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A new health foods store opened Wednesday at The District at Valley View in Roanoke, beside Panera Bread. The shop, Natural Market by Nature's Outlet, is a product of the local Nature's Outlet chain, which sells nutritional supplements and herbal remedies.

Natural Market offers a slightly different selection than Nature's Outlet stores, with more shelves of dry foods, frozen items and healthy beverages alongside aisles of supplements and health remedies. Charlie Rea, the owner, said he will sell organic wine, though the store doesn't yet have an ABC license to carry it.

He's also testing different gourmet local cheeses to add to the mix.

Rea called this week the store's "soft opening." It isn't fully stocked yet, and some shelves are empty, as he awaits more items to arrive.

If you check out this shop, let me know what you think of it.

Below is an excerpt from my May 18 Retail Roundup column with more details about Natural Market by Nature's Outlet.

Retail Roundup

Growth is healthy for an area retail chain that sells nutritional supplements and herbal remedies.

Charlie Rea, owner of the four-store Nature's Outlet chain, is shaking up his business model with plans to open a new store.

In August, Rea will open Nature's Outlet Natural Market beside Panera Bread at the District at Valley View. He plans to close a nearby Nature's Outlet location on Williamson Road in Roanoke when the new store opens.

The Natural Market concept will be slightly different from other Nature's Outlet stores. Shelves will be stocked with dry foods and beverages. Foods will include wheat-free and gluten-free varieties, and many with "a gourmet twist," Rea said. Organic wine and beer also will be sold there.

But some of offerings will be similar, including an array of supplements and free health information.

Rea said he came up with the idea for a Natural Market concept as he considered ways for his chain to grow. There are Nature's Outlet stores in the Roanoke Valley and Martinsville.

Rea looked into opening an additional location in an outlying area, but he said he wasn't satisfied with what he considered to be a low population density in places such as Botetourt County and Smith Mountain Lake.

Valley View Mall, which draws regional shoppers, had a broader appeal.

Rea did not reveal what he is investing in the new store, which includes renovations to its 3,260-square-foot space.

Its product mix will "present foods that are appealing but at the same time healthy," Rea said. It also will be interactive. Food samples will be a regular offering, along with Saturday wine tastings.

Rea's parents, Dennis and Cheryl Rea, founded Nature's Outlet in 1977. Several years ago, Charlie Rea bought the retail chain from his parents. Rob Rea, Charlie Rea's brother, will run the Valley View store.

I have news about nTelos’ plans for additional stores and service in the Roanoke and New River valleys.

In September, this wireless service provider will open a retail location at the Kroger Square at Bonsack, a new center in Roanoke County. Also that month, it plans to open its doors in Blacksburg at 1326 South Main St.

In October, nTelos will locate a store at Keagy Village, a shopping center under construction on Electric Road in Southwest Roanoke County.

These openings will bring nTelos’ total to 10 locations in the Roanoke and New River valleys.

The company also has launched a nationwide mobile broadband service, which covers Southwest Virginia. It offers wireless access from laptops, PDA/Smartphones and cell phones to the Internet. The speed is comparable to wired broadband connections, and it’s ten times faster than dial-up, nTelos claims.

NTelos added 20 new cell sites in the Roanoke Valley earlier this year.

Speaking of wireless retailers, an AT&T store in Christiansburg is celebrating its grand opening this Saturday. The store on Spradlin Farm Drive is offering a variety of special discounts, including 50 percent off flip phones and free ring tone cards.

And since we’ve talked about icy treats lately, I couldn’t resist telling you that there will be free Cold Stone Creamery ice cream there.

Several of you have noted that Michele's on Main, a Salem restaurant, has closed. Salem reporter, Miranda Adkins, has the scoop about what's opening in its place. Cafe Madrid is slated to open its doors today.

Click here for the details.

Restaurant deals are being tossed around with greater intensity lately. And some may or may not be related to the fact that Americans apparently aren’t eating out as much, according to some industry reports.

Here are some examples:

1) T.G.I. Friday's recently launched a loyalty program, called Give Me More Stripes. The membership benefits include a free appetizer or dessert upon sign-up, an $8 gift certificate for every $100 spent (excluding alcohol), communication about menu offers and a one time jump-the-line pass.

2) If you buy a drink in the morning at Starbucks locations, you’ll receive a receipt to return for a $2 iced beverage after 2 p.m. that same day. This is one of a series of recent Starbucks promotions.

In a recent report, Technomic, a food industry consulting firm based in Chicago, said that 35 percent of consumers are dining out less frequently than a year ago. Money woes are the reason. People are trying to save money, they have less money to spend, and they cited the high price of some restaurant menu items, according to Technomic.

“It’s vital for operators to provide consumers with added value incentives to maintain and grow their business,” said Darren Tristano, an executive vice president at Technomic, in a news release. “Consumers want to feel that their dinner experience is a good value regardless of the price point. Special offers, promotions, family-pack and combo meals promote that perception.”

Let me know what restaurant deals that you have noticed lately.

Many of you have been awaiting the reopening of Dickey’s Barbecue Pit on West Main Street in Salem. I have good and bad news about this restaurant's fate.

Jeff Gruber, a spokesman for the Texas restaurant chain, said the company still is working on the final details to reopen the restaurant. Dickey’s closed in May, after a little more than six months in business. The company has said it’s in the process of finding a new owner.

Unfortunately, Gruber still doesn’t know when the restaurant will reopen. I’m beginning to wonder if it will happen.

“We hope to get the store open as soon as possible,” Gruber told me this week.

Also, Fast Freddy's, another restaurant on West Main Street and not too far from Dickey's, has shut down. A sign on its door says that it is closed for a family emergency, and that it will reopen. Of course, it doesn't list a reopening date.

Soda junkies may be surprised by this news, while java connoisseurs may not find it so jolting.

Apparently, for the first time, coffee sales jumped ahead of the soft drink industry in 2007, according to Packaged Facts, a consumer research group. Sales for the coffee market, which includes retail and food service sales, were $44 million last year.

Food service venues, such as coffee shops, are the largest channel for coffee sales, with about 87 percent of the market, according to the report.

But Packaged Facts expects sales of coffee through retailers, such as grocery stores, to keep growing, eventually taking 45 percent of the java market. That’s because you often can find recognizable packaged coffee brands, such as Seattle’s Best and Starbucks, on store shelves.

In the interests of ultrathrifty consumers, here’s a new local store to add to your shopping list.

Goodwill Industries’ new Roanoke store opens tomorrow at 9:15 a.m. This 6,000 square feet retail location, formerly a bread shop, is at 2502 Melrose Ave. in the parking lot of Goodwill’s corporate office.

From donated clothing, shoes, furniture and books, you’ll find just about anything here except food.

This is the 27th retail store for Goodwill Industries of the Valleys. The company had sales of $22.2 million during the 2007-2008 fiscal year.

I like reading maps and figuring out new ways to end up at different destinations. And that’s not just while I’m driving a car. A map is most helpful while I make my way through big-box stores. These huge stores swallow me sometimes.

And if I don’t already know my way around, it’s no fun wandering aimlessly trying to find what I need among the many aisles. That’s why I sometimes pass right by the big stores for the smaller ones, where it’s easier to get in and out without too much hassle.

I stopped at Wal-Mart in Christiansburg yesterday, and I was pleased to see that the discount giant is issuing maps of its store to consumers. Some of Wal-Mart’s local supercenters are being redesigned or already have undergone changes inside, including the Christiansburg location. The ones in Bonsack and Salem are next on the list.

As part of the reconfigurations, the store departments are being switched up, and you know what that means—more confusion for all of us.

The Christiansburg Wal-Mart’s redesign supposedly is complete, and I noticed large blue signs pointing out the departments. I don’t shop at this location often enough to compare the new alterations with what was there previously.

But hopefully, maps will be on hand to guide consumers after the redesigns are complete at the Roanoke Valley stores.

In case you missed it, below is an excerpt from my July 13 retail column about what's in store at some area Wal-Mart Supercenters once the renovations are complete:

Read more »

Check out this recent story about candy's ability to be recession-proof. Or so some say.

Some consumers say they are willing to shell out $1 or less for a candy bar or some other gourmet candy treat, despite cutting back on spending in other areas.

This may be true for at least one Roanoke area retailer. The owners of Chocolatepaper, a candy store that's opening a second local location in downtown Roanoke, told me several months ago that the shop's sales were rising. They attributed their success to the so-called "recession-proof" candy industry.

And since we have been talking about ice cream shops in the last week, I wonder if ice cream also is recession-proof. What do you think? Are you willing to splurge on a $3 ice cream treat, even if funds are tight elsewhere?

Many of you mentioned the long lines that form at Cold Stone Creamery. I've noticed those similar lines recently on trips to Maggie Moo's Ice Cream in Roanoke. These ice cream shops don't appear to be lacking business, especially during the hot summer months.

Retailers seem to be continuing a push this month to win your back-to-school shopping dollars. And Valley View Mall is doing this by marketing its Internet and mobile shopping service that started late last year.

From July 18 to Sept. 5, if you place an item on hold using the mall’s NearbyNow Web search or mobile messaging service, you will be eligible for certain prizes or for the chance to win the item that you put on hold.

Five shoppers each week will be chosen to win the mall items that they requested to be put on hold, from clothing to shoes.

The grand prizes include gift cards from Buckle and Metropark, iPhones and other mobile digital devices, USB flash drives and a Nintendo DS handheld game unit.

You can visit the mall’s Web site for more details on how to search for mall items’ availability and to put them on hold. To use the text messaging service, text Valley View at “VLV.” A series of exchanges will lead you to search for certain items that are on sale.
To have a mall store hold a particular item, text “Holdit” to 632729 (Nearby).

I also noticed another back-to-school and college related promotion. At Target, if you spend $50 on men, women, and children’s apparel, shoes, jewelry or handbags, you’ll receive a $10 Target gift card. But if you want the savings, you’ll have to act fast. The offer expires on Aug. 16.