www.roanoke.com

It looks like cosmetics retailers are joining the push to save the environment. Even though we don’t have any Lush stores in the Roanoke area, you might find interesting this story about Lush employees going naked this week at its stores nationwide to encourage people to stop using excess packaging materials.

Still, a new cosmetics line in Roanoke is promoting recycling, though it’s not quite as risqué as asking employees to go without clothing. At MAC Cosmetics' new booth inside Macy’s, which opened Thursday, customers are encouraged to bring in leftover make-up containers. If you bring in six containers, you get free lipstick.

It's fitting to talk about hot beverages with another wet weather day ahead of us. And with Barack Obama’s nomination acceptance speech tonight, politics is on everyone’s minds. Have you ever thought about what your coffee preferences reveal about your political views?

A consumer research firm, BIGresearch, says it has figured it out for you, based on its monthly consumer intentions and actions survey.

According to the survey, those who drink Starbucks coffee, slated the “latte liberals,” typically support Obama (44 percent). Those who enjoy McDonald’s coffee prefer John McCain (45 percent).

Undecided voters trend toward Dunkin Donuts java (22 percent).

The survey points out the declining number of Starbucks locations, based on the coffee retailer’s recent closings nationwide.

“With a declining number of Starbucks stores, it’s possible the ‘new’ key battleground states may be McDonald’s and Dunkin Donuts,” said Gary Drenik, president of BIGresearch, in a news release.

New Bojangles' restaurants planned for the Roanoke Valley have been the subjects of our recent conversations here. So, if you want to know a little bit more about the Charlotte fast food chicken chain, here's an interesting Q&A with Bojangles' CEO, Randy Kibler.

In the next week, two new retailers plan to open up in Roanoke.

Tomorrow (Thursday), Chocolatepaper, a gourmet chocolate, card and gift shop will open its new downtown Roanoke store at 308 Market St. Chocolatepaper already has a location in Roanoke County, off Electric Road.

And next week, on Sept. 4, Planet Fitness will open at Towers Shopping Center in Roanoke. This health club, which is new to the Roanoke Valley market, will land in the former spot of Hancock Fabrics on Towers lower level.

Gap shoppers probably have noticed the latest changes in fall fashion picks at the men and women's apparel chain.

Shoppers are closely watching the changes made by a new designer Patrick Robinson. He’s the third designer to try to reinvent the Gap, which is losing once loyal customers next to competitors such as Abercrombie & Fitch.

This new look already has come to the Gap at Valley View Mall in Roanoke. Mannequins near the front of the store model simple yet fashionable shades of gray, brown and other dark colors, in the form of long sweaters, trench coats and multi-colored scarves.

Check out this story about the push to turn-around the Gap. What do you think about the retailer's new look?

The next time you consider dining out, whether you're a smoker or not, you may want to consult a newly created online database of smoke-free restaurants across Southwest and Central Virginia. It’s DineSmokeFreeUSA.

By visiting the site, you can find the restaurants in different areas that do not allow smoking. The cities are Roanoke, Radford, Blacksburg, Christiansburg, Charlottesville, Lynchburg, Danville and Forest.

According to a news release about this Web site, created by Common Sense Solution in Lynchburg, the database “is not making any moral judgments about smoking and is not advocating legislation to make all restaurants smoke-free. DSFUSA is simply providing information, allowing democracy in its truest sense to operate, where diners can locate those restaurants they want to patronize so they can ‘vote’ with their dollars.”

It’s free for restaurants to be included on the site.

This joins another local effort to advertise smoke-free eateries online. The Web site, www.breatheroanoke.org, also lists restaurants that ban smoking. It last was updated on Aug. 12, because apparently, the assortment keeps changing.

This week a line of cosmetics that’s sold globally is coming to Roanoke’s Macy’s store. On Thursday, MAC Cosmetics will debut at the Valley View Mall department store.

This line of makeup, fragrances and accessories is coveted by Roanoke area shoppers, according to Macy’s store manager, Trish Burch. She said customers have been requesting that the store carry MAC cosmetics for some time.

“This is a huge win-win for us,” Burch said.

MAC, which stands for Make-up Art Cosmetics, is sold in a variety of department stores, and in Virginia, they include Macy’s, Nordstrom and Bloomingdale's. There also are individual MAC stores.

The Roanoke Macy’s will carry the majority of the New York company’s collection, except for certain items that are exclusive to MAC stores.

Check out MAC Cosmetics' Web site for more information about the company.

In other cosmetics news, CVS wants to make a name for itself in the beauty realm. The drug store retailer is testing an upscale beauty store concept, called Beauty 360, which will focus on skin care and cosmetics.

It’s planning to open two stores, one on the West Coast and another on the East Coast. The East Coast location could land in Washington, D.C., according to this news article.

I finally have some news about Fast Freddy's in Salem. This restaurant on West Main Street has been closed for more than several weeks. A sign posted on the door states that it has shut down because of a family emergency.

Amelia Goldacker, who owns the business with her husband, Gary, told me that Fast Freddy's will reopen, though she did not want to state an exact date.

Goldacker said they have closed the restaurant for a time because her mother moved in with the family from her New York home. The Goldackers live in Roanoke County, and they also own Roanoke Bagel Co., where Amelia Goldacker primarily works.

She said she will let us know when a reopening date is set.

What aisles are you bypassing at the grocery store to save money?

A survey by analytics firm, Precima, reports some interesting findings about what Americans are buying at the supermarket. Apparently, convenience foods such as frozen dinners, snacks (chips and cookies) and dessert items (ice cream and cake) all are getting the boot as many consumers try to cut back their spending, according to the survey.

It also reports that 40 percent of people are not buying as much beer, wine and spirits for fear that it will heighten their grocery bills.

But 32 percent of women said they’re still buying environmentally friendly products and that these items are worth the extra cost, compared with 21 percent of men.

And have you been wondering if Americans actually used their federal economic stimulus checks, issued several months ago, on food? Kroger is one grocer that waved special deals to consumers who cashed in their checks to stock up on groceries.

But that didn’t convince everyone. According to Precima, 84 percent of Americans said they did not spend their stimulus checks at the supermarket.

Since May, Kabuki, a Roanoke Japanese steak house, has been closed for massive renovations, but the general manger said the eatery will reopen by the second week of September.

According to Atsuhiko Nakajima, general manager, the renovations are 70 percent complete, and they're taking longer than planned. Originally, the restaurant management hoped to reopen for business this month.

The construction work will add 4,000 square feet to the eatery, which sits on a hill on Franklin Road. The additional space makes way for more tables and a larger dining room area. A sushi bar will replace the restaurant’s bar area.

Nakajima is in the process of hiring an additional 18 to 20 employees for the eatery, because more servers are needed to cover the expanded dining space, which is expected to accomodate a larger number of patrons. Also some former employees have found other jobs while Kabuki has been closed, he said.

If you're up for a drive in the meantime, Kabuki has a location in Christiansburg.