Sunday, November 22, 2009
Roanoker to launch online bird-hunting venture
Jenny Kincaid Boone
Jenny reports on the latest news on the Roanoke Valley retail industry.
Recent stories
Northern Virginia native Jason Kosmann has hunted for his own business venture since his senior year in college at Georgia Tech, where he studied business and engineering.
Now, several years later, the 24-year-old believes that he has found his calling.
Kosmann, who moved to Roanoke in July, is working to launch an online retailer based on his newfound passion -- bird hunting.
Kosmann will sell different bird calls, including turkey, goose and duck at www.grasslandoutfitters. com.
He said he wants his limited liability company, Grassland Outfitters, to be a one-stop source for many different calls and a place where hunters can compare call quality. His Web site will list the top sellers as a ranking for shoppers.
The idea came to Kosmann about a year ago, after his girlfriend's family in Georgia took him deer and bird hunting. The sport has become one of his favorite pastimes.
Now, Kosmann is closer to turning the sport into business. He's hoping to launch his online venture in January, and he'll run it from an apartment-like space on top of a garage at his Roanoke home. There, he'll stock inventory and handle the company's shipping.
Kosmann, who has invested between about $10,000 to design the new Web site and obtain a business license, presumes that the calls will be easy to stock, because they do not take up much space.
Grassland Outfitters is not his full-time job yet. Kosmann works for a company that manufactures mining equipment.
But he has big dreams for Grassland Outfitters. Eventually, he'd like to expand its selection with bird hunting accessories, clothing, bags and more.
Kosmann plans to use a percentage of his revenues each year to buy land in Virginia to preserve for hunting and other conservation.
A new stop for coffee
A former drive-through coffee kiosk on Orange Avenue in Roanoke soon will become a new food and java business.
Coffee connoisseur Mary Weller of Wirtz is making plans to open Good to Go inside a drive-through space in the parking lot of the Market Square East Shopping Center.
Her business, slated to open by Dec. 1, will serve hot and cold coffee drinks and other beverages and some food that Weller will order directly from local restaurants each day, such as doughnuts, biscuits, sub sandwiches and chicken meals. Last week, she did not want to disclose the names of these businesses, because she still is trying to secure her work with them.
Weller is a contractor by day, but her love of peppermint mocha coffee and java drive-throughs inspired her vision for Good to Go. She's leasing the 250- to 300- square-foot drive-through space, the former home of Java the Hutt, from Branch Management Corp., owner of the center.
Weller conducted random interviews to find out what kinds of food and drinks people who live nearby would like.
To capture early morning commuters, she plans to open Good to Go at 5 a.m. Monday through Saturday. The shop will close at 8 p.m.
Also, a China Wok restaurant is slated to open at Market Square East. The restaurant has signed a lease, but the retailer's opening date is unclear, said Mike Branch of Branch Management.
New digs for Advance
There's something different about an Advance Auto Parts store in Vinton.
The store is at the same location, 401 E. Washington Ave., but its lodgings have changed slightly. The Roanoke-based auto parts retailer recently demolished its retail building and built a new store about 100 feet away.
The new, 6,000-square-foot store now faces Blair Street rather than Washington Avenue. It opened last month.
Shelly Whitaker, an Advance Auto Parts spokeswoman, said the new store has updated features and about 1,700 new products, and an energy-saving lighting system.
Advance's total investment in this project is more than $1 million, Whitaker said.
Seasonal shopping
Each holiday season, local shopping centers lease temporary spaces to small retailers. Here are a few of the seasonal tenants at Tanglewood Mall in Roanoke County: Aren't You Special, Country Moments, Hickory Farms, Martin's Gift Shop, Salem Red Sox, Grunters, Simply Stones, Crystal Cottage, Planet Wear, Tomorrow's Treasures, Sweet Providence Farms, Montie's Collectibles and TriStar Wireless.
News from the Storefront blog at blogs.roanoke.com/rtblogs/storefront/
n The owner of Twist & Turns in downtown Roanoke soon will disclose the store's plans. The Campbell Avenue retailer does not plan to renew its lease. The shop is located on the first floor of the Atelier building, which will go on the market next year.
n The Holiday Inn Express in Roanoke is offering free rooms on Thanksgiving and Christmas days for people who are visiting family and friends in local hospitals or other health care facilities during the holidays.
n The Federal Reserve has proposed new policies to help gift-card users avoid fees and expiration dates.
