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Happy Monday. I hope your week is getting off to a good start.

I recently learned that a new Chick-fil-A in Roanoke will open on May 1. It's situated near Home Depot in the Southern Hills Drive area.

If you’ve never been to an opening for this fast food chicken chain’s stand alone restaurants, you may be in for a surprise. The chain allows customers to camp outside of its restaurants a day before they open. For us, that period will begin at 6 a.m. on April 30.

Throughout the day and night, campers can get oodles of free Chick-fil-A foods, from chicken nuggets to sweet tea. If you stay put, without leaving the camp-out spot, the reward is 52 of Chick-fil-A’s “be our guest” cards, which will be handed out the morning of May 1.
They are equal to about 52 combo meals per person. The total food giveaway equals $26,000 worth of food, said Chick-fil-A spokeswoman Brenda Green.

It sounds like quite an event if people show up. Check out this story about a Chick-fil-A opening and frenzy in Chesapeake earlier this month.

Gander Mountain will open its new Roanoke County store on Tuesday, in case you missed a blurb about it in today’s Business section.

This will be the outdoor retailer's fourth Virginia location. It already has stores in Winchester, Richmond and Fredericksburg. The local store is landing off the Interstate 81 exit near Hollins.

May 2 will be its grand opening day, when there will be give-aways and appearances from outdoors celebrities. Stay tuned to Gander Mountain's Web site for details about those events.

The Fried Pickle in Daleville has reopened under new ownership, and Teaberry's, a restaurant on U.S. 220 alternate, is moving to a new location on Roanoke Road, near Botetourt Commons.

Roanoke Times Community reporter, Cathy Benson, reports on changes at these two Botetourt County restaurants on her blog, The Botetourt View. Check out the Teaberry's news here, and the Fried Pickle news here.

Like the Hotel Roanoke & Conference Center’s look? You can bring part of it to your own home, for a price of course.

For the second year, this landmark city lodging is selling off former guest room armoires, lamps, mirrors and chairs with ottomans in a public sale that will be held this Saturday.
The hotel is in the midst of changing the look of its 331 guest rooms. Through the makeover, it is replacing all of the former furnishings with brand new items.
Here is my blog post in January about the renovations.

The hotel's $6.5 million renovation is the first guest room overhaul since it reopened in 1995. Last May, when the first phase of its makeover began, the hotel held a similar public sale of its furnishings.

If you’re thinking of heading out to the sale this Saturday, here’s what you need to know:

It will be held at 844 Union Street in Salem from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tickets to get in will be handed out starting at 6 a.m. The furniture is sold on a first-come, first-served basis, and you must make your own arrangements for transporting your purchases.

Read more »

Today marks the one-year anniversary of the shootings of 32 students and teachers at Virginia Tech. Last year, people flocked to local sports stores to snatch Virginia Tech t-shirts, ties, hats and anything else that they could find to memorialize the tragedy. Many stores sold out of Tech merchandise by the end of that week.

A year later, merchandise that reflects the tragedy still is moving off shelves, but it's a different mix. Bryan Daniel, a manager at B&C Sports Collectibles in Lynchburg, told me today that New York Yankee hats with the Virginia Tech logo lately have been selling faster than most other Hokie merchandise.

The hats have been popular since the Yankees traveled to Blacksburg for a March exhibition game with the Virginia Tech baseball team, he said. The Yankees scheduled the game to support and lift the spirits of the Virginia Tech community.

Likely because of the anniversary of the shootings, there has been a slight up-tick in sales of general Virginia Tech items at B&C stores in Roanoke and Lynchburg in the last week, Daniel said.

Some inexpensive options are $5 t-shirts that B&C stores have been selling since Christmas. The store ordered the maroon shirts with only the VT logo in the middle “purposely to sell at a low price,” Daniel said.

Correction: A colleague pointed out that the link to the cheap gas Web site doesn't take us to same page as it did when I blogged about it. Here's a better suggestion for finding local gas prices: GasBuddy.com

It seems like gasoline prices rise each day. There’s some relief this week for people who fuel up at a new Kroger gasoline station in Daleville. Situated in front of this grocer at the Botetourt Commons shopping center, it’s the fourth Kroger fuel center in the Roanoke Valley. By the end of this year, another fuel center will open at a Kroger that is under construction in the Bonsack area of Roanoke County.

Now through Saturday at the Daleville fuel center, you can receive 10 cents off the gallon price of gasoline or diesel if you use a Kroger plus card. And with the purchase of $100 in groceries at Kroger, customers can receive a 15 cent discount off the per gallon price of gas or diesel through Saturday. There also are free giveaways all week if you’re one of the first 300 customers to fuel up each day.

There’s more. Next week, beginning April 21, you can receive a 5 cent discount off gasoline by using a Kroger plus card at this same Daleville fuel station. The 15 cents off promotion with a $100 grocery purchase also continues next week.

Kroger estimates that consumers can save 3 cents per gallon of gasoline on a regular basis by using a plus card at the grocer's fuel centers.

Several people have told me that they regularly consult www.cheapgas.com, a Web site that reveals which gas stations in an area sell the cheapest gas. It compares prices for regular unleaded gasoline after you search by zip code.

What are your strategies for scouting out the lowest gas prices?

It’s Tax Day. You’ve either filed your federal tax returns ahead of time, or you’re like some of the hurried people I saw this morning waiting in line at the post office.

If you didn’t see it, read my story in today’s Business section about some free Tax Day offers and savings at local stores, including free doughnuts at Dunkin Donuts and discounts on your grocery bill at Ukrop’s.

Also, some greeting card companies have gotten into the April 15 celebration (if you can call it a day to celebrate). At online sites for Hallmark and American Greetings, you can send free tax day cards, which include a picture of an I.R.S man and one encouraging the recipient to hope for a “groovy tax return.”

In my story, a marketing professor speculates about whether retailers really can turn April 15 into a happy day with sales and special offers, like with other holidays, such as President’s Day and Labor Day.

What do you think?

Most moms and dads would agree that shopping isn’t easy with children in tow.
Here are a few tips from Shop Smart magazine on maneuvering stores and restaurants with little ones. The article also included some tips on finding good deals, whether you are a parent or not.

Best time to eat out with infants, toddlers and preschoolers:
Sunday through Wednesday before the usual rush, which is 11:30 a.m. for lunch and 5:30 p.m. for dinner. It’s often when eateries are not as crowded and service is faster.

Best time to grocery shop with kids: Right after breakfast or lunch on weekdays. It’s when the aisles are not as crowded with after-work and weekend shoppers.

Best time to find baby products on sale:
The fall, when some retailers discount inventory to make room for new merchandise. Also, often locally owned shops offer larger sales and discounts, especially to regular customers.

Best time to find good deals on grocery items: The day after the supermarket’s ads come out, when there are plenty of items left in stock.

Feel free to comment on some of your own strategies as well.

UPDATE: The Salem Zaxby's should open around the middle of May, potentially on May 12 or May 19. Franchisee Tom Noelke said he's awaiting a certificate of occupancy for the new eatery. Also, it takes about a week to train new employees, though Noelke is using the Roanoke Zaxby's as a training location.

In case you haven’t noticed, construction is going on right now at a former Wendy’s on West Main Street in Salem, preparing for a new Zaxby’s.

Here are a few more details about this fast food chicken chain’s new location. The Salem restaurant will measure about 2,375 square feet, and it will seat 56 patrons, according to a news release about the eatery.

Tom Noelke, the franchisee, last said the restaurant would open in May. I've asked about a specific opening date, and I'll update you when I find out.

The Salem Zaxby’s will employ 40 to 50 people, primarily cooks and cashiers, and Jeff Loving will be the general manager.

This will be the second location for Zaxby’s in the Roanoke Valley and in all of Virginia. Noelke, who lives in Charlottesville, opened the first area Zaxby’s on Ordway Drive in Roanoke in 2006.

Noelke apparently is no stranger to the restaurant business. A native of Texas, he used to manage a string of eateries that his parents owned. Noelke has a degree in restaurant management from Texas Tech University, and he studied finance at the University of Georgia. That’s where he learned about Zaxby’s, which is based in Athens, Ga.

There are more than 420 Zaxby’s in 11 states.

Retailers reported dismal sales results for the month of March nationally, according to this story. In the Roanoke Valley, the results are mixed.

Stores like the Herb Cellar, a gift and clothing shop at Townside Festival Center in Roanoke, told me last month that its sales have been noticeably slower. It was holding some close-out sales for winter merchandise, but the store did not have any other major promotions planned to attract customers to spring merchandise.

“We’re just trying to hold our own,” said store manager Pete Brooks. Herb Cellar has been in business for 12 years.

Other store owners have said that sales are steady or better than ever.
And though Jay Aneja, who owns G&G Shop, a convenience store in downtown Roanoke, said he’s noticed a slight sales slide because of the economy, he’s confident enough to soon open a second store near his current one on Campbell Avenue, which will sell some grocery items.

It’s difficult to establish a clear trend in the Roanoke Valley, but I’ve been keeping my eye on special promotions and incentives offered at area stores, including restaurants. Likely, much of these efforts are happening to drive up sales.

One such event is going on at Valley View Mall this weekend. Starting on Friday through Sunday, if you spend at least $100 at mall stores, excluding department stores, you will receive a $10 American Express gift card. The catch is that you have to be one of the first 500 shoppers to present your same-day sales receipts for this amount.

It’s not unusual to see sales and promotions at Valley View from time to time. But this one seems different than others, because it requires customers to spend a certain amount before they’re eligible for the prize.

Let me know what new promotions you've noticed lately at local stores and restaurants.