Sunday, May 31, 2009
Target shelves its plans to expand
Jenny Kincaid Boone
Jenny reports on the latest news on the Roanoke Valley retail industry.
Recent stories
More food and an in-store Starbucks cafe won't be coming to Roanoke's Target store. The trendy discount retail chain has shelved plans to expand its big-box hub off Interstate 581.
In the fall, Target withdrew a city site plan for a 9,800-square-foot expansion. And in March, the chain's building permit expired.
A spokeswoman for Minneapolis-based Target would not disclose the reasons the retailer has pulled back its reins in Roanoke.
"We would still like to expand," said Anna Anderson, a Target spokeswoman. "However, at this time, we're not moving forward with any specific plans."
For the past two years, Target has been planning to extend the front and the back of its store on Valley View Boulevard to make room for additional shelves of food and a Starbucks shop.
In 2007, Target proposed a 13,000-square-foot addition to the store, which covers 120,395 square feet. The next year, the retailer decided to scale back its expansion to 9,800 square feet.
These changes were not meant to transform the Roanoke retailer into a Super Target, which sports a full grocery department. Still, the local Target's size would have been extended to at least 130,000 square feet.
It's unclear if Target will revisit its expansion plans in Roanoke. Anderson would not speculate, although she said Target is investing in store upgrades and new designs nationwide. She would not disclose the specifics nor could she explain why Roanoke will not be included in these remodels.
"We look at which projects are financially feasible in this current economic climate," Anderson said.
Citing economic challenges, Target has scaled back its new store openings this year. The retailer expects to open 75 stores this year, down from 114 in 2008.
During the first quarter of this year, Target earned $522 million, down from $602 million in 2008.
Salem Taxi revs up
Salem residents no longer have to wait 30 to 40 minutes to hail a cab all the way from Roanoke.
A Roanoke entrepreneur has reignited a Salem taxi cab service. Salem has been without its own taxi business for the past three years.
Salem Taxi revved up in early April with three burgundy vehicles and four cab drivers. Jim Phillips of Roanoke started the business with a partner, though Phillips is now the sole owner.
He already knows a little bit about the cab business. As a teenager, Phillips had a job dispatching cabs for Barnette Cabs, a Salem company that no longer exists.
Now he's a real estate broker with investments in various kinds of properties and businesses, including a car wash on Main Street in Roanoke.
Early this year, Phillips heard about the lack of taxi service in Salem.
"It seemed like just another gem that kind of slapped me in the face," Phillips said.
He purchased three four-door vehicles as taxis, all made in the 1990s, and added two-way radios and GPS in each. Phillips wouldn't disclose how much he spent to start the cab business.
The rates for Salem Taxi mirror those for taxi service in Roanoke. It's $3.15 for a ride and 30 cents every one-seventh of a mile. It's also 30 cents for each additional passenger. The rate is $18 an hour for a taxi to wait for the passenger.
There's a 10 percent discount for senior citizens 75 years old and older, and a special weekly rate for passengers who are using the taxis for frequent medical treatments.
The service runs 24 hours a day, and the cabs aren't limited to Salem. The drivers travel throughout the Roanoke and New River valleys and also to Lynchburg. The phone number is 389-5555.
Demand for taxis has been so strong that Phillips plans to hire two or three more drivers. He now has five part-time drivers.
Another interesting detail about these cabbies: They dress in business-casual attire. Jeans and T-shirts aren't allowed. Instead, the drivers don slacks and golf shirts.
"We're running an upscale service," Phillips said.
Discounters eye former Kroger space on U.S. 460
A former Kroger grocery store space on U.S. 460 in Roanoke is catching the attention of a select group of retailers -- discounters.
The 37,847-square-foot storefront, situated inside a strip center that also houses CVS Pharmacy, has been vacant since last summer when the grocer built a larger standalone location in the Bonsack area.
Kroger listed the Orange Avenue store for sale last year but took it off the market for about six months to consider various different uses for the space, from administrative offices to storage.
Those plans didn't pan out, and last month, Kroger re-listed the space for sale, according to Tommy Drew, who is vice president of Norfolk-based S.L. Nusbaum Realty Co., which is listing the property.
The sale price is $3 million. Drew said he's already had interest in the space from retailers, largely a result of a recent trip to an International Council of Shopping Centers convention in Las Vegas. Big box discounters in particular seem most interested in a potential investment there, he said.
"The retail economy seems to be coming back a little bit in certain categories, especially discount retailers," Drew said.
News from the Storefront blog at blogs.roanoke.com/rtblogs/storefront/
- A new fuel center is coming to the Rocky Mount Kroger.
- Cutting out salads, soups and desserts? Talk about how you are saving money on your restaurant bill these days.
- S&K Menswear stores nationwide are closing.
