Sunday, July 09, 2006
Little Bit Hippy has a new shop
Jenny Kincaid Boone
Jenny reports on the latest news on the Roanoke Valley retail industry.
Recent stories
Denise Sweeney is bringing a hippier look to the Roanoke Valley. And a concept that she began in 1999 to target shoppers who rave about the 1960s must be working.
Sweeney owns A Little Bit Hippy, a retail shop at Towers Shopping Center in Roanoke where you can buy tie-dyed shirts, skirts, incense and other '60s merchandise. She opened the store in 1999, and since then, she has branched out to several locations.
Sweeney operates shops in Wilmington, N.C., and in downtown Lexington, in addition to two stores at Towers.
And she's expanding again, this time to Valley View Mall. Sweeney recently opened a new store on the mall's upper level that carries mostly women's hippy clothing with an Indian theme.
There's also a small selection of men's shirts, she said.
Sweeney said she pursued a spot at the mall because "It's something I wanted to do for a long time." Finding a spot at Valley View, she said, means she's achieved a higher retail mark.
You'll find Sweeney's new shop, called Little Bit Hippy Clothing Store, several doors down from Hecht's.
310 Rosemont
The term "denim bar" is a phrase that you may see used at retailers in larger cities, such as Atlanta. Now this garment industry's buzz phrase has landed in Roanoke.
A denim bar, which is a shop that sells jeans and other denim apparel, is set to open in early August in downtown Roanoke. The new store at 312 Market St. will carry high-end men's and women's jeans and other related clothing, such as denim skirts.
The store is named 310 Rosemont, which is the address of the owner Winter Hodges' childhood home in Trenton, Tenn.
Hodges, who also has a home in Roanoke, owns four other stores in Tennessee. He is one of the developers of some condo projects in South Roanoke, including at Cherry Hill estates and a project called the Fairfax.
At his new Roanoke store, he'll sell a variety of jeans brands such as True Religion, Citizens of Humanity and 1921 jeans. The shop also will carry some clothing that is not denim, such as a high-end khaki line and men's sports coats and ties.
The clothing selection will appeal to college-age customers and older, he said.
"I'm trying to bring things that are not currently carried and to offer the public things they don't have to go to Charlotte to get," Hodges said.
Former Angler's spot
The former spot of Angler's Cafe on Second Street in downtown Roanoke still is vacant, but the building's owner is not planning to bring another restaurant there.
Debbie Sinex of Atlanta owns the building at 310 Second St. It's being renovated now, but workers had to remove the kitchen area because of a rotted support beam, Sinex said.
The walls have been stripped to reveal old brick, and the shop's exterior will be painted a sage green color.
Sinex, who owns a condo on the building's second floor, said she's seeking a variety of retailers for the 1,600 square- foot space, such as a convenience store or an art gallery. She said she wants to find a retailer for the space that downtown Roanoke is lacking.
Angler's, a popular lunch and dinner restaurant, closed in February because of renovations that were required at the building. Sinex bought the building in 2001.
Applebee's
Look for an Applebee's restaurant in the North section of Roanoke County to open this fall.
A spokeswoman for Applebee's International, Susan Archer, said an Applebee's planned near Lowe's Home Improvement store and Wal-Mart in the Bonsack area, off U.S. 460, will open before Thanksgiving. She said construction there should start soon.
