Walk Salem Street between Saunders and Chatham this fall and you're walking on two different streets. The east side is finished, with new pavers and a new travel lane that now carries all the southbound traffic. The west side is still being taken apart and rebuilt. A five-foot sidewalk path keeps the storefronts on that side reachable. This is the street Apex will decorate, light up, and parade down in December.
The town's $4.7 million Salem Streetscape project started in January. It will bring wider sidewalks, new lighting, trees, and street furniture. In April, Mayor Jacques Gilbert said the project was on track to finish in October, with two-way traffic returning then. According to WRAL's September report, the town's Sept. 1 update now lists the contract timeline as January through December 2026. That update also said light poles and street furniture for the finished side were still on order.
So the season is being planned around an unfinished street. The events built around a single spot on Salem Street have the most to adjust. The programs that move people from one shop door to the next work no matter which side of the street is fenced off. Those programs are the best way to spend a December downtown this year.
The parade was planned for one closed side
Council member Terry Mahaffey covered the parade question in his Aug. 21 newsletter. He also gave a looser finish date than the town's contract timeline:
"The current projected completion date is still December/January... the Christmas Parade will proceed along the usual route this year. The plan is to assume one side of the street will be closed and act accordingly; larger floats/etc might need to exit the parade a bit early."
He wrote that the town expected to know "around October" whether Salem would be fully open in time for a normal parade. As of late October, no final decision on the street layout has been announced.
The Apex Rotary Club's parade entry page shows the plan already at work. The Dec. 5 parade runs 5 to 8 p.m. It starts from Ambergate Station and The Peakway, heads down Salem Street, turns onto Moore Street, and ends at the Apex Public Works buildings on Upchurch Street. This year Rotary has also added a new nine-foot width limit on every entry's vehicle or trailer, citing downtown roadway limits. Expect a narrower parade. Some of the biggest entries may leave the route before the end.
What construction did to the storefronts
The merchants along this block have dealt with the work for most of the year. In April, WRAL reported that crews had paused while they worked through design changes caused by electrical issues. That month, a manager at Anna's Pizzeria told the station the restaurant was seeing a 10% to 20% drop in business. By September, WRAL reported that Virtuoso Jewels had seen business pick back up once construction moved to the other side of the street. Neighboring merchants were still worried about the restaurants on the strip.
Virtuoso Jewels shows how much it matters which side the work is on. Shops on the finished east side have their sidewalk back. Shops on the west side are still reached by the narrow path. The town has put up signs asking people to support local businesses and has encouraged residents to buy gift cards. Holiday shopping is the most concrete version of that request, and two programs make it easy to spread your spending across downtown.
Peak Perks pays you to cross the street
The Historic Downtown Apex association launched the Peak Perks passport this year. It's free. You get one punch for each purchase of $25 or more, before tax, at a participating business. Six punches from six different stops fill a card. The shop that gives your sixth punch hands you an instant reward worth $5 or more. Every completed card is also entered in a quarterly raffle, and the winner picks a gift card from a participating shop. You can pick up a passport at any participating shop.
The 13 participating businesses:
- Apex Outfitter
- Cocoon Gallery
- Joyfully House
- North Left: A Modern Mercantile
- Whole Brain Escape
- Artfully Apex
- Common Grounds
- Lichen or Knot
- Stylish Living
- Bella + Mauve
- Groovy Duck Bakery
- Mission Market
- The Apex Gallery & Custom Framing
Six stops at $25 each adds up to $150, which fits easily on most holiday gift lists. Because each punch has to come from a different shop, a full card takes you along more of Salem than one trip to a favorite store would. The program has no stage and no route, so the closed lane doesn't affect it.
Snowman Stroll runs on the same logic
The town's holiday promotion uses the same idea. The Snowman Stroll on Salem runs December 4 through 13, 2026. Visitors collect passport stamps at participating businesses and activities, and each stop has winter-themed specials, decorations, and offerings.
For those ten days, downtown has two passports running at once. A $25 gift from a Peak Perks shop that is also a Snowman Stroll stop could count toward both cards. Check in each shop before you assume it does.
The season in order
- Saturdays through December: Downtown Apex farmers market. The outdoor market runs every Saturday, with produce, meat, seafood, and baked goods.
- Saturday, Nov. 14: Apex Underground Market, 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. The market moves away from Salem to Sweetwater Town Center, with 40-plus vendors, bands, and food trucks. Eventeny lists the address as 2701 Lawnview Ln. Visit Raleigh lists 1481 Richardson Rd. Both name Sweetwater Town Center, so check with the organizer before you program your GPS.
- Saturday, Nov. 28: Small Business Saturday, all day. Each business sets its own specials, at downtown shops and around town. The listing on RaleighFreebies mentions GoApex as a way to get between shops and says businesses register by Nov. 6.
- Friday, Dec. 4: Tree Lighting Ceremony, 4:30 to 7 p.m. The ceremony is at Town Hall, 73 Hunter Street. Triangle on the Cheap lists school and youth performances, Santa photos, an ornament, downtown and farmers market vendors, and Be Easy Coffee. The Snowman Stroll starts the same day.
- Saturday, Dec. 5: Apex Rotary Christmas Parade, 5 to 8 p.m. It follows the route above, with the nine-foot width limit and the one-closed-side plan.
- Saturday, Dec. 12: Two markets. The Apex Underground Market returns to Sweetwater Town Center from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Explore Apex also lists a Holiday Market with Santa that day, with local artisan gifts, Santa photos, a fire truck, music, and food. That listing doesn't give a time.
- Sunday, Dec. 13: Last day of the Snowman Stroll.
Dec. 4 and 5 make the busiest stretch: a Friday evening tree lighting at Town Hall, then a Saturday evening parade down Salem, with Stroll stamps available both days. If you can only plan one downtown weekend, that's the one where every program overlaps.
Parking on a street with one lane
During construction, the town has pointed visitors to its interactive parking map and the Apex Parking app to find open spaces. The Historic Downtown Apex homepage links to the same map. On Dec. 4, Town Hall on Hunter Street is the gathering point, so you can park a few blocks away and walk to Salem afterward to collect Stroll stamps while the shops are lit.
The new light poles and benches may or may not be in place by the parade. Either way, December's busiest weekend will be the first time the finished side of Salem carries a holiday crowd. Watch the town's streetscape page for a final word on the parade layout, and keep your Peak Perks card in your coat pocket.
If you'd like to talk through which parts of Apex keep you close to Salem Street on nights like these, Karen Tehrani is happy to help. Request your free home valuation or a personalized Triangle community consultation.
