Sunday, April 26, 2009
Retail Roundup: Salem has a new shop
Jenny Kincaid Boone covers retail and real estate.jenny.boone
@roanoke.com
981-3235
Jenny Kincaid Boone
Retail Roundup columns
- Readers, thanks for your support
- Bastians Bar-B-Q to reopen
- Woolworth's space is being renovated in downtown Roanoke
The Storefront blog
Susan Bulbin wasn't ready to leave retail behind, even after she was laid off in February from a sales job at Frances Kahn, a Roanoke women's apparel boutique.
Selling women's clothing has been her livelihood for years.
Bulbin's grandfather founded Samuel Spigel, a longtime women's apparel shop in downtown Roanoke, and she ran the store before it closed in 1991.
Bulbin had several other retail stints in the past few years, but this month, after her latest setback, she decided to take her career back into her own hands.
Bulbin opened Second Hand Rose, a high-end consignment shop in Salem named for a popular Barbra Streisand song.
The store at 353 E. Third St. sells designer women's clothing, shoes and accessories, on consignment. Much of the selection comes from the closets of some of Bulbin's regular retail customers from the past. Bulbin contacted them when she decided to start the new venture to help build her selection.
"It's all high-end clothes," Bulbin said. "I don't want junk."
Some of the clothing brand names include St. John, Giorgio Armani, Lafayette 148, Worth and Carlisle.
The prices are marked at a third of the original price.
Bulbin described the apparel as classic in style, pieces that "people can wear for a long time," she said. "We're not trying to be trendy."
You'll find Second Hand Rose inside a building that houses several other businesses, including a beauty salon and an aesthetician.
HoneyTree opens in Wirtz
A growing Smith Mountain Lake population and the opening of the new Windy Gap Elementary School drew a local children's learning center chain to Franklin County.
Earlier this month, HoneyTree Early Learning Center took over the former Smith Mountain Childcare and Learning Center on Booker T. Washington Highway in Wirtz.
This will be HoneyTree's 10th Roanoke Valley location.
The 4,000 square-foot Wirtz center offers child care services, with a capacity for 80 children.
It accepts children ages 16 months to 12 years old. That's a slight change from some other HoneyTree locations, which accept infants older than 6 weeks.
Cabinet retailer expands
A Southwest Roanoke County cabinet retailer, Cabinetry with TLC, is expanding its space and selection.
This 3-year-old business on Old Cave Spring Road doubled its showroom this month to about 2,200 square feet. The retailer took over a space next door that previously housed a concrete supplier.
The company is using the expansion to show off some new brands of cabinets and countertop products, including a larger Dura Supreme selection and products from Mid Continent Cabinetry of Lynchburg, said Terri Langford, co-owner of Cabinetry with TLC.
News from the Storefront blog at blogs.roanoke.com/rtblogs/storefront/
n Mega book chain, Giant Book Sale, is open in the former Circuit City space in Roanoke through June.
n Silver Lining in Salem is going out of business.
n Research shows that more families are leaving the kids at home when they dine out, to save money.
