Sunday, December 10, 2006
Merchants are settling into West Village
Jenny Kincaid Boone
Jenny reports on the latest news on the Roanoke Valley retail industry.
Recent stories
Designer bedding. Brazilian fashions. High-end jeans and Italian wood carvings.
Shops selling these and other merchandise have flung open their doors in the last few months at West Village, a new retail center on Electric Road in Southwest Roanoke County.
After some construction delays, retailers finally are settling into the open-air center, beside Fink's Jewelers, that's designed with tiered rooftops and a tan exterior.
There is more to come.
Several new retailers, such as a coffee shop and an Irish pub, are set to open in early 2007.
There's also a second phase to the retail center, and it should include a 13,000-square-foot building to be built to the left of the current building.
The second phase would make room for at least eight new shops. And some already have reserved places there, said Barry Ward with Poe & Cronk Real Estate, though he would not disclose the retailers' names. Ward leases space for West Village.
First Market Bank also plans to build a 2,500-square-foot branch at West Village, according to the company. The bank is a sister company to Richmond-based Ukrop's Super Markets, and one of its branches will be located inside Ukrop's proposed Roanoke store.
Meanwhile, you'll find a few stores there that are not new to the Roanoke Valley. One is Black Forest, a gift store that also operates an Internet sales division across Electric Road in a space at the Promenade Park strip center. The company has had stores in the Roanoke Valley in the past, but a majority of its business comes from Internet orders.
Black Forest's retail shop merchandise includes Steinbach nutcrackers, Hones and Schneider cuckoo clocks and Italian wood carvings.
Other stores at West Village have moved from previous Roanoke Valley locations. They include Bliss, a high-end women's apparel store, Plantagenet Rose, a home decor and gift shop, and Vivendi, selling Brazilian women's clothing and accessories.
Henri Kessler Furs, which moved from downtown Roanoke, has taken a spot on one side of the retail center.
And Elderberry's, a smoothie and snack shop, will move next door to Henri Kessler from another strip center on Electric Road.
The Daily Grind also will join the lineup, taking over a space beside John Norman Clothiers, a men's and women's apparel shop located at the right end of West Village, beside Fink's Jewelers. The coffeehouse has a Salem location, but the Roanoke County shop will have a different franchise owner.
The West Village retailers already are trying to create a village identity. On Dec. 1, they all hosted a Christmas open house, giving away food and discounts.
The Circles
The former owner of a Thai food restaurant on Salem Avenue in downtown Roanoke now is serving up international flavor in Vinton. Alex Choice, a native of Thailand, has opened The Circles at 210 S. Pollard St., the former location of Cafe Succotash, a popular eatery that closed several years ago.
In addition to thai food, The Circles also serves Italian, French and a few Cajun dishes on the menu, with prices for dinner ranging from $8 to $12, said manager Lori Jamison.
You'll also find eggs Benedict, eggs Mediterranean and homemade waffles during brunch, served at the restaurant on Saturdays and Sundays.
Kroger
The Kroger near Hollins University is getting larger.
The grocer at 7223 Williamson Road is expanding into a former CVS Pharmacy space next door, creating an approximately 50,000-square-foot Kroger. New features there will include updated wall cases, lighting for produce and a Nature's Market section with frozen and refrigerated sections.
The Kroger pharmacy also will be rebuilt, and a drive-through window and canopy will be added.
The grocer plans to hire 25 new employees for its larger store.
Downtown Roanoke
There are renovation and expansion plans at 414 First St. in downtown Roanoke. McLeod & Co., a large public accounting firm headquartered in Roanoke, has purchased the building for about $235,000, according to city records.
The company will begin renovating the office space in January, once Merricks Optical moves out of it. Merricks is moving to a new spot on Brambleton Avenue.
Site of planned Home Depot
Chick-fil-A could be slated to go up adjacent to a planned Home Depot store on U.S. 220 in Roanoke.
Information about the development on the site owner's Web site lists Chick-fil-A as one of the anchor tenants there. A Starbucks coffee retail location already is planned to go up across from Home Depot, said Jensie Teague, a spokesman for Charlotte-based Faison-Southern Lane LLC, the owner of the site. Teague would not return calls for comment about the possibility of a Chick-fil-A near the Home Depot.
