February, 2007
Volume 7, No. 1
The E-newsletter of the Roanoke County Economic Development Department is
designed to showcase the investments and achievements of our existing business
partners. For additional information about doing business in Roanoke County,
visit our website www.yesroanoke.com.
Retail Growth in South County
West Village Shopping Center
JOHN NORMAN
John Norman was founded in 1932 at the
height of the depression and has spent the last seventy plus years
developing a reputation as an upscale clothier that features brand names
such as Pendleton, Cutter/Buck, and Berle. The new store was the first
location in West Village and opened for business on May 26, 2006 with the
grand opening being celebrated on October 28th. On November 6th owner
Jeff Wendell celebrated with a ribbon cutting ceremony.
Henri Kessler Furs & Outerwear relocated to Phase II of West Village
from downtown Roanoke in mid-October. The family owned furrier has been
operating under the same name for 70 years and was purchased by Carl
Rosen in 1994. Henri Kessler is also a sponsor of Adrianna Sgarlata, the
reigning Miss Virginia, who was present on November 6th to participate
in the ribbon cutting and the filming of a new television commercial for
the furrier.
Plantagenet Rose started in 2001 in Grandin Village and was the first tenant to locate in Phase II
on the upper level of the West Village Shopping Center. The store name has family connections and
“planatagenet” means yellow plant. On October 21st, the boutique opened for business.
Home décor, fabrics and gifts are the boutique’s major lines; however, decorating
consultation is also a service provided by owner Gwenda Broom Kellett.
Founded in August of 2001, bliss. is the joint business venture of
owners Lisa Branch and Whitney Clemons. Relocating to West Village from Towers Shopping Center
gave the owners the opportunity to change the store’s image with a more
progressive, updated urban look to better align with their current clothing merchandise lines
- Velvet, Rozae Nickels, Ya Ya, and Vent. The store opened for business on November 1st and
celebrated its grand opening on November 6th.
 Kathy’s Boutique
With a Touch of Elegance
Kathy Grosvenor’s dream was to own her own boutique
and her husband, Ed, made her dream come true three and one half years ago with a shop location
in the Ridgewood Farms Shopping Center. The boutique in now located on the upper level of West
Village and carries clothing brand names such as Picadilly and LG from Canada, Tadashi, and Alex
Evening in addition to gift merchandise. The shop opened for business with a grand opening on
November 3rd (Kathy and Ed’s 50th wedding anniversary.)
Ken and Denise Durham are celebrating the 10th Anniversary of their company, Black Forest,
with an expansion into West Village featuring brand names such as Steinbach nutcrackers, Hones and
Schneider cuckoo clocks, and Steiff. Black Forest is the largest dealer in the US for an
Italian wood carving company called Anri and the largest importer of eastern German Wendt & Kuhn
angels of which the Durhams were one of the original importers after the Berlin Wall came down.
Please visit blackforestgifts.com.
Lynn Via is an Independent, Professional Optician with 20 years
experience as a Licensed Optician and a distinctive approach to
merchandising eyewear. On November 26th, his retail micro-business which includes an onsite lab
opened in West Village. The boutique
boasts a bold geometric, color schematic with a unique collection of
frames, lenses and accessories exhibited in light wood display cases. The
Optical Shop is introducing new exclusive eyewear lines to the Roanoke
Valley such as the Danish brand - Lindberg, LA Eyeworks and Oliver
Peoples.
Vivendi which means “lifestyle” in Latin is the perfect definition for
the Brazilian clothing boutique that opened on “Black Friday” in 2006. In
fact, the merchandise is a style mix where shoppers will discover 80%
Brazilian fashions in the spring and summer and 80% American in the fall
and winter. Merchandise brand names carried are strong labels in NY and LA
such as BCBG, Lilla P, Sweetees, Fashion Spy and Ranahan jeans
complimented by well known Brazilian lines such as Iodice and Thamara
Capelao (Brazilian designer) in a hip yet Tuscan styled boutique by
Virginia Wiegand.
P U R ESpa
Pure Spa is a holistic spa focused on enhancing the well being of mind, body and spirit using only
natural ingredients. The spa was designed by a California firm and incorporates a Moroccan
influence based on the inspiration from a Tibetan spa. Staff recruitment was nationwide and
includes several members that were trained in Europe. The spa’s private label is Pure Spa
Natural Skin Care & Aromatherapy which is complimented by other brands such as Phytocean by the
French company Phytomer and Jane Iredel Skin Care. Mary and David Schoendorfer opened for
business on December 1, 2006. Please visit
puresparoanoke.com.
On December 1, 2006, attorney Robin Dearing opened her new boutique,
Robin House, for business. This one-of-a kind shop features special
occasion gifts for bridal registry, anniversaries, graduation and
holidays. Clients may choose corporate gift items such as woodland
terrariums and Roanoke “star” theme gift packages. Other gift selections
include
live topiaries, cloches, wardian cases and ornaments from the Garden Shop
in addition to unique merchandise from Mariposa, Reed & Barton, Three Designing Women, Annie Glass,
Chelsea House and Carver’s Guild.
|
Webinar: Basic eVA Registration
Feb 21, 2007
Learn how to
register with eVA, the Commonwealth of Virginia's online procurement
system, so your business can compete for state contracts. This
FREE
online training session, requiring a phone and internet
connection, takes place from noon to 1PM. Pre-registration required;
instructions on how to participate will be emailed with registration
confirmation. To make the most of this training opportunity, you will
need: 1. Your business location 2. Federal Tax ID number (EIN) 3.
Legal and "doing business as" (if applicable) business name 4. Duns
number 5. Name and contact information for your company's eVA account
manager--the person who will receive orders, solicitations, and
invoices. 6. Commodity codes for your company's products or services.
Future webinar topics will include
understanding dual SWaM certification and strategic marketing report
development.
To register,
send an email indicating your desire to participate to Serwa Lee,
Serwa.Lee@vdba.virginia.gov or call (804) 371-0465. For assistance
with the six items needed to maximize the training, call VDBA's
business information center at 1-866-248-8814 or go to our website
www.vdba.virginia.gov.
|
To subscribe or unsubscribe to this newsletter, please
click here. Your email address will not be shared with others. Your
comments and feedback are appreciated.
|
