Jenny Kincaid Boone covers retail and real estate.

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Jenny Kincaid Boone

Retail Roundup columns

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The Storefront blog

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Food news is on the menu at the Storefront blog.

There's been much restaurant chatter in the past month, including news of several new eateries in the works, openings and monthlong food deals in downtown Roanoke.

Also, there's more in the world of retail, with discussions of plastic shopping bag fees and whether fast food franchises should offer dollar menus.

Read excerpts below from the past month's Storefront blog. And check it out at blogs.roanoke.com/rtblogs/storefront/.

The scoop on Cheddar's: (Jan. 13)

I found out more details about Cheddar's Casual Cafe's plans for Roanoke.

Rick Payne, who is a senior vice president at Cheddar's, told me that the company hopes to open the new restaurant in October. And it will take about five months to build it.

Cheddar's has filed a site plan with Roanoke to build a 7,918-square-foot restaurant in Valley View Mall's parking lot, near Sears. Here's the story:

Payne said Cheddar's has wanted to open a second Virginia location for quite some time. It already has a restaurant in Newport News.

Also, despite the fact that some chain restaurants have cut back on new openings in the past year, Payne told me that Cheddar's opened its largest number of restaurants in its history last year, which was 16 total.

He acknowledged that fewer people are eating out nowadays, to save money, but "our economics are good enough that we feel comfortable opening restaurants," he said.

This year, the Roanoke Cheddar's will be one of 10 to 12 that the Texas-based chain will open. Payne told me that Cheddar's would like to open more restaurants this year, but the company has not found great site availability.

That's likely because some developers have cut back on building strip retail centers and other shopping areas nationwide, due to the tight credit market and economic challenges, he said.

Mamma's Pizza opening: (Jan. 15)

Dominic Marletta, the owner of Mamma Maria's Italian Restaurant, is turning his attention to pizza. On Feb. 16, he plans to open a second Salem restaurant, called Mamma's Pizza.

His new eatery will open in the former location of Picaso's Italian Grill at Lakeside Plaza. Marletta is sprucing up the 2,800-square-foot space with new tables, televisions and a pizza counter.

Though Mamma Maria's Italian Restaurant already serves some pizza, Marletta told me that he thinks the area needs a pizzeria with more variety, similar to what you may find in New York. The menu at Mamma's Pizza will include at least 15 different kinds of pizza, such as buffalo chicken, cheese steak and margarita pizzas.

But other foods will be served, including sandwiches, pasta, salads and wings. Some of the offerings will be similar to Mamma Maria's Italian Restaurant, though Mamma's Pizza will not serve seafood dishes.

Also, the pizza eatery's atmosphere will not be quite as elegant as Mamma Maria's, located on West Main Street, Marletta said.

He chose Salem for the new restaurant so that he can easily drive back and forth between both eateries. Plus, with a busy Kroger store nearby, "I think it's a good location," Marletta told me.

$2 to shop local: (Jan. 22)

What can you buy with $2? Apparently, food and more in downtown Roanoke.

Shop local campaigns are not new to Roanoke's downtown (Downtown Roanoke Inc. held one last holiday season). But the owners of a local online events calendar business, myScoper.com, are making a new push for consumers to spend money locally. Their marketing tactic involves $2 bills.

Last week Hometown Bank gave away 500 $2 bills at its downtown Roanoke branch on South Jefferson Street. This giveaway is expected to push a $2 theme that will continue through this month.

All month, many downtown merchants will offer deals that are good for a $2 bill. They include a mocha for $2 at Bubblecake, a croissant for $2 at Bread Craft or a flip book for $2 at the Taubman Museum of Art.

Businesses will keep track of how many $2 bills they receive and report back to Roanoke's economic development office with the results.

"We really want to demonstrate what happens when you shop locally," said Beth Deel, a local artist who runs myScoper.com with business partner Wendy Schuyler.

Deel emphasized that people don't have to spend the $2 bill from the Hometown Bank giveaway when they shop downtown. This giveaway simply promotes the concept, she told me.

Whether shop local campaigns work for all businesses is unclear. Some Roanoke and New River Valley retailers that promote the 3/50 project, a shop-local push, told me in December that these marketing methods had not yet lifted sales.

Even so, a nonprofit group that supports independent business, the Institute for Local Self-Reliance, reported earlier this month that 2009 holiday sales were stronger for independent retailers in cities with "Buy Local" campaigns, compared with cities that did not have these promotions.

Vitamin Shoppe coming to Roanoke: (Jan. 28)

The Vitamin Shoppe is aiming for a March 12 opening in Roanoke. The nutrition-focused retailer will land in the former spot of an S&K Menswear shop at the Valley View Station retail center on Valley View Boulevard.

The Roanoke store will feature an expanded homeopathic section and a larger tea section, in addition to the Vitamin Shoppe's usual stock of nutritional products, according to Ean Lavin, a district manager for the chain.

The New Jersey-based Vitamin Shoppe plans some remodels for its Roanoke store, and it soon will begin reaching out to local health and wellness groups to set up health fairs and other related events.

Store and restaurant updates:

n CVS Pharmacy will relocate from a retail center on Orange Avenue in Roanoke to a new store under construction near Bonsack. The new CVS will open in May. (Jan. 5)

n Crock & Roll, a new soup-focused restaurant, has opened at Towers Shopping Center in Roanoke. (Jan. 20).