase gives you reasons to arrive before you're hungry and stay after you've eaten. Most of the new tenants share three buildings at 3601, 3604 and 3605 Rogers Branch Road, so a class, a drink and dinner can all happen without moving the car. As of October 4, 2026, only part of that is open, and the gap between "permitted" and "open" matters if you're planning a Saturday around it.
The first phase was built to feed the neighborhood
Sassom LLC developed Wheat Field. It went in alongside the Rogers Branch Road extension, which the Town listed in 2020 as a high-priority capital project for connectivity. G&G Builders, the contractor, describes the property as sitting near two grocery-anchored centers, the Publix at Shoppes at Heritage Village and the Harris Teeter at Heritage Station. Wheat Field itself was set up around eight food-and-beverage spots and no grocery anchor.
Those spots filled quickly. WRAL's March 2023 restaurant roundup reported that Blackbird Brewery's taproom had opened in early January, that TDLLO Ramen & Sushi opened that week, and that Jeremiah's Italian Ice had opened the previous December. In May 2023, The News & Observer reported that Cape Fear Seafood Company was opening at 3612 Rogers Branch Road, with charity dinners scheduled May 25–28 for its opening week. Cravin' Confections runs a bakery during the day and serves desserts and cocktails in the evening.
Two of those first-wave anchors are confirmed open today. Summer Moon Coffee, which calls this shop Summer Moon Heritage, is at 3600 Rogers Branch Road, Suite 104. It opens at 6 a.m. on weekdays and 7 a.m. on weekends, and closes at 8 p.m. every day. Blackbird's taproom at 3608 Rogers Branch Road, Suite 101, still posts current hours.
That first lineup covers coffee in the morning, beer and seafood at night, and dessert in between. Before 2026, a trip to Wheat Field was mostly a trip for food.
What the 2026 permits added
The Town publishes a monthly list called New Businesses Coming to Wake Forest. It records the month each business was issued a building permit to operate. Between March and August 2026, the Rogers Branch Road addresses at Wheat Field turned up repeatedly, and almost none of the entries were restaurants.
| Business | Address | What it is | Status as of Oct. 4, 2026 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pilates Addiction | 3604 Rogers Branch Rd., Ste. 104 | High-intensity, low-impact reformer Pilates | Classes bookable for Monday, Oct. 5 |
| barre3 | 3605 Rogers Branch Rd., Ste. 104 | Strength, cardio, balance and mindfulness classes; in-studio childcare | Listed as "coming soon" on barre3's studio directory |
| The Swing Bays | 3615 Rogers Branch Rd. | Six golf simulator bays, beer and refreshments, PGA coaching, club services | "Coming soon," says it will open in October 2026 |
| Cigar Barn by Anstead's | 3605 Rogers Branch Rd., Ste. 106 | Cigar shop | Company page says "Opening September 2026," lists Mon–Sat hours |
| Pulp Juice & Smoothie Bar | Rogers Branch Rd. | Smoothies, juices, wraps and bowls | "Coming soon," no date posted |
| 4Ever Young | 3601 Rogers Branch Rd., Ste. 105 | Anti-aging clinic | "Coming soon," sign-ups for pre-opening offers |
The same permit list includes two more names at these buildings: Modern Tasty Food at 3604 Rogers Branch Road, Suite 101, and Holistic Vitality Center at 3601, Suite 103. Both were permitted in July 2026. We could not find an opening date for either one, and Modern Tasty Food's name suggests the plaza may get at least one new place to eat in this phase too.
Why the mix changes what the plaza is for
Each first-wave tenant answered one question: where to eat or drink. The second wave sells time, through a 50-minute class, an hour in a simulator bay, or an evening in a cigar lounge. That kind of visit naturally runs into the coffee shop beforehand and the taproom or seafood restaurant afterward, and the walk between them is a few storefronts.
The barre3 studio's own description places it in the Heritage community near Rogers Road and Forestville Road, in the Wheat Field Shopping Center directly across from Heritage High School. The studio is run by two sisters, Courtney and Samantha Wylie. On the studio page, Samantha says she started barre3 in 2024, when she joined her sister for a class. The studio's in-studio childcare means a parent can fit a class into a weekday morning with a preschooler along.
The Swing Bays chose its spot with a specific audience in mind. Its location page says it is about 10 minutes from downtown Wake Forest and steps from Heritage Golf Course. When the franchise first announced the location in September 2025, owner Phil Gugliotta said being near Heritage High School and Heritage Golf Course could help it work with high school golfers or partner with the course. That 2025 announcement aimed to open by May 2026. The current target is October 2026. Until the doors open, the page is collecting founding-member sign-ups and running a free-membership giveaway.
Cigar Barn by Anstead's adds a later-day stop. Its posted hours run 10 a.m. to 8 p.m., Monday through Saturday, closed Sunday, and it had not listed a phone number when its location page was captured. Those hours line up with Blackbird and Cape Fear Seafood Company a few doors away, which gives the plaza more to do after dark than a single restaurant or taproom offers on its own.
What you can actually do there this week
The plaza is between phases, so separate what is running from what is announced. These are open with current hours or bookable classes as of October 4, 2026:
- Coffee at Summer Moon Heritage, from 6 a.m. on weekdays or 7 a.m. on Saturday and Sunday.
- A reformer class at Pilates Addiction. Its online calendar shows signature, mobility and advanced classes open for booking starting Monday, Oct. 5.
- A pint at Blackbird Brewery's taproom, which has been pouring here since early 2023.
These are announced but not yet confirmed open:
- The Swing Bays, targeting October 2026 with no specific day posted.
- Cigar Barn by Anstead's, which listed a September 2026 opening. Its page still read "Opening September 2026" when captured, so call or check before you go.
- barre3, still in the "coming soon" column of the company's national directory.
- Pulp Juice & Smoothie Bar, "coming soon" with no date.
- 4Ever Young, whose "coming soon" page has been up long enough that you should confirm it before planning around it.
The Town's monthly permit list is a public record of which businesses have been permitted to operate in town, so it is a good place to check what's coming to Wheat Field. You can get the list by email through the Town's E-Notifier service by checking "New Businesses Coming to Wake Forest." It's free.
How the two phases fit together
The first-wave restaurants are already open, so the new tenants are moving in next to established places rather than waiting for neighbors. Pilates Addiction has classes running at 3604 Rogers Branch Road, and Summer Moon is open at 3600. Blackbird and Cape Fear Seafood Company sit at 3608 and 3612. The simulator bays at 3615 will have a taproom and a seafood restaurant a short walk away from the day they open.
By the end of 2026, a Saturday at Wheat Field could start with a 7 a.m. coffee, move to a class at 3604 or 3605, add an afternoon hour in a golf bay and finish with dinner at 3612, all from one parking spot on Rogers Branch Road.
We've been watching Heritage change one storefront at a time, and how much a busy plaza nearby is worth is part of what we look at when we value homes in this part of Wake Forest. If you live near Rogers Branch Road and want to know how the new Wheat Field mix fits into your home's numbers, The Oxford Team can walk you through it. Request a Free Home Valuation and we'll start with your street.