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The furniture market in Highpoint, N.C. starts today, in the midst of a tough sales season for furniture retailers. Check out this story about the market’s beginning.

There was an upheaval in the local furniture retail world last month when Ashley Furniture’s Roanoke store shut its doors unexpectantly. Many people who had paid for furniture were concerned that they never would receive their orders.

Ashley Furniture’s corporate office has said that it is trying to deliver the previously ordered furnishings to customers, and I’ve heard from a few people who have received their couches, sofas and chairs this month.

One of them is Roanoke County resident Frank Cook. Here is his email to me last week:

I want to tell you and your readers that Ashley Furniture delivered my furniture last Saturday, October 11. The dining room set valued at $ 2,100 was delivered on time as scheduled and in perfect condition.

If you're one of others who are awaiting Ashley Furniture merchandise, let me know about the status of your order.

Fair trade goods, fabric creations and a tea shoppe are some of the features of a new store that's in the works in downtown Roanoke.

The storefront at 108 Church Ave. is filling up with merchandise, and the entrance announces Native Grace as the new retailer.  It is landing in the former location of Dandelion Feet, a shoe store that shifted to a new space on Market Street earlier this year.

It's unclear when Native Grace will open. A sign on the door states "Almost Open."

With Kroger's large grocery presence in the Roanoke and New River valleys, you might be interested in an article by Supermarket News about this grocer. Kroger wins the retail excellence award from this publication for its cost cutting push and its work analyzing what consumers purchase.

Here are some local retail dates that you might want to add to your calender.

Claire V.: Now through Tuesday, there is a moving sale going on at Claire V.'s downtown Roanoke shop on Campbell Avenue.  This handbag retailer is making plans to shift its retail shop, but it's not leaving downtown. Owner Laura Bradford Godfrey said Claire V. is moving into the former spot of Southern Pawn Shop at 10 E. Campbell Ave.  She did not yet have details about when it will make the switch.

 McAlister's Deli: The sign for this sandwich and soup chain already is up at Towers Shopping Center in Roanoke. The lunch and dinner quick-service eatery will open on or near Nov. 17, according to franchisee, Jeff Shawl, who is based in Tennessee. It is slated for Towers upper level, near Dollar Tree.

It’s October, but today’s temperatures are expected to climb into the high 70s. You may agree that warm days create a taste for ice cream, no matter what time of year it is.

Here’s the latest in local ice cream news: Ben & Jerry's opened its new ice cream shop at the New River Valley Mall a week ago.

And although Valley View Mall says that a new Ben & Jerry’s will be opening in the food court area this month, the mall does not have an official opening date yet, said Ashley Likens, marketing director.

Despite a slow sales environment for furniture and home décor retailers nationwide, a furniture chain will open the doors at one of its largest locations tomorrow in Roanoke.

A new Schewels Furniture store is set to open on Ferncliff Avenue, behind Sportsman’s Warehouse. This store is 55,000 square feet, though 15,000 square feet of this area is warehouse space.

Schewels’ previous location on Williamson Road in Roanoke closed last week.

Schewels, which is based in Lynchburg, traces its beginnings to 1897, when Elias Schewel began selling small household items, such as picture frames, from a horse-drawn wagon. The retailer has approximately 52 stores in Virginia, North Carolina and West Virginia.

Penny pinching seems to be the tale of American life right now. With so many economic pressures, from the volatility of the stock market to skyrocketing food and energy costs, saving more, not less, is a necessity. People are subbing long family vacations for shorter excursions. They are carpooling to work, riding bicycles and clippling coupons at a faster rate.

Today, the U.S. Commerce Department reports that retail sales for September were flat this year, compared with 2007. The consumer spending slowdown mainly impacted discretionary categories. Sales of furniture, electronics, apparel and appliances all were down from last year.

Still, grocery stores showed strong sales gains, along with sales at health and personal care retailers.

There are news stories about people's economic struggles every day, and here is a recent article.

I'm interested in what you are doing. How are you pinching pennies right now?

While browsing the aisles of The Fresh Market in Roanoke, you may have noticed small cards situated above certain food items. This is the gourmet food retailer's attempt at making grocery shopping more interactive. The Fresh Market calls the cards “shelf-talkers.”

They are in several forms:

Staff Picks: Employees throughout the company highlight their favorite foods sold at the grocer.
Food for Thought:  These cards offer interesting trivia and facts about certain items.
Tastymonials: The cards provide feedback from customers about their favorite foods.

As the holidays near, you’ll start seeing holiday-related shelf-talkers, called Holiday Picks. They will point out essential ingredients for seasonal meals or suggest popular Thanksgiving entrees.

The shelf-talkers were created in July, and they are changed at all stores monthly, said Marc Jones, who is vice president of non-perishables for The Fresh Market, based in Greensboro, N.C. They're supposed to help the grocer better communicate with shoppers about certain products. Because many Fresh Market items are made by small manufacturers, some foods aren’t sold at traditional supermarkets,  Jones said.

Also, “it can sometimes be boring walking down a grocery aisle,” he said. This is a way to keep shopping interesting, Jones added.

You’ll find shelf-talkers posted in parts of Fresh Market stores that are less interactive, such as the dairy aisles and near highlighted dry goods. At this point, the cards are not specific to certain stores, such as displaying comments from only Roanoke Valley customers in the Roanoke location at Towers Shopping Center. Eventually, that may change, Jones said.

If you are interesting in writing your own Tastymonial, send an email to tastymonials@thefreshmarket.com.

It's not a secret that the price of certain food items seems to climb on each trip to the grocery store.  Local supermarkets are waving various promotions that may or may not save you money.

Food Lion recently introduced a unique program that's supposed to help consumers stay within a $10 meal budget. It's called Dinner for Under $10.

Each week, Food Lion stores are displaying ingredients together that can be used to create a meal priced at less than $10.  The dinners range from spaghettit to chicken biscuits. Click here to see this week's recipe for a chili and cornbread dinner for four people. You can check Food Lion's Web site each week for updates on the $10 or less meals.

"We are focused on finding ways to help our customers save money in these tough economic times," said Gene Faller, Food Lion's vice president for the dry category, in a news release.

The weekend starts today, and I have an important reminder as it begins: Reset your bookmark for this blog.

The address has changed to http://blogs.roanoke.com/rtblogs/storefront/, because we have shifted the software. You’ll still be redirected to the new site if you visit http://blogs.roanoke.com/storefront/, but the new bookmark will ensure that you get there faster and with no problems.

Let’s move on to some computer recycling news. If you have an old computer, you now can recycle it at area Goodwill stores. Through Reconnect, which is a free recycling program between Dell and Goodwill Industries, you can drop off your unwanted computer equipment of any brand and in any condition.

The program’s goal is to divert at least 2.7 million pounds of used computers and computer equipment to area landfills in the next year.

Click here to find out the different Goodwill drop-off locations locally.