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Attention shoppers. If you're in the mood for seasonal decorations, Christmas ornaments, Vera Bradley merchandise and more, Steger Creek opens its new Blacksburg store this weekend. Michael Pace, the owner, said the new store at Blacksburg's First & Main retail center will be open this Sunday. And it may open its doors on Saturday, depending on how quickly the store's final arrangements come together. On Sunday, Steger Creek is hosting a holiday open house at all of its locations, which include a Roanoke County store (formerly named Salem Creek) and a shop in Forest, near Lynchburg.

Pace told me that he decided to open the Blacksburg store because the developer of First & Main sought him out. The developer wanted a regional retailer to locate there, and Steger Creek seemed to fit the bill, Pace said.

At 3,500 square feet, the new Blacksburg Steger Creek isn't as large as the Roanoke County store. Still, Pace believes that the New River Valley store will be a success, because the retailer has a number of regular customers who live in the New River Valley.

Visit Steger Creek's Web site to learn more about the retailer's history.

Also, Blue Ridge Mountain Sports recently announced that it's coming to First & Main. Check out New River Notebook for details.

Happy Halloween! With the presidential election days away, some costume retailers believe that mask sales will predict the winner of the election.

Check out this story about sales of presidential masks this year. According to the article, Barack Obama masks have been most popular, but also, sales are swift for masks depicting President Bush.

It looks like a sub shop is headed for the former location of Mill Mountain Coffee & Tea in downtown Roanoke. There are signs on the windows of this vacant Campbell Avenue space, stating "Geonetti's Specialty Subs coming soon."

I don't have details yet about this sub shop and when it is expected to open.

Mill Mountain moved out of this retail space at 112 Campbell Ave. earlier this year. The shop now is located across the street, at 117 Campbell Ave., in a much larger space that owner Dave Johnson purchased.

Whether or not to give gift cards this year has come up in discussions lately. With the holidays approaching, there is a fear that certain retailers may shut their doors unexpectedly because of financial troubles. No one wants to be left with a gift card that they no longer can use.

Based on its latest gift card buying survey, the National Retail Federation is telling people to buy gift cards from reputable retailers, rather than obtaining them from online auction sites because they’re more likely to be fraudulent.

I’m checking in with the federation about which kinds of retailer's gift cards are safest to buy this year, based on economic conditions, so I’ll let you know what I find out.

Similar to other holiday seasons, the NRF’s latest holiday intentions and actions survey reveals that gift cards will be the most requested gifts this season, followed by books, CDs, DVDs, videos or video games and clothing or accessories. The survey says that 54.9 percent of consumers want to receive a gift card, which is up from 53.8 percent last year.

Consumers said they liked to buy gift cards because the cards allow the recipient to choose their own gift and they’re faster and easier to buy than traditional gifts, according to the survey.

But some people don’t like to buy gift cards because they think the cards are impersonal or carry expiration dates and fees. A small number of people, about 3.9 percent, are afraid to buy gift cards for fear that a retailer will close.

Here are gift card buying tips to keep in mind this holiday, according to the NRF.

1) Know the difference between gift card policies from retailers and from banks. According to the NRF, none of the gift cards from the nations’ 25 largest retailers have expiration dates and 84 percent of them have no fees. Often gift cards from banks, malls and credit card companies have fees and expiration dates.

2) Keep the receipt, in case the recipient loses the gift card. Some retailers can reissue a card if consumers keep the original purchase receipt.

3) Spend your gift card as early as possible. Retailers likely will use Christmas sales to entice you to spend your gift cards. That’s because the sales from gift cards do not count for a retailer until the cards are redeemed. Also some retailers are required to turn over unused gift card dollars to state governments if the cards are unused or unredeemed for more than a few years.

If you are carving out your trick-or-treating route for Friday, keep in mind that three area malls are taking part in the Halloween action.

On Friday, trick-or-treaters are welcome at participating retailers inside Valley View, Tanglewood and New River Valley malls.

At Tanglewood, the trick-or-treating begins at 5 p.m. and ends at 7:30 p.m.

At Valley View and New River Valley malls, it lasts from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m.

The economy’s impact on the restaurant industry has caused a local seafood eatery to shut its doors. Flat Rock Grille on Valley View Boulevard in Roanoke has closed. A sign on the front doors states “Closed for business.”

Here are some excerpts from the posted note:
“Due to economic factors beyond our control, we have elected to cease operation. We hope everyone will support our locally-owned and operated restaurants. They are the ones that need your help in these times...The “chain restaurants” will survive no matter what. They have outside funds to keep them in operation. Our mom and pop restaurants don’t. They rely on your support and now is the time to give it to them.”

Flat Rock opened in 2004 as the first Virginia location for a four-restaurant chain. A local owner purchased the Roanoke Flat Rock last year.

A Florida-based restaurant chain now says it won't be opening a Roanoke location until next November, which is almost a year later than it initially planned.

Shula's 347 Grill is headed for a spot at the Roanoke Plaza Hotel, which by the end of this year will become the Sheraton Roanoke Hotel & Conference Center.  Extensive renovations have been in the works at this hotel off Hershberger Road, and here's my July story with the details.

Shula's 347 Grill is a hamburger, steak and seafood restaurant owned by Shula's Steakhouses. The company was founded by Don Shula, a legendary NFL coach. Several months ago, the restaurant company said it wanted to open Shula's 347 Grill at the Roanoke hotel by the end of this year.

Bill Herman, who is vice president of corporate development for Shula's Steakhouses, did not offer information about why the restaurant's coming has been delayed.

No matter how much my food budget tightens there are two brands that I won’t swap for generic versions. They are Kellogg’s Nutri-Grain bars and Big Train Chai (Vanilla-flavored), which is a tea mix.

I’ve actually tried the generic brand cereal bars in the past, and I just can’t stomach them. At this point, it's worth $2.50 a box for the brand-name bars, instead of paying less for food that is not satisfying.

Instead, I opt for less expensive store brands for items that I don’t care about as much, such as salad dressing, spaghetti sauce, or cleaning products.

I bring up this brand loyalty topic because reports lately have been showing that people more often are buying store brands to save money at the grocery store. A recent report by Booz & Co., a global consulting firm, reveals that purchasing store-label foods is one of the top 20 ways that consumers are scaling back their expenses. It falls in the category of frugal shopping.

It’s obvious that the current state of the economy is forcing people to rethink their food purchases. But I read in a story in the Wall Street Journal recently that the food companies with strong brands have pricing power. It points to General Mills Inc., Kellogg Co. and H.J. Heinz Co. as the food makers that may have raised prices on certain products but aren’t losing market share.

So, how does this relate to you? Has your brand loyalty changed because of rising food prices and other financial worries?

Something strange arrived in my mailbox last weekend--a Target coupon book.

I can’t remember ever receiving Target coupons. Sure, at times there are special offerings in Target’s weekly advertising circulars, but the booklet is different. It’s compiled in an attractive, easy-to-read format. When I saw it, I immediately thought about the new ways that retailers are trying to win our spending dollars.

The booklet markets a variety of products at Target that fall into the necessity category. They include eco-friendly cleaning supplies, fitness snacks and apparel, medicines, such as Tylenol and Claritin, and food, such as Quaker Oats and Gatorade Tiger.

All of the products revolve around a health theme. The coupons, from$1 off for Tylenol to $5 off a women's athletic shirt, expire on Nov. 17.

I called Target to ask about this coupon book, but I haven’t heard back from a media representative.

Still, I can’t help but wonder if this is one way that Target, like many retailers, is trying to drum up sales during a slow period. We all know that the looming holiday season isn’t expected to be a bright spot for much of the retail industry.  
 
I’ll be keeping my eyes out for other new or unusual promotions as the Christmas shopping season gears up.

As the holidays near, all eyes turn to the toy industry. You can expect certain playthings to cost more this year. Toy retailers, Mattel and Hasbro, already have raised prices this year, and there are warnings that more increases are coming. Price jumps already are evident on some toy shelves.

Read this story for more details.

Now might be the time when many of you are thinking about spending strategies for the holidays. If you’re a parent or if you often buy toys for children at Christmas, do you have any strategies to share about how you’re planning to handle toy-buying this year?