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

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After 23 years selling chocolates and slaving over homemade fudge, Rita Bruffey is planning the next stage of her life.

Bruffey, who owns Good Things on the Market, is retiring from the candy business that she bought in 1985 on Market Street in downtown Roanoke. Dec. 27 is the shop's last day open.

Armed with a new set of golf clubs, Bruffey, 61, says she's ready to retire. She and her husband, Loren Bruffey, have plans for travel and other leisure.

Rita Bruffey took over the local shop with high hopes. She and her late husband, Tommy Williams, moved to the Roanoke Valley from Grundy in 1985, and they were in search of a new business. They found and purchased Good Things on the Market.

Formerly a receptionist, Rita Bruffey never before had worked in retail or in the candy business. She had much to learn, including how to make her own fudge, one of her shop's best sellers. Her fudge supplier taught her how to make the rich candy 13 years ago.

Bruffey makes fudge from home at least twice a week to sell in the shop. As one of the longest operating retailers in the downtown market area, the Christmas season is especially busy for her, with orders rolling in from businesses and customers.

In the past four years, her shop's sales largely have been flat.

Chocolatepaper, a neighboring candy shop, opened this summer, but its coming did not impact Rita Bruffey's business, she said. In fact, the owners of Chocolatepaper knew that Good Things on the Market would be closing once its lease ends this month. Rita Bruffey said they spoke with her before they opened the store.

Inside Good Things on the Market's narrow walls, the prices of all gifts items, from ornaments to coffee mugs, are discounted 50 percent to clear out merchandise. All of the candy is full price.

A fat book sits on a stool near the shop's entrance. It's a place where customers can record memories and well wishes for Bruffey.

Though the shop owner and fudge maker said she'll miss her regular customers, she's looking forward to beginning a "new adventure."

Mary Marie Petites to close, relocate

A Roanoke County women's petite store is relocating, though its owner plans to close the shop temporarily until she finds an available space. Mary Marie Petites on Brambleton Avenue in Southwest Roanoke County, located at the Brambleton Plaza, will close on Wednesday. Owner Kelley Clark said she plans to reopen the store in the spring, once she finds a new local location.

Clark's seeking a retail space with higher visibility. She said some women have had difficulty finding the shop, because it's not situated in an area that has a heavy cluster of retail surrounding it.

Clark opened Mary Marie Petite's in 2006. It's a compliment to another local store that she operates Mimi's Plus, a women's plus-size retailer located at the Forum shopping center in Roanoke County.

24-hour health club to open in January

By early next year, a 24-hour health club will open its doors in Roanoke County. Jan. 7 is the opening date for Anytime Fitness, which is set to land at Kroger Square at Bonsack.

Anytime Fitness clubs are open day and night. Members have a security-access key to use the club.

Along with a variety of strength and cross training equipment, including free weights, treadmills and elliptical machines, the Roanoke County club will house a tanning area. Personal training also will be available.

The monthly fee that's currently offered is $40 for a single membership and $65 for a couple. That rate will go up slightly once the club opens. Dwight Ward, who owns the local franchise with his wife, Shirley Ward, said about 120 people had signed up for memberships as of early last week.

He said the health club likely will be manned from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. most days.

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

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