Sunday, February 12, 2012
Retail Roundup: New Bojangles' coming to U.S. 220
Amanda Codispoti covers retail and real estate. | 981-3334
Retail Roundup columns
- Kroger store prepares for its remodel
- Crystal Tower salons relocate
- Readers, keep those questions coming
The Storefront blog
Construction on a new Bojangles' restaurant will begin soon on U.S. 220 just south of Outback Steakhouse in southwest Roanoke County.
Stan Seymour, who owns five of the chicken and biscuit restaurants in the region, said he will spend about $1.8 million on the new restaurant.
Construction on the 3,500-square-foot building will begin within the next 90 days, Seymour said.
Seymour bought the land five years ago as a backup location for the Cave Spring store.
He didn't consider building on it until recently, when Walmart moved from nearby Hunting Hills Plaza to Clearbrook, south of the planned restaurant site. He believes the traffic that Walmart draws to Clearbrook will be a boon for the new restaurant.
The restaurant should open in late summer or early fall.
Crews also will be busy renovating Seymour's Vinton Bojangles'. That restaurant opened in 1999 and hasn't had a remodel, Seymour said.
Plans include expanding the parking lot, moving entrances and remodeling the inside of the store so it matches his newer ones.
The restaurant will be open during most of the work, but Seymour said it will have to close for a week or two at some point.
Seeking ideas for vacant Grandin Village building
It has been some time since a business has lived inside the old CVS building at 1327 Grandin Road.
Viva La Cupcake, Coda coffee shop, West Pharmacy, Valley Bank and Village Flowers were among the most recent tenants to depart.
The building's owner, Ed Walker, is ready to take a different approach to lease the space. He's asked Roanoker Brent Cochran to use a technique called crowdsourced placemaking to come up with creative uses for the 10,000-square-foot building.
Crowdsourced placemaking engages a community by asking residents and business owners to identify what they want or need in the area. Those ideas are generally collected on a website, where people can vote for the ideas they like. The ideas that receive the most votes are discussed at a meeting, where attendees identify steps to implement them.
The process, Cochran said, creates excitement and buy-in from the community. He also hopes the ideas will identify community needs, whether they be an adult day care center, a wellness center or retail space.
Ideas for the Grandin Village building (and any other ideas for Roanoke) can be submitted at envisionroanoke.com. Any idea that gets more than 50 votes will be discussed at a meeting, Cochran said.
Ideas also can be submitted in a suggestion box near the entrances of Rockfish and CUPS Coffee and Tea on Grandin Road.
Ideas submitted last week on envisionroanoke.com and the Storefront blog included a brewpub, bowling alley, skating rink, community learning center, gym, small business incubator and parking garage.
News from the Storefront blog at blogs.roanoke.com/storefront:
>> Sportsman's Warehouse to reopen in Roanoke (Feb. 6)
