Retail Roundup: Businesses building in Roanoke
This Family Dollar store is under construction on Melrose Avenue in Roanoke. Photo by Amanda Codispoti
Several construction projects are popping up around Roanoke.
Perhaps the most anticipated is the construction of Steak ‘n Shake, which broke ground about two weeks ago outside Crossroads Mall on Hershberger Road. The restaurant is expected to open in March if weather permits. Across the parking lot, construction of a Cook Out restaurant is proceeding rapidly. That restaurant is expected to open by the first of the year. Cook Out is also building a restaurant in Rocky Mount on Old Franklin Turnpike, next to Sheetz.
At Valley View, passers-by are sure to notice that the Flat Rock Grille and Texas Steakhouse buildings have been demolished. The shuttered restaurants were torn down late last month to clear the way for a 126-room Hampton Inn and Suites. Crews were beginning to lay the foundation last week, and the hotel is expected to open within a year.
Progress is also being made on three dollar stores, which have seen sales surge as consumers look for ways to save money the past few years.
A Family Dollar store is going up in the parking lot at the Roanoke-Salem Plaza on Melrose Avenue. Construction of the 8,271-square-foot store is estimated to cost about $886,500, according to a building permit filed in Roanoke.
A second Family Dollar store is opening at the Williamson Road Plaza at the intersection with Hildebrand Road. The store will combine three storefronts – the former Pet City, Commonwealth Collectibles and TLC Nails locations – to occupy about 9,000 square feet. Work to remodel the interior will cost $173,000, according to a building permit filed in the city.
Both Family Dollar stores are scheduled to open the first half of 2013, according to company spokeswoman Bryn Winburn. An exact date hasn’t been set.
Also on Williamson Road, a Dollar Tree is taking shape where Southern Manor Residential and Assisted Living was torn down in 2010. The construction of the 10,000-square-foot store is estimated to cost more than $1 million, according to building permits. The store is expected to open in April, according to spokeswoman Shelle Davis.
Also in the column, electronics retailer Hhgregg now sells furniture, the clothing store Babies and Children has set a closing date, and a store selling sport collectibles, Sports Haven, is open in Roanoke County.
December 9, 2012 - 11:25 AM
Amanda,
Have you heard anything about anything going in at the old Texas Steakhouse space in Christiansburg? The building was torn down over the summer and within the past couple of weeks there’s been some construction activity at the site, I come through there at night so I can’t see any names or signs.
@Doug: This sounds familiar, but I can’t remember what’s happening there. Let me do some checking.
@Doug: A colleague in the New River bureau tells me it is going to be a New River Bank.
@Amanda: Thanks for checking on this for me
@Doug: Happy to do it!
Amanda, have you heard what’s going on on the road front of the Lowe’s on Main St. in Salem? It looks like construction is starting on something where the bank used to be.
@Mary J.: What you are seeing is construction of a drive-through for Hometown Bank.