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The popular Fork in the Alley restaurant in South Roanoke is in expansion mode. Roanoke City Councilman Dave Trinkle, owner of the eatery, plans to open a second restaurant that will resemble Fork in the Alley, but this time, he’s turning his attention to downtown Roanoke. He recently signed a lease to open a restaurant at the former location of Gary’s Bar & Grill on Marshall Avenue.

The restaurant doesn’t yet have a name, but Trinkle said he expects it to be a take-off on Fork in the Alley. The menu largely will be similar, with brick oven pizza and some new additions. The manager of Fork in the Alley is handling most of the details, Trinkle said.

This new restaurant will be open for business by late this year or early next year.

This part of downtown, with vacant and run down buildings, isn’t the city’s retail hub. But Trinkle said some renovation work set to transform this area attracted him to the site.

Ed Walker, a local developer, owns much of this block, including the Gary’s location and a building across the street that is planned for art studios. Also, Walker owns the former Virginia Mills Cotton Products plant on 6th Street. He wants to renovate it for 108 condominiums or apartments.

Whether you’re fan of Ukrop’s Super Market or you're just looking for some freebies, you can help this grocer celebrate its first year in Roanoke. Tomorrow, the Richmond-based retailer will celebrate its one-year anniversary with free food samples and festive events.

Here are some of the activities going on between 9:30 a.m. and 6 p.m. at Ukrop's Franklin Road store:

--Starting at noon, the grocer will give away slices of a custom-made Mill Mountain cake. It weighs more than 200 pounds and serves more than 400.
--There will be samples of certain food brands, including Homestead Creamery and Boar’s Head offerings.
--$2 snow cones will be sold. For every snow cone sold, Ukrop’s will donate a can of food to the Second Harvest Food Bank.
--From 8 a.m. to 10 a.m., representatives from Appalachian Harvest Organic Growers in Abingdon will talk about their produce, sold at Ukrop’s.
--A kid’s composting event, led by Ukrop’s environmental workers, will be held from 9:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.

And here’s your chance to comment on Ukrop’s Roanoke store. If you’ve been there in the last year, what do you think about the store, its prices, foods, etc.? In your opinion, has it had a successful first year in business?

If you're into science, check out a new gift shop at Center in the Square. It’s called the Launch Pad.

This store, housed on Center's lower level, used to be a shared space for the art, history and science museums. But the Science Museum of Western Virginia has taken over as its primary operator. It closed the store for awhile to switch up the merchandise to a science theme. The store reopened this week.

The selection includes science kits, toys, gadgets and a Rock Sluice, which previously was located in the museum’s fourth floor galleries. For $4 a bag, you receive a mystery bag of gem stones.
Some items are priced at $5 and under, such as wind-up robots, and they're primarily child-centered. The museum is trying to offer affordable merchandise at the shop, said Fran Ferguson, who is director of development for the museum.

The upper level of the Launch Pad will be used for different activities, such as summer camps and birthday parties.

Museum members and visitors (on the day of your visit) are eligible for a 10 percent discount on purchases at the shop.

But the Launch Pad won’t remain at its spot for too long. With Center in the Square’s upcoming renovations, the store may move to an upper level space, possibly in another year, Ferguson said.

You now can find Dunkin Donuts coffee in more places than just Dunkin Donuts. This coffee recently started brewing at some local Wilco Hess convenience stores.

You’ll find it at these locations: Brambleton Avenue in Roanoke County, Virginia Avenue in Vinton and Orange Avenue in Roanoke.

They’re all serving the hot coffee, but the Vinton location also is selling Dunkin Donuts’ iced java and tea.

But you’ll still have to go to Dunkin Donuts on Franklin Road in Roanoke for doughnuts. They haven't been added to the Wilco Hess selection.

A retail center housing mostly outdoors stores is taking shape in Roanoke County. Tractor Supply Co. opened last weekend. According to the retailer's Web site, Aug. 30 is the grand opening. So, look out for possible discounts and special giveaways that day.

Tractor Supply claims to be the largest retail farm and ranch store chain in the country, with 791 locations as of March. It's based in Tennessee.

Tractor Supply's Roanoke County store went up adjacent to Gander Mountain, which opened in April off Interstate 81, in the Hollins area.

Also, Camping World is slated for this center, though I don't yet know its opening date. Its Web site only states that the Roanoke County store is "Coming Soon."

I’ve had food prices on the brain today. I’m working on a story about a new impact on your grocery budget.

While researching price trends, I found an article that discusses what items (not food) actually are cheaper than last year.

Certain electronics, such as digital cameras, along with hotel room rates, women’s clothing and some dinnerware are supposedly priced lower than they were last year, on average. You may find that some of these items still are more expensive comparatively, depending on where you shop.

But this is a bit of good news, considering all of the reports that prices for most everything in our lives are higher.

Have you discovered anything that’s cheaper now compared with last year? I’m having a hard time thinking of examples, but I’m sure your thoughts will trigger ideas.

Update: I heard back from Mike Sebolt, who said that he and Kathy Johnson sold High Point Coffee because it was too difficult to make ends meet financially soley on his income, since Johnson was managing the coffee shop. He also said the economy was a challenge.

About the number of competiting coffee shops, Sebolt said in an email that "There are quite a few but we always felt we had something really unique and special."

Can we ever have too many?

Mike Sebolt and Kathy Johnson delved into the coffee retail business in 2007 with high hopes. Their coffee shop, High Point Coffee, may not have turned out as they expected.

High Point on Brambleton Avenue in Roanoke County has closed, and Doreen's Gourmet is taking over. Check out the details on the SWCo blog.

Sebolt told me that Johnson has taken a new job as a guidance counselor at the Governor’s School. When they opened High Point, she quit her job as a guidance counselor at William Byrd High School to manage the shop. Sebolt’s still a teacher at Salem High School.

It’s unclear why they decided to sell High Point. Sebolt didn’t respond to questions about their decision. Perhaps it was a way for Johnson to go back into an education-related career.

But it's also no secret that the local coffee retail business is extremely saturated.

There are five Starbucks in the Roanoke Valley and locally-owned coffee shops galore. Mill Mountain Coffee & Tea has four shops, and Mojo Café and Brambleton Blend aren't too far from High Point’s former location on Brambleton Avenue. There also are two Daily Grinds, one on Electric Road and another in Salem. And don't forget several Java the Hutt drive-through kiosks.

High Point's closing raises questions about its ability to withstand so much coffee competition.

Tomatoes have reappeared on some fast food menus after certain raw types of this fruit caused a salmonella outbreak nationwide.

McDonald’s, Wendy’s, and Yum Brands, the parent company for Taco Bell, Kentucky Fried Chicken and Pizza Hut, this week added tomatoes cleared of the salmonella risk back onto sandwiches, salads and other menu items.
Here’s a news story with more detail.

Also, Kroger and Ukrop’s Super Market stores locally have rolled tomatoes back onto shelves, according to spokesmen for these grocers. Ukrop’s tomatoes are grown in Florida, but once certain varieties were proven safe, the chain began selling them again, said Wade Carmichael, who is Ukrop’s senior category manager of produce.

If you’re a frequent online shopper, you know that shipping costs often drive up the price of an otherwise inexpensive purchase. Well, there’s a place where you can go to find numerous deals on shipping, from freebies to discounts at well-known retailers.

It’s www.freeshipping.org. This is not a new Web site. It launched in December. But it’s a convenient way to find discounts on shipping or freebies for this service in one place. There are coupons for a host of retailers, including Old Navy, Macy’s, Sears, Kohl’s, Amazon.com and Best Buy.

The drawback is that some of these coupons require you to spend a certain amount or order a specific item, such as free shipping for orders valued at $75 or more at Caribou Coffee or free shipping only on Godiva purchases at Macy’s.

One of the best deals that I noticed was a free two-day shipping offer with no minimum purchase required at Amazon.com.

Let me know what you think of some of these deals.

For all of you who have been wondering if Dickey’s Barbecue Pit in Salem will reopen, don't lose hope yet. A Dickey’s spokesman, Jeffrey Gruber, told me Monday that the company still plans to reopen the restaurant on West Main Street, though a timetable is not set.
It closed last month after opening in November.

The restaurant, which was a franchise, closed because it is changing owners, Gruber said.
Dickey’s is based in Dallas.