Sunday, October 01, 2006
Sonic to open a new restaurant in Roanoke
Jenny Kincaid Boone
Jenny reports on the latest news on the Roanoke Valley retail industry.
Recent stories
Sonic is trying to pump up its presence in the Roanoke Valley.
A new Sonic drive-in restaurant is set to go up in front of the Lowe's Home Improvement store on Rutgers Street in Northwest Roanoke, an area that is sandwiched between Towne Square Shopping Center and Crossroads Mall. The new drive-in would measure 1,557 square feet, according to site plans in Roanoke's planning department. The timetable for opening is unknown.
In addition, a new Sonic also is planned to open near Lowe's in Roanoke County, off U.S. 460.
There already are at least five Sonics in the Roanoke Valley. The fast food, drive-in chain claims to have more than 3,000 locations in the United States and Mexico. Its average sales per restaurant were about $1 million in 2005.
Steve & Barry's
You'll have to wait a month later to shop at Steve & Barry's University Sportswear, a sports apparel store that will open on the upper level of Tanglewood Mall in Roanoke County. The store's opening has been pushed back until mid-November, rather than October as previously announced, said Beckie Spaid, marketing manager at Tanglewood. She said she assumed that the delays are construction related. Steve & Barry's is taking over the former second floor of T.J. Maxx and stretching into a former food court space at the mall.
Staples is another retailer that's planned to open at the mall. That will happen in early 2007, when the office supply store moves from its separate Electric Road spot to the 22,590 square feet space beside T.J. Maxx, according to Spaid.
Woodforest National Bank
A new banking competitor looks to be moving into Roanoke. Woodforest National Bank wants to renovate a space for a branch inside the Wal-Mart beside Valley View Mall, according to a permit for renovations filed with the city's building department. Woodforest has been planting branches inside Wal-Marts across the country, and North Carolina and Virginia are some of the states included in its expansion plans for this year.
The bank already has opened several branches in Virginia, and others on its list appear to be one in Radford and one in Bristol, according to the company's Web site. A spokeswoman for Woodforest was not available to discuss whether a Roanoke location is definite.
But the Texas-based financial institution could compete heavily with local banks. Its in-store branches are open every day of the week except for Christmas, according to the company's Web site. The bank also leads the country in its number of branches inside Wal-Mart stores.
Blockbuster
Look for some changes at two local Blockbuster stores. There are plans to subdivide these movie rental locations, and one could house a national coffee chain.
Starbucks is planned to open inside the Blockbuster at the corner of Electric Road and Main Street in Salem, in front of Lakeside Plaza, said Melinda Payne, director of planning and development for Salem. She said city officials already have seen site plans for the coffee shop to come there. That would be the second Starbucks in Salem, because one also will open inside a former SunTrust bank building on Main Street.
Also, a Blockbuster at Crossroads Mall, off Hershberger Road in Roanoke, will subdivide its store. It's seeking retailers to lease an approximately 2,400 square-foot-space there, said Carleen Stout, who handles leasing for Crossroads. There is no information about what kind of retailer could go into that space, she said.
This subdividing activity is not happening across the Blockbuster chain, said Blockbuster spokesman Randy Hargrove. But other national movie rental chains, such as Movie Gallery, have been subdividing store locations, including some in the Roanoke Valley, because DVDs take up less room than VHS tapes.
The franchise owner of the Roanoke and Salem Blockbuster locations did not return a call for comment about the reasons for subdividing these stores.
Kroger
It appears that Kroger might expand its Vinton store. A Little Caesars pizza restaurant, which was located in a shopping center on Hardy Road in Vinton, recently was asked to move because the Kroger at that plaza planned to expand, said Pat Flanigan, the owner of Little Caesars locations in the Roanoke Valley.
The Little Caesars recently has closed its location at the center because the landlord locked the door one day, Flanigan said. It's going to reopen soon at a new space beside Famous Anthony's in Vinton, he said.
The shopping center's landlord, New Plan Excel Realty Trust in New York, would not comment on upcoming plans at the Vinton plaza. Kroger spokesman Carl York was unavailable for comment about the shopping center.
It's also unclear whether a Kroger at Towers Shopping Center in Roanoke will expand into a former CVS space beside it. When CVS built a new store on Brandon Road and moved out of the center this summer, the owners of Towers, Rappaport Cos., said Kroger would expand into the CVS space. But no expansion activity has been announced. York also was unavailable for comment about Kroger's plans at Towers.
