Jenny Kincaid Boone covers retail and real estate.

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Jenny Kincaid Boone

Retail Roundup columns

• Readers, thanks for your support
• Bastians Bar-B-Q to reopen
• Woolworth's space is being renovated in downtown Roanoke

The Storefront blog

• More from Jenny's blog

Retailers like to be where shopping is at a premium.

That's what Present Thyme Home is doing at Towers Shopping Center in Roanoke. On Saturday, the home decor and furniture store opened a second storefront inside the enclosed portion of Towers, on the retail center's upper level.

The 1,300-square-foot retail space formerly housed one of A Little Bit Hippy's stores. It's also the original location for Present Thyme. The retailer opened at Towers in 1994.

Five years later, Present Thyme moved to a much larger store, measuring 7,000 square feet, at the 23rd Street Shoppes adjacent to Towers.

With this second location, store manager Donna Hodges said she hopes to capture shoppers from nearby stores and restaurants, from Fresh Market to McAlister's Deli and Wildflour Cafe & Catering. Unlike Present Thyme's 23rd Street location, the second store is better positioned to "get the walk-by traffic," Hodges said.

The shop sells the same furniture and home decor as Present Thyme's current store, and it gives the retailer more space to shift inventory among the two locations. Owner Liz Barudin spruced up the new space with new carpet and some paint.

Present Thyme's move comes in time for the holiday shopping season. But the store may be temporary. The holiday season's sales will determine whether Present Thyme stays permanently.

Still, Barudin said, her second shop likely will stay, because she needs this additional space to sell her furnishings.

Car Less Brit moves on; storefront for let

River Laker's six-month lease is up at his bicycle culture museum in downtown Roanoke, and that Second Street space is an available storefront again. But this time, the price for a new tenant at the site will not be so low.

Laker, who calls himself the Car Less Brit, located his bicycle museum at 310 Second St., six months ago, but he did not pay monthly rent, said Debbie Sinex, an Atlanta resident who owns the building. Laker paid only utility costs. The museum was an effort to "get some life in there," Sinex said.

Laker said last week that he doesn't plan to reopen his museum.

The Second Street space formerly housed Walker Home, a furniture and antiques store. But the owners of the business packed up and closed the store abruptly in 2007 after it was robbed.

Now, Sinex is back at the drawing board, seeking a paying tenant for the space (once home to Angler's Cafe) that she said would be ideal for a deli, a law office, art gallery or retail use. The rent is $1,000 a month, according to a listing on Craigslist.org.

Visit Santa, donate food for the needy

This year, you can donate food to needy families when you visit Santa Claus at Valley View Mall in Roanoke.

Valley View is promoting Santa Feeds America, a nationwide canned food drive that the mall's owner, CBL & Associates Properties, is rolling out at some of its retail sites.

Shoppers can donate food at the Santa Set area at Valley View. Cherry Hill Photo, the photography company at the Santa Set, will give discounts on family photo packages to people who donate food. But you aren't required to visit Santa or have a photo made to bring a food donation.

Locally, the food will be given to the Southwestern Virginia Second Harvest Food Bank.

The food drive began Saturday, when Santa made his first appearance at Valley View. Donations will be accepted through Dec. 24.

News from the Storefront at blogs.roanoke.com/rtblogs/storefront/

• Kroger is planning a new fuel center in Southwest Roanoke County.

• Petco will open next winter at Towers Shopping Center in Roanoke.

• Get more details about a Sonic drive-in's closing in Salem.