Seafood Charlie’s Salem store is closed indefinitely. Facebook photo

Update posted May 8: I’ve been in touch with the Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services today to find out more about why Counts can sell at the farmers markets without a problem but must comply with state regulations at his store. The department’s spokeswoman, Elaine Lidholm, didn’t know offhand but said she would look into it and get back to me.  said that she spoke with the director of food safety, who told her that the difference is that at a store the food is being stored for a period of time, rather than just for a day at the market. That means a retail store must properly store food at a certain temperature, among other requirements, Lindholm said.

VDACS inspects retail food stores (stores that sell food, but not prepared food – it is the Health Department’s responsibility to inspect restaurants), such as Seafood Charlie’s, to enforce Virginia food laws. “It is incumbent upon any business owner to find out which laws and regulations they need to follow,” she said.

End update.

Seafood Charlie’s, which opened last month in Salem, is closed indefinitely as the owner decides whether it is worth his time and money to comply with state regulations.

Charlie Counts had been selling fresh, local seafood at farmers markets since 2011. He decided this year to grow his business by opening a store on Fourth Street in Salem.

Things were going well and the store was regularly selling out of fish. But then the Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, which regulates food wholesalers, notified Counts that he needed to label his food and install two more sinks, among other tasks, Counts said.

He wasn’t sure when I talked with him Tuesday whether he would invest the time and money to comply.

“The place might be more trouble than its worth,” Counts said. Installing more plumbing would require him to knock out a wall, and Counts said he has already put a lot of time and money into the building.

Customers won’t see Counts at farmers markets this week. He is taking the week off to figure out what to do with the building.

He said he plans to return to the markets next week, but said even that might come to an end because he is not earning enough money to make it worth his time. He opened the storefront to grow his business and his profits, he said.

“The farmers markets only have so many people that go down there,” he said. “It’s a limited audience. I thought I’d be able to expand and actually make a living doing this.”

Counts said he is exploring a few options that would allow him to continue to sell outside the farmers markets.

I’ll keep you posted on what Counts decided to do with the business.

Facebook photo

Updated 2/22

Here is a news release from Red Rooster Coffee Roaster with dates of tastings:

Starr Hill Brewery of Crozet, VA and Red Rooster Coffee Roaster of Floyd, VA, have teamed up for the March 1^st release of the Little Red Roostarr Coffee Cream Stout. Created by brewer Mark Thompson and the Starr Hill team, the new beer is brewed using organic coffee artisan roasted by Red Rooster. The two companies decided to collaborate after working side-by-side backstage at Floyd Fest since 2009.  While giving away beer and coffee to VIPs and artists, the two companies sampled a lot of each other’s products and came away with a mutual appreciation.

            “When Starr Hill suggested they’d like to make a beer using our coffee, I was really excited,” said Red Rooster owner Haden Polseno-Hensley. “It just makes sense. We’re both in Virginia, we work together at Floyd Fest, and we love their products.”

            The new brew will be notable for its malt sweetness, chocolate & caramel notes, as well as the complexity and flavor of roasted coffee. It will be available beginning March 1^st at retailers carrying other Starr Hill beers. In conjunction, Red Rooster will be releasing a limited amount of Starr Hill Stout Blend Coffee in hand-printed biodegradable bags containing the French roast blend used by Starr Hill to make the Little Red Roostarr.

To celebrate the release of the beer, Starr Hill, Red Rooster, and distributor PA Short are holding events in Roanoke and Floyd.  On Wednesday evening March 6^th at 5pm at the Wasena City Tap House, Mark Thompson & Haden Polseno-Hensley will be on hand to talk about the beer and the coffee. On Thursday, March  7^ththe events move up the mountain to Floyd where Oddfellas Cantina is featuring Tapas & Taps, small plate appetizers & Little Red Roostarr Coffee Stout from 5pm-7pm. Thompson & Polseno-Hensley will once again be on hand to answer questions and talk about the process. Following the Oddfellas event, Dogtown & the Winter Sun are hosting a Starr Hill Tap Invasion featuring discounted pints of the Little Red Roostarr from 7pm to midnight with music from local band the Deer Run Drifters.

End update

A Floyd County coffee roaster and a Virginia brewery are getting together to create a coffee cream stout.

Red Rooster Coffee Roaster and Starr Hill Brewery are planning to release a small batch of Little Red Roostarr Coffee Cream Stout, said Red Rooster proprietor Haden Polseno-Hensley. The beer should be available where Starr Hill is sold beginning in March, he said.

Starr Hill’s website describes the brew as a full-bodied milk stout with chocolate and caramel notes, and, of course, coffee.

The idea came together when the two companies were providing drinks to performers backstage at Floyd Fest, Polseno-Hensley said. Starr Hill’s brewer said he was interested in brewing a coffee stout, and so Polseno-Hensley has been working with him to select the best roast. They’ve narrowed it down to to two roasts, the 4&20 French Roast, a dark roast, and the Funky Chicken, a medium and dark blend.

Polseno-Hensley will roast the coffee beans and send them to Starr Hill’s brewery in Crozet.

Red Rooster plans to release a Starr Hill roast featuring whichever roast Starr Hill chooses for the cream stout.

A tap party featuring the coffee cream stout will be hosted at Dogtown Roadhouse in Floyd. River and Rail restaurant in Roanoke is also hosting a tasting, Polseno-Hensley said. Exact dates haven’t been finalized.

The drive through at the Tanglewood Panera opens today. Photo by Amanda Codispoti

Don’t want to park and go inside Panera to get your morning coffee and bagel? Customers can now hit up the drive-through at the Tanglewood Panera.

To celebrate the completion of the drive-through, the restaurant is giving away a grande coffee and bagel to the first 25 customers in the drive-through, and a free cookie to the first 25 customers between 2 to 4 p.m. The 100th customer will receive a $100 Panera Bread gift card.

Customers who opt to go inside to place their order and eat will notice that the interior looks slightly different. The walls are covered with fresh coats of yellow and blue paint and new artwork. The carpet in the dining area has been replaced, and there are new partitions separating the registers and kitchen from the dining area. The furniture is also new. Work crews did the renovations at night so the restaurant wouldn’t have to close during the day.

The renovations, including the drive-through, cost about $600,000, said Rick Postle, owner of Blue Ridge Bread, a franchise group that owns Panera Breads in central and southwest Virginia, including the Valley View location.

The Valley View Panera store won’t be getting a drive-through because of the layout of the store and its neighboring businesses. Postle said. The Christianburg Panera is the only other location in Postle’s franchise that has a drive-through, but more might be coming because customers like them, said Blue Ridge Bread COO Adam Jackson.

City Bliss will close at the end of the month. Photo by Amanda Codispoti

City Bliss Market Cafe, which opened in downtown Roanoke almost two years ago, will close at the end of the month unless the owners find a buyer.

Owners Mick and Elly Cho said their business couldn’t survive the competition downtown.

“Business gets worse every time something opens,” Mick Cho said this week. “Everybody is struggling.”

His post on the cafe’s Facebook page also cites the couples’ inexperience.

“Inexperience has led to many miscalculations and mistakes that eventually took its toll on our efforts to do our best,” the Chos wrote on the business’s Facebook page.

The Chos are looking for an investor to buy the business. If that doesn’t happen, he hopes to sell the cafe’s equipment to recoup some of their losses. The space, on Campbell Avenue across the street from Orvis and Center in the Square, is for lease.

The cafe sold coffee, tea, juices and smoothies as well as sandwiches, wraps, desserts and more. It was also one of the only places in Roanoke to buy locally roasted Strange Coffee Company coffee beans.

Ginger Mumpower has reopened her Roanoke jewelry story. Photo by Corey Thrasher

Ginger’s Jewelry has returned to Roanoke.

Ginger Mumpower has reopened her jewelry store on Towne Square Boulevard more than five years after closing it and one in Christiansburg.

“It sure feels good to be back,” Mumpower said.

Mumpower decided to take a break from retail in 2007 after being in business for 25 years – partly to focus on her family, which was struggling with her son’s drug addiction, she said.

She leased the Roanoke store’s building to Samuel’s Jewelers In the meantime, she continued selling Virginia Tech memorial bracelets and other school bracelets online, and she wholesaled her designs to other retailers. She also worked for a business coaching company that sent her to jewelry stores to analyze their business and provide plans for improvements.

At one point, she decided to try to sell the building in Roanoke, as well as her house, so she could move to Smith Mountain Lake, where she opened a store in 2010.

She also made a run for the Virginia House of Delegates in 2011, but was defeated by Greg Habeeb.

She managed all of this while her son’s addiction to heroin landed him in jail, charged with supplying the heroin that caused a former classmate’s death. Spencer Mumpower began serving a four-year prison sentence in a low-security prison in Petersburg on Aug. 1. The Mumpowers, who have been open about their struggle, earlier this year were part of a series published in The Roanoke Times that documented Spencer’s addiction, recovery and efforts to help other addicts.

The timing of his incarceration and Mumpower’s daughter’s departure to college played into her decision to reopen her jewelry store, she said. At the same time, Samuel’s notified her that it would not renew its lease. The building had never sold.

“It was a sign that I was supposed to be back” at the Roanoke store, she said.

Samuel’s closed at the end of August. Mumpower closed her lake store at the beginning of November and opened the Roanoke store a few weeks later.

Already, the opening has been a success, she said. Old customers have come by, including one woman who told Mumpower that she had pierced the woman’s ears when she was 4 years old. Now, that woman wants Mumpower to pierce her daughter’s ears.

The store is carrying Mumpower’s designs, which include the university-themed bracelets and a collapsible cross necklace that Mumpower calls “When Life Falls Apart.”

The store also has new lines of jewelry, including Hearts on Fire, Princesse Pearls, I.B. Goodman and Ze Bridal. Mumpower also offers custom designs.

On a recent afternoon, she buzzed around the store’s floor helping a couple with a diamond ring. She was surrounded by some of the same employees who worked with her at the original store and were hired by Samuel’s.

Mumpower said it has been great reconnecting with customers.

“I feel very, very blessed to be in the business I am in, to be part of people’s happiest moments,” she said.

She doesn’t have plans at this point to open any more stores, saying she wants to put her energy into making sure the Roanoke store succeeds.

Also in the column, shops in South Roanoke’s Crystal Spring holding a block party to offer shoppers discounts and raise money for Family Promise of Greater Roanoke, and a carry-out seafood restaurant will open in Roanoke County later this month. Click here to read more.

To some, saving five percent during tax free weekend isn’t much. But with stores already running special sales and summer clearances the additional saving on retail tax is just the icing on the cake.

Tax Free Holiday Weekend starts today and ends Sunday. 

The State of Virginia will provide exemptions on most clothing and footwear under $100 from sales and use taxes. Also school supplies selling for $20 or less.

One of the perks of shopping at Valley View Mall this weekend are extended hours. The mall will be open today and Saturday from 10:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. and Sunday, August 5, from 11:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. 

As an extra incentive for customers many stores have special sales, for a listing of those sales click here. 

Belk department store is celebrating the Tax Free Holiday with special door buster sales focusing on kids clothing and coupons. The coupons will work on top brands like Ralph Lauren, Nautica, Columbia and Jones of New York that are usually excluded in mostly all coupon sales, said Frank LaRosa, Belk general store manager.

Belk will also stay open until 8 p.m. on Sunday.

Many local businesses are also participating in the tax free holiday.

Davidsons Clothing for Men, downtown, will be celebrating the holiday and offering additional savings with their summer clearance sale, said Larry Davidson, store owner.

“It’s as good as time as any to come in, shop and take advantage of the savings,” Davidson said.

For more specific information on items that may be purchased tax free, visit the Virginia Holiday/Tax Free Weekend website at http://www.tax.virginia.gov/site.cfm?alias=SchoolSuppliesAndClothingHoliday.

Inside a modest Cloverdale store, you will find once old and dusty items transformed into pieces of art, statement furniture and home decor.

The Vintage Emporium, 4735 Read Mountain Road, opened for business earlier this spring. The store specializes in repurposing old furniture and giving antiques “a new twist,” said Karen Wickham, co-owner of the shop.

Wickman and her sister, Cindy Lanford, decided to turn their hobby into a business after Lanford’s employer downsized in December and she didn’t want to go back to a traditional 9-to-5 job.

The sisters grew up near the shop. It had been Read Mountain Mercantile for several years and different general stores before that.

“We have admired and driven by this building all our lives and now we can call it ours,”  Wickman said.

The shop is eclectic, with some new furniture and some refurbished to reflect shabby chic, cottage and French country styles.You will find different fashion accessories there, too, including collegiate Pandora bracelets and “stadium stomper” boots and costume jewelry.

“We truly have  a little something for everyone,” Wickman said.

The shop also carries an organic skincare line called FarmHouse Fresh. It was voted one of “Oprah’s favorites” in 2007.

The sisters encourage customers to bring in old furniture to be refurbished. They are not limited to furniture they can refurbish — home items like kitchen cabinets, too, Wickman said.

Store hours: Closed Sunday and Monday

10 a.m.  to 5:30 p.m. Tuesday through Friday

10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday

Contact:

4735 Read Mountain Road, Cloverdale

966-5400

On Facebook

Update: July 30, 2012 at 6:15 p.m.

Cardinal Camera will not open in Valley View Mall on Aug. 1 as reported previously. The store’s projected opening date has been pushed back to later this fall, said Louise Dudley, Valley View Mall general manager.

Hello! I’m Sheila and I’ll be taking over the Store Front blog while Amanda Codispoti is on maternity leave.

Before this, I was the night crime reporter for the Roanoke Times. I was born and raised in the Sunflower State of Kansas [insert Wizard of Oz, or Dorothy joke here]. I also interned two summers with the Roanoke Times before becoming a full-time reporter.

Cheryl Tobolt, of Rustburg and Darlene Collie, of Evington, watch as clowns do tricks during the 2011 St. Patrick's Day parade in downtown Roanoke. Roanoke Times file photo

St. Patrick’s Day falls on a Saturday this year, a bit of luck that the National Retail Federation predicts will boost sales at stores and restaurants.

According to a NRF survey, 54 percent of Americans said they’ll participate in St. Patrick’s Day celebrations, the most in the survey’s 9-year history. The survey estimates the average person will spend $35 celebrating St. Patrick’s Day, totaling $4.6 billion.

Mike Flanary, owner of Cornerstone Bar & Grille and Flanary’s Restaurant & Pub in downtown Roanoke, said that he expects this year’s St. Patrick’s Day sales to be comparable to previous years because Roanoke always celebrates the holiday with a parade on a Saturday.

“If it falls on another day it’s just a bonus,” Flanary said. “Your biggest focus is the day of the festival, Saturday.”

Roanoke’s parade starts downtown at 11 a.m. More information on the parade and other St. Patrick’s Day events, including a 5K, can be found here.

This is what you'll see in the grocery section when the work at Target is complete. Photo courtesy of Target

I reported last summer that Target had filed a building permit with the city for a nearly $1 million renovation of its Valley View store. At the time, Target would not say when that work might start.

Last week I learned that work is scheduled to begin later this month. You can expect to see some aisles closed and areas of the store covered with tarps while workers widen aisles, makeover the snack bar and install new display fixtures and more coolers and freezers.

When the work is complete in June the Valley View store will carry 40 percent more food than it does now. Much of that food will be fresh produce, fresh meat and baked goods.

Read more in Sunday’s Retail Roundup column.

Also in the column: A sale is pending on the former Flat Rock Grille restaurant on Valley View Boulevard. If the sale goes through, the buyer would likely tear down the building and build a franchise hotel, according to Peter Ostaseski, an agent with Poe & Cronk Real Estate Group.