Sunday, March 05, 2006
Abuelo's restaurant to open this fall in Roanoke
Jenny Kincaid Boone
Jenny reports on the latest news on the Roanoke Valley retail industry.
Recent stories
This fall look for at least one restaurant to open in the new retail center adjoining Valley View Mall.
Abuelo's Mexican Food Embassy should make its Roanoke debut by November, said the president of the company that owns the restaurant chain based in Texas.
As reported, Abuelo's, a Mexican restaurant, is planning to build an approximately 9,000-square-foot restaurant at the District at Valley View, an open-air shopping development that will go in the mall parking lot facing Valley View Boulevard. It will stretch from Sears, the mall's food court entrance and a J.C. Penney entrance.
Food Concepts, the parent company for Abuelo's, will start building the stand-alone restaurant in mid-June, said Rob Lin, president of the company. It has signed a lease for the spot with CBL, the company that owns the mall and is developing the center.
This is the first Abuelo's in Virginia, but Food Concepts already is planning to build a restaurant in Chesapeake as a part of another CBL project, Lin said.
"We look to build restaurants in high retail traffic areas with good population density," he said.
The company has done other work with CBL, and Lin said CBL's projects match the types of places where it wants its Abuelo's to be located.
"A lot of people are asking for more when they go to the mall," Lin said. "They want to shop and don't want to eat McDonald's food in the food court. They are attracted to situations where they can have a shopping experience and have a relaxing dining experience."
Towne Square
Towne Square Shopping Center is landing some new retailers.
A discount store that sells clothing for men, women and children has grabbed a spot at this North Roanoke shopping center, which sits behind Crossroads Mall. Citi Trends Fashion for Less has signed a lease for an approximately 10,000 square-foot-space beside Ross Dress for Less, according to Millie Moore, a leasing agent for Towne Square. The store will open in late March, said company spokesman Koyt Everhart. Citi Trends is based in Savannah, Ga., and it has 237 stores throughout the country.
The retailer has other Virginia locations, including stores in Lynchburg, Suffolk and Richmond.
ABC store
Also at Towne Square, the Virginia Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control will move its ABC store to a space near Ross Dress for Less, after it closed recently at Crossroads Mall. Moore, a leasing agent for Towne Square, said ABC has signed a lease for a 5,159 square foot spot.
Ashley Furniture
An Atlanta company is renovating a former Advance Auto Parts office building in Roanoke to make way for a new furniture store. Ashley Furniture HomeStore, owned by Wisconsin-based Ashley Furniture Industries, will open its doors at 5004 Valley View Boulevard in Roanoke, beside Pier One Imports and near Valley View Mall. Ashley HomeStores sell a variety of furnishings, spanning from traditional, rustic and contemporary styles of beds, chairs, ottomans and more. There are more than 200 stores across the country, and Ashley Furniture Industries has six U.S. manufacturing locations.
Corey Baker, owner of Baker Group International in Atlanta, owns the Roanoke store and several others across the country. He said he does not yet know when the store will open.
For more information about this retailer, visit www.ashleyhomestores.com/Home.aspx.
Natural Foods Co-op
There's a new place to buy buffalo meat in the Roanoke Valley. The Natural Foods Co-op on Grandin Road has begun selling packaged bison meat from Jim Politis, who owns Brush Creek Buffalo in Riner. Politis' store and restaurant carries everything from buffalo steaks and jerky to hides and flank steak.
Brush Creek Buffalo Farms raises bison without using hormones, steroids or antibiotics.
The co-op is selling a variety of Politis' buffalo cuts, such as sirloin and ground steaks. Look for the selections in the grocery store's fresh meat section.
You'll no longer find alcoholic beverages when you shop www.shopfoodex.com, a Roanoke-based Internet grocery shopping service. The company has stopped offering alcohol online, because there are no laws that govern the sale and delivery of alcohol via the Internet, said Greg Land, president and founder of the service. He said the Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control suggested that he await future legislation regarding these kinds of sales.
But you will find prepared gourmet meals by local chef Jonathan Kenny as part of his business, Comfort Cuisine, on Shopfoodex.com. Kenny's meals are a recent addition to the site.
Verizon Wireless
Verizon Wireless has moved its Crossroads Mall store to a strip center on Valley View Boulevard, in front of Wal-Mart in Roanoke. The new store is open Monday through Saturday from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. and Sunday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
