Category: Retail
Retail category.
By Danielle Walker
danielle.walker@insidebiz.com
Two new businesses are on their way to Williamsburg’s arts district, a designated area in the city, between Lafayette Street and Richmond Road, where artists and creative businesses are eligible for tax breaks.
There's been a shift in plans for the winery proposed by Norfolk resident Jennifer Eichert.
Eichert now plans to open Mermaid Winery in the Ghent neighborhood of Norfolk instead of the original location - the Whitehurst-Buffington Home in Virginia Beach.
She said she's now set on a spot in the Palace Station shopping center, because the costs to renovate the historic home were getting too high.
"We were negotiating the lease with city staff," said Eichert, explaining how far plans had gone in Virginia Beach.
By Danielle Walker
danielle.walker@insidebiz.com
Total Wine & More, a wine, spirits and beer retailer that has been at the Marketplace at Hilltop for 10 years, is relocating to a larger space within the Virginia Beach shopping center.
The new site, scheduled to open in July at 25,387 square feet, is located at the former Borders bookstore space at 1744 Laskin Road.
Borders' closing occurred last fall as part of the book-seller's Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings, in which the company shut down all 399 stores.
The parent company of Sears and Kmart announced that it will close the Sears at The Gallery at Military Circle in Norfolk, but the future of other Kmart and Sears stores throughout Hampton Roads is uncertain.
Sears Holdings announced last week that it would close 100 to 120 Kmart and Sears stores. It later released a list of 79 stores that would close across the country, including the Sears at The Gallery. .
Kmart has 12 Hampton Roads stores and Sears has five stores and two outlet stores in the area.
Urban Outfitters, the high-end hipster clothing store opening on Granby Street next year, will be a "game changer" for downtown, which has struggled to attract a mix of merchants, according to the marketing director of the Downtown Norfolk Council.
Early-bird shoppers scored a pretty big trade-off for their dedication - highly discounted electronics, apparel marked down to coveted prices and even free gift cards to their favorite stores.
It's no wonder Black Friday shoppers wanted to start the deal-hunting as early as possible - a demand retailers are seeing as a trend.
By Danielle Walker
danielle.walker@insidebiz.com
As consumer interest in discounted but higher-end goods strengthens, so has the appeal of outlet malls among real estate developers.
The outlet market was dramatically overbuilt in the 1980s and 1990s, said Richard Latella, executive managing director at commercial real estate firm Cushman & Wakefield.
"A lot of small developers built projects that were undercapitalized or didn't make sense," said Latella, who works in Cushman & Wakefield's New York offices.
By Danielle Walker
danielle.walker@insidebiz.com
Albert Bianchi's business, Fossil Rock Inn Restaurant, has lived long enough to beat the odds in the restaurant industry - and successfully made the transition to a new location in Chesapeake.
Founder and part owner of Fossil Rock, Bianchi has been in business since the summer of 2007, when the restaurant opened at 1457 Mount Pleasant Road in Chesapeake.
Since last December it's been in a nearby shopping center, Mount Pleasant Marketplace at 1464 Mount Pleasant Road.
By Danielle Walker
danielle.walker@insidebiz.com
Active-duty families might take advantage of Black Friday sales more than the general population this year, according to a New Hampshire-based consumer behavioral group.
Sentient Decision Science Inc. compiled the quarterly report, the First Command Financial Behaviors Index, which sampled 530 U.S. consumers ages 25 to 70, with annual incomes of at least $50,000.
By Danielle Walker
danielle.walker@insidebiz.com
Taste Unlimited recently moved its Hilltop West store, after 38 years at that location, to the Hilltop East shopping center in Virginia Beach.
Taste, which sells gourmet sandwiches, wines, cheeses and gift boxes, relocated another store last year, from Norfolk's Ghent neighborhood to nearby Larchmont.
The new Hilltop location held a soft opening Oct. 28, although promotions for the grand opening will continue through November, according to a company release.
