Sunday, January 18, 2009
Trio to reopen as deli-cafe
Jenny Kincaid Boone
Jenny reports on the latest news on the Roanoke Valley retail industry.
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The fancy white tablecloths have been whisked away.
Trio Bistro Bar Bottle, a fine dining restaurant in downtown Roanoke, is changing its business model, largely to appeal to a swelling nucleus of downtown dwellers.
On Jan. 1, owner Sands Woody closed the Market Street restaurant's dining room, where 71 seats welcomed patrons for meals since the eatery opened in 2006. White paper covers the windows of the area that, by late January, he plans to reopen as a quick-service deli and cafe, offering sandwiches, soups, a salad bar and foods served on a bun, such as hamburgers, crab cakes and fried oysters.
"This is what a lot of downtown residents have asked for," said Woody, who resides in a condominium above his restaurant.
The city's downtown living community is growing as developers craft condos and apartments in historic buildings throughout the district. About 1,300 people live in the greater downtown district, according to an estimate by Downtown Roanoke Inc.
Many of these residents desire quick-meal options, such as food establishments where they can order takeout. The city's market building, which houses local food vendors, shuts its doors at 6 p.m. on weekdays.
Woody expects downtown residents to be some of the main patrons of his new establishment, renamed Trio Market Bar Cafe.
In the cafe area, customers will be able to order meals at a counter and dine at tables. Some of the meal options from Trio's former menu will be offered.
Trio's bar and adjoining wine shop remain open.
Though Woody realized the need for a quick-service option in the downtown district, it's not a secret that restaurants nationwide, including his, are feeling the brunt of the economic slowdown as consumers slim back their eating-out budgets. It is particularly a harsh reality for fine dining establishments.
At Trio, food sales declined in 2008, while bar sales were up, Woody said. He would not disclose specific figures.
The changes to his business model are not directly related to the economy's impact on his business, but it's clear that it was time to redirect his food focus, he said.
"There are plenty of places for fine dining in downtown," Woody said.
Woody also believes he's filling another need. It's a taste for gourmet cheese. Say Cheese, a former cheese shop on Salem Avenue, closed in 2007. Woody is installing a case to sell domestic and imported cheese inside Trio's wine shop.
Ridenhour Music consolidates
To save money, a longtime music and repair retailer plans to close its Roanoke location.
Ridenhour Music will shut the doors at its store on Colonial Avenue in Roanoke by the end of January. It will combine inventory and operations into its flagship headquarters in downtown Salem.
The cost is rising to maintain the same inventory, from guitars to sheet music, at three locations, which include Roanoke, Salem and Christiansburg stores, said Jim Ridenhour, former owner of the business who is retired and serves as secretary and treasurer. Cathy Ridenhour, his wife, is the owner.
Closing the Roanoke location will eliminate certain costs, including travel among the stores.
"Economically, it's not practical for us," Ridenhour said.
The Ridenhour store at the New River Valley Mall will remain open.
Ridenhour Music owns the Roanoke property at 2134 Colonial Ave., across from Towers Shopping Center. It will lease the building or sell it, Jim Ridenhour said.
Music lessons and related classes, including a senior music and wellness program, already have moved to the Salem shop on West Main Street. And all merchandise at the Roanoke location is discounted 30 percent to 75 percent.
Bassett closes outlet store
As Bassett Furniture Industries' domestic manufacturing facilities dwindle, so have the clearance and discontinued furnishings that it supplies to its outlet store in Bassett. That's a reason that this store on Fairystone Park Highway will close its doors in late January, said Bassett spokesman Jay Moore.
"We simply don't have the product to fill the outlet like we once did," said Moore, whose company, like many other domestic manufacturers of furniture, now focuses primarily on importing and distributing furniture instead of producing it in the U.S. Bassett and other companies strive to quickly ship their lines of imported furniture to retailers and to operate with lean inventories.
As for its remaining U.S. manufacturing locations, Bassett Furniture has a table facility in Martinsville and an upholstery plant in Newton, N.C. There are 115 Bassett Home Furnishings stores nationwide.
A liquidation sale is going on at the Bassett outlet store, with furniture prices discounted up to 75 percent.
News from the Storefront blog at blogs.roanoke.com/rtblogs/storefront/:
- Flanary's, a new Irish pub, will open in downtown Roanoke.
- A new Kroger fuel center at Towers Shopping Center in Roanoke will open on Monday.
- Shakers restaurant in Christiansburg has shut its doors.
