Jenny Kincaid Boone covers retail and real estate.

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Jenny Kincaid Boone

Retail Roundup columns

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• Bastians Bar-B-Q to reopen
• Woolworth's space is being renovated in downtown Roanoke

The Storefront blog

• More from Jenny's blog

Hot water. Freshly painted beige walls with red trim. A working machine that dispenses Triple Foam car cleaner.

Some features are missing from a Roanoke auto wash on Main Street. And Jim Phillips, a local real estate broker, wants to add them, while fixing up the site.

Phillips has purchased Valley Pride Car Wash on Main Street, near the intersection of Brandon Avenue. The car wash was built in 1974, and Phillips said it once was a frequent stop for him. But in the 1970s and '80s, it looked much different, with plenty of hot water and lines of vehicles waiting for a wash, he said.

Now, the business lacks hot water, working security cameras, working machines that dispense car cleaner and more. Phillips decided to buy the derelict auto wash after he stopped there for a car wash in October and noticed few vehicles.

"If somebody fixed this up, there wouldn't be just two or three cars," said Phillips, who owns Phillips Realty and who is president of the Virginia division of Stump Corp., which represents furniture manufactures and industrial companies in the disposition of property.

This month, Phillips paid $270,000 for the car wash that he is leasing from Stan Lanford, who owns the land.

Phillips plans to shell out between $25,000 and $40,000 for renovations to the site and building. But he said he won't increase the car wash prices.

Instead, customers will find hot water, new car cleaners, working security cameras, a new fence in the side and back of the auto wash and other alterations. Phillips also will install a free air machine. The name will be changed to Phillips Valley Pride Car Wash.

Phillips said he'd like to make significant progress on the renovations by Christmas.

"My logic is, if you plow the money back into it, eventually, you will get more out of it," he said.

***

All suits and other apparel at S&K Menswear in Roanoke are for sale, but the store is not shutting its doors, according to a spokesman for the Richmond-based retailer.

S&K plans to close 37 stores nationwide, but that count does not include the Roanoke store at this point.

Bryan Kipp, spokesman for S&K, said this store, near Valley View Mall, is one of 21 locations that are having liquidation sales. It's an attempt by S&K to switch out its current suit-heavy selections with increased casual apparel for the spring season, such as sportswear and denim. The casualwear category is a growing area in the menswear industry, and "the inventory turns a lot faster," Kipp said. He predicted that the liquidation sales will continue through January.

But he indicated that the future of the Valley View S&K is unknown. Kipp said "things change from week to week and month to month."

S&K has another Roanoke Valley store on Electric Road and a store in Christiansburg. Both of these locations are expected to remain open, he said. They're not having liquidation sales.

***

A local Realtor wants to sell a three-story structure in downtown Roanoke, but the fate of this building will determine the future of a small, locally owned book shop.

Rob Clark is marketing for sale a building at 18 Campbell Ave., which he also owns. The brick structure houses Cantos Booksellers, a well-known eclectic book shop, on its first floor.

Clark, who opened Cantos in 1998 and sold the business to Cathy Procopio in 2004, said he's selling the building because the timing is right, given "the excitement that's going on downtown." He referred to the opening of the Taubman Museum of Art as a stimulus for activity in the downtown district. He said the property likely would qualify for historic tax credits in a renovation. Its top two floors are vacant.

Whoever buys this downtown building, which has a listing price of $495,000, must decide whether to keep Cantos on the lower level.

"It's not really my decision," Clark said. "It's the owner's decision. I would hope that somebody would want to keep a tenant."

Procopio, owner of Cantos, said she already has considered alternative spaces for her book shop, including the possibility of moving it to Lynchburg. Ultimately, she'd like to stay in downtown Roanoke.

But rents for retail space are rising throughout downtown, she said, and a new owner of the Cantos' building likely would increase her rent as well. That wouldn't be good news, considering that the poor economy already has affected Cantos' business.

"I want very much for this business to continue," Procopio said. "We may in fact be forced out by circumstances beyond our control."

News from the Storefront blog at blogs.roanoke.com/rtblogs/storefront/:

Steve & Barry's stores are closing, including the Tanglewood Mall store.

Find out the top toys for boys and girls this holiday season.

McDonald's, located near the Roanoke Civic Center, will reopen on Wednesday.