Sunday, August 06, 2006
Roanoke furniture companies are on the move
Jenny Kincaid Boone
Jenny reports on the latest news on the Roanoke Valley retail industry.
Recent stories
There seems to be much going on in the furniture business lately in the Roanoke Valley.
Ashley Furniture HomeStore, which is owned by Wisconsin-based Ashley Furniture Industries, recently opened its doors on Valley View Boulevard in Roanoke.
Also, a Lynchburg-based furniture retailer is expanding locally.
Schewels Furniture plans to close its store on Williamson Road and build a new and larger location on Ferncliff Avenue, adjacent to Home Depot, in Roanoke.
The new store will stretch about 55,000 square feet, according to site plans filed in the city's planning office.
Marc Schewel, president of the company, said his firm was looking for a location that would give the retail store a larger presence.
"We felt like a larger facility, a larger building ... and the ability to display more merchandise ... will give us a better opportunity to grow our business," he said.
At the new location, the retail sales floor will total about 40,000 square feet, and the rest will be used for warehouse space, Schewel said.
He said the new store should open next summer.
Schewels' beginnings trace to 1897, when Elias Schewel began selling small household items, such as picture frames, from a horse-drawn wagon. The company now has about 35 Virginia locations as well as stores in North Carolina and West Virginia.
Pete's Deli
It looks like Pete's Deli has finalized plans to move into a new spot at Towne Square Shopping Center in Roanoke. The well-known deli that served breakfast, lunch and dinner had to move out of its location at Crossroads Mall earlier this year because its lease ran out, and the owner of the mall planned renovations in its space.
Deli owners Ron and Lisa Hale have been searching for a new location for the restaurant, and they've landed beside Michael's in a 4,100-square-foot location, said Millie Moore, who handles leasing at Towne Square for Retail Real Estate.
The Hales said in a past interview that they will have to do some renovations to the new space, such as adding booths, carpet and bathrooms.
Moore said the restaurant should open by late fall.
Foodies
When Chris Berry teaches classes on how to make veal stock, people often can't find veal bones when they decide to make the recipe themselves. So Berry, who owns Foodies, a cooking school in Roanoke, plans to make these and some other hard-to-find ingredients, along with various prepared foods, more readily available.
On Monday, Berry is opening a new store beside Foodies at 4054 Franklin Road. At the new shop, he will sell prepared and frozen foods, such as homemade pasta sauces, pot roast and several salad dressings and marinades, in addition to some cooking ingredients that may be hard to come by in local stores.
"There's a lot of time in our classes when we're talking about using things that you just can't find in Roanoke," Berry said. "We're going to try and keep some of those things on hand."
Berry also will carry prepared foods made by local chefs and caterers.
And he said he eventually expects to take orders through the store's Web site.
For more information about the new shop, visit www.foodies2go.com.
Red Robin
A Red Robin Gourmet Burgers restaurant will open in Roanoke on Aug. 21. The 6,350-square-foot eatery is going up adjacent to Valley View Mall, and the company will employ more than 100 employees, according to a news release.
The new Red Robin is located at a corner of Valley View's parking lot across from Grand Home Furnishings. It will have indoor and outdoor patio seating, and the entire restaurant will be smoke-free, according to a news release.
The new Roanoke eatery marks Virginia's 13th Reb Robin.
The company, based in Greenwood Village, Colo., serves more than 22 different kinds of gourmet burgers, including pot roast burgers and chili cheeseburgers.
Farmers Market Week
Next Thursday, tune in to local radio station Q99 to hear a live daylong remote from the downtown Roanoke Farmers Market. The market has been chosen by the state's department of agriculture and consumer services to help promote Farmers Market Week, a nationwide celebration that will be observed in Virginia starting today through Aug. 12. It's a week that encourages people to buy fruits and vegetables grown by Virginia farmers.
