Sunday, August 17, 2008
Knitting shop to make room for another
Jenny Kincaid Boone
Jenny reports on the latest news on the Roanoke Valley retail industry.
Recent stories
A hot-pink sweater that Janet Miller knitted for her daughter-in-law hangs as a model on a store rack near the front door. A stocking for Betty Kang's dog, Abby, lines a wall of other pets' Christmas stockings.
It's homey inside Needle on the Square, a small shop on Electric Road in Southwest Roanoke County. First opened in 1980 in Salem, this cozy store is a haven for local knitters and handcrafters. Aside from a selection of yarn, patterns, needlepoint and other supplies, knitters flock there for socializing, to take classes or to bring their latest projects for extra assistance.
But loyal customers likely aren't smiling right now. Needle on the Square won't be in business much longer. Its longtime owners are retiring. The lease is up on their shop in October, and a going-out-of-business sale will begin Sept. 2. Soon after, they'll shut the doors.
"We're retiring because we're old," said Kang, 68. "It's time to retire."
Plans for their retirement have been in the works for a year.
Still, there is good news on the heels of Needle on the Square's closing. Three Botetourt County women plan to open a similar local shop, and they're buying much of the soon-to-close store's inventory. Yarn Explosion is slated for a Sept. 16 opening inside a house at 5227 Airport Road in Roanoke.
While discussing the many years in the knitting business recently in the back office of Needle on the Square, co-owners Kang and Miller said it was important that their customers know about Yarn Explosion's opening
"We want all of our customers to know they will be taken care of," Kang said.
"They're just going to be sad" about the closing, said Miller, 70, who commutes to Needle on the Square from her Bland County home.
Kang, Miller and Dotsy Godwin, 67, have been the faces of Needle on the Square since as early as 1983, when Kang became a co-owner. Four women who no longer are involved in the business opened the store near the Salem Public Library.
Six years later, it shifted to Promenade Park, a retail center on Electric Road, just after Miller became an owner. Godwin joined the business in 1992.
The women, all previously stay-at-home moms, already were regular customers of Needle on the Square, and they were hunting for "something to do," Miller said. Their children had grown up.
Laughing together one afternoon, the women talked about the ways that they've seen knitting, needlepoint and other handicraft trends change. Kang recalled the scarf phase about four years ago. It seemed that everyone, including those who had never picked up a ball of yarn, wanted to make a scarf, she said.
And in the months following Sept. 11, 2001, more people took on knitting projects, a way of seeking "comforting things," she added.
Lately, knitting fashion has moved into more classic sweater and shawl styles. Colorful and trendy handbags are displayed neatly on a wall at Needle on the Square.
Nowadays, "it's what you see in the fashion magazines, just not the plain old grandma sweaters," Kang said.
Jane Jones is one of three women who will open Yarn Explosion. Jones has been teaching classes at Needle on the Square since 2001. Kang, Miller and Godwin approached Jones, a former registered nurse, about their plans to retire, asking her to consider taking over the shop.
Jones, who says her knitting talent is mostly self-taught, wanted to take on the venture, but "I decided it was not a one-person job," she said. Jones talked her friends Marilee Williamson and Susan Davis into opening the store with her.
The new shop will carry a slightly different selection from Needle on the Square, with new yarn types, from organic to silk, and different colors and textures. Largely, the same mix of classes will be offered with some additions, such as smocking and crochet.
The Needle on the Square ladies still expect to be involved in the knitting business. Kang and Miller said they plan to stop by Yarn Explosion to help with classes or projects. And of course, they'll continue to knit in their free time.
Towers update
The traffic patterns surrounding Towers Shopping Center in Roanoke have been switched, while some new stores at this retail center are slated to open or have changed spaces.
Earlier this month, Video Data Productions relocated to the former spot of Plan 9 Music on the shopping center's upper level. It previously was located inside Towers' enclosed mall section.
By mid-November, McAlister's Deli will land on Towers' upper level in the former spot of Life is Gantner. It's a restaurant chain based in Mississippi that serves lunch and dinner. Typical menu fare includes sandwiches, soups, salads, baked potatoes and a signature sweet tea. McAlister's is a cross between sit-down dining and fast food.
A Tennessee franchise company, Peak Restaurants LLC, is opening the Roanoke McAlister's. It owns seven locations in Tennessee and North Carolina.
Also, Kroger has signed a lease to build a fuel center behind Towers at 23rd Street and Brandon Avenue, said Will Collins, director of leasing for Rappaport Cos., Towers' owner. In May, Kroger filed a permit with the city to build a five-pump gasoline station at this site.
Kroger, however, has not formally announced plans for a fuel center here.
FasTan salons
Ocean Tan tanning salons in the area eventually will have a new identity.
J.T. Fauber of Roanoke, who owns three FasTan tanning salons in Virginia, recently purchased two Ocean Tan locations in Roanoke. He said he will convert them to the FasTan brand, though he did not know the date of the name conversion. Fauber owns FasTan locations in Rocky Mount, Charlottesville and Waynesboro.
News from the Storefront blog at blogs.roanoke.com/storefront/:
n Retailers are making a push for your back-to-school shopping dollars.
n Is ice cream recession-proof?
n Will Dickey's Barbecue Pit ever reopen in Salem? Get the scoop.
