Jenny Kincaid Boone covers retail and real estate.

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@roanoke.com
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Jenny Kincaid Boone

Retail Roundup columns

• Bastians Bar-B-Q to reopen
• Woolworth's space is being renovated in downtown Roanoke
• Grandin retailers shuffle spaces

The Storefront blog

• More from Jenny's blog

As a retail reporter, I spent Thanksgiving night in a hotel near Valley View Mall just to capture the evening's late night shopping crowd at Toys R Us. I jumped for joy when I uncovered a building permit that revealed the District at Valley View's expansion at Valley View Mall. And I have spent hours inside local stores searching for a shopper willing to share comments for my latest trend story.

I have chronicled the Roanoke Valley's retail industry for seven years, capturing shopping trends and, in this column space, sharing details about store openings, closings and relocations. But today's Retail Roundup column is my last.

The Retail Roundup is not going away. A new columnist's face soon will appear in the Sunday Business section.

I truly have enjoyed bringing you local retail news each Sunday for most of my career at The Roanoke Times. I began writing the Retail Roundup column in 2004, soon after I became a business reporter. Through this column, I have met interesting and talented entrepreneurs, chronicled numerous retail trends and had the opportunity to tell many great stories.

I also have attempted to track the ups and downs of this ever-changing industry. Several national chains have bounded onto the local scene since I began this job, including giant coffee retailer Starbucks, now with at least five Roanoke Valley spots. Others include specialty grocer Fresh Market, restaurant chain Panera Bread and women's clothier Chico's. In June, Chipotle, a Mexican fast food eatery, will open its doors in Roanoke, while discount retailer Kohl's makes its debut in September.

But I've also watched the retail landscape slow substantially, largely as a result of the poor economy. I've experienced the unfortunate demise of some retailers, including the opening and then closing of Ukrop's Super Market's Roanoke store. I've watched shopping centers and retail buildings rise up, while others still struggle to fill empty store spaces.

This job has given me an insightful lens into the Roanoke Valley's business scene, and I will miss covering such a lively community. I also will miss many of you and the helpful news tips that you have provided to me in the past seven years. Thank you for being faithful readers.

In the meantime, if you have retail or other business news tips to share with us, please email business editor Megan Schnabel.

Wine Gourmet to change locations

In a quest for stability and synergy with other retailers, a Roanoke wine shop is changing locations.

By mid-June, owner Kimberly Eakin plans to relocate Wine Gourmet from its store on Franklin Road in Roanoke to Promenade Park, a retail center on Electric Road in Southwest Roanoke County.

The owner of Wine Gourmet's dark purple building at 2219 Franklin Road wants to sell the structure, Eakin said. She decided it was time to find a new home for her wine shop.

She chose a former Wells Fargo office at Promenade Park, across Electric Road from the Shoppes at West Village, for Wine Gourmet's new digs. There, Eakin said she'll sell her typical wine selection and continue to host wine tastings and instructional classes. She'll keep her Franklin Road store open through late June.

The Roanoke County storefront gives Wine Gourmet needed retail synergy, because it is surrounded by other independent retailers at Promenade Park, Eakin said. Also, the new location situates Wine Gourmet in a high-traffic area. Eakin expects her store to draw two to three times the traffic that it now has at its Franklin Road address.

Eakin hopes to eventually sell her business to a new owner. Last year, she put Wine Gourmet on the market to shed its responsibilities and carve out more time for her family. Also, she was an Army Reservist, and last year, she had been asked deploy to Iraq by 2011. But last month, Eakin retired from the Reserves.

Several potential buyers already have approached her about purchasing Wine Gourmet. Eakin said she expects the shop's new Promenade Park location to "just increase its value."

Consignment shop coming soon in Salem

Friends and shoppers Sharon Gatewood and Rena Moore peered into their closets and made an executive decision: Let's open a consignment store.

"Our closets are full of clothes with tags on them," Gatewood said.

The women are setting up store racks and collecting ladies' clothing and accessories to sell on consignment inside a small storefront at 18 E. Main St. in Salem, beside Frank's Pizza. They plan to open Rena's on Main early next month.

Both are juggling the new retail gig with other jobs. Gatewood, a Salem resident, manages a jewelry store, while Moore, who lives in Roanoke County, is a mortgage loan officer. Moore said she plans to run the shop's daily operations, alongside her mortgage work.

The women are selective about what merchandise they will accept to sell. They are searching for clean wares in good condition and what they describe as "gently worn" items. Gatewood and Moore hope to sell an assortment of dressy and casual apparel, and also buy gold jewelry items, once they obtain a license.

They are filling the store's racks with their own clothing and consignment items and taking consignors' items by appointment. Consignors receive 50 percent of the sale of each item once it is sold.