This old Blockbuster Video store at Lake Drive Plaza in Vinton will soon become a Shoe Show. Photo by Amanda Codispoti

A new shoe store is planned to open in Vinton within the next two months.

Shoe Show, which operates stores under the Shoe Show,Shoe Dept., Shoe Dept. Encore and Burlington Shoesnames, is opening a Shoe Show store at Lake Drive Plazawhere Blockbuster Video closed.

Shoe Show, based in Concord, N.C., plans to begin working on the 6,400-square-foot space this week, said Vicki Ayers, a spokeswoman. The company hopes to have the store open in late February or early March if construction goes as planned.

Roger Hypes, director of the company’s real estate division in the Southeast, said Shoe Show has Shoe Dept. and Shoe Dept. Encore stores in the Roanoke and Salem areas, but not a Shoe Show store. The company chose the space on Hardy Road because it is near a Kroger and a Dollar Tree store, which generate a lot of traffic, Hypes said.

The store will carry more than 13,000 pairs of shoes, handbags and accessories.

To read the rest of the column, click here.

A SweetFrog frozen yogurt shop is slated to open next week at University Mall in Blacksburg.

Burgs reporter Mike Shaw has more details here.

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

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Target sent out these mailers with coupons to promote its expanded grocery section.

From small details, such as the new, plastic shopping carts to the expanded grocery section, the Valley View Target in Roanoke definitely has a different feel.

The store just completed a nearly $1 million remodel that moved some departments,  put a layer of fresh paint on the outside and inside, updated the fitting rooms and snack bar, and perhaps most notably, added more coolers and freezers to accommodate fresh meats, dairy and produce.

Target has rolled out the expanded grocery section at 442 stores in the past year, according to the company’s financial statement for the quarter that ended April 28. The move seems to be paying off. Target reported that food was one of three best-selling items in the month of May, when it saw a 4.4 percent increase in same-store sales.

Have you been to Target since the remodel was complete? Do you like the new look? Will you do your grocery shopping at Target?

A popular clothing store for girls has opened at New River Valley Mall.

Justice, the store formerly known as Limited Too, opened this month at the Christiansburg mall.

The 4,710 square-foot store is located just outside of Belk next to Maurices. The new store sells clothes, shoes and jewelery for girls ages 7 to 14.

Justice was at one time owned by Limited Brands, which operates the Limited stores. Ascena Retail Group bought the girl’s clothing company in 2009.

Ascena, headquartered in Suffern, N.Y., also owns Dress Barn and Maurices, and according to this news release from the company, recently bought the parent company of Lane Bryant, Fashion Bug and Catherines.

Ascena operates more than 900 Justice stores in North America, including one at Valley View Mall in Roanoke.

A Virginia-based retailer of home and garden products will open at The District at Valley View Mall in June.

Plow & Hearth will open its 18th store in the space where Twist & Turns will close Monday, according to a news release from CBL & Associates Properties, the company that owns Valley View Mall.

The store sells a variety of home and outdoor goods, from outdoor furniture and rugs to quilts and wreaths and gardening tools. It also sells shoes and apparel with brand names such as Dansko, Clarks, UGG, Life is Good and Acorn.

Plow & Hearth started as a small country store in Madison in 1980. It now has stores in Virginia, Maryland, North Carolina and Pennsylvania. The closest store to Roanoke is at Barracks Road Shopping Center in Charlottesville.

Twist & Turns owner Cynthia Willis announced last month that she has decided to retire from retail to spend more time focusing on design consulting and marketing the business to commercial customers.

Twist & Turns products will be sold at a small retail store inside its manufacturing facility at 625 Campbell Avenue.

Have you shopped at Plow and Hearth? Let us know what to expect when the store opens.

Trade Secret, a store selling name-brand beauty and styling products, will close its Valley View Mall location on Thursday.

The store is owned by Premier Salons, which in 2010 filed for bankruptcy protection. At the time, the company operated 484 Trade Secret stores. It planned to close the under-performing stores when the leases at those locations ended.

It is unclear whether the bankruptcy contributed to the Roanoke store closing. The company did not return a phone call Monday, and Valley View Mall management doesn’t comment on store closings.

Trade Secret sells salon-quality beauty supplies such as shampoos, lotions,  nail polishes and cosmetics. Its products include the brands Redken, Paul Mitchell, Bed Head, and OPI.

The store also has a salon with one full-time stylist.

Products have been marked down 30 to 50 percent, and the store’s fixtures are for sale.

UnderDog Bikes, a bicycle rental shop, opens Saturday inside Black Dog Salvage near the Roanoke River Greenway.

Owner Chris Heslin has experience with bikes from working as the mountain bike manager at Wilderness Adventure at Eagle Landing in Craig County.

He said he sought to bring a bike rental shop to the area because he wants to see riders utilize the nearby greenway that starts at Vic Thomas Park, and because the Grandin area has bike paths, but no bike shops.

His fleet of KHS Bicycles will include cruisers, hybrids, tandems, children’s bikes, trailers, and baby seats. While the store won’t sell bicycles, it will sell cycling accessories. (Update: Heslin tells me that the store will be a full service shop and although it won’t have an inventory of bicycles for sale, he can order  bicycles for anyone looking to make a purchase.)

The shop will be at least the second the business to rent bicycles on the greenway. Bob Welsh operates River Greenway Bicycle Rental out of Wasena Park on weekends from April to October.

Several store openings to announce:

• The new Dollar General store at 3323 Melrose Avenue has opened. A grand opening, which includes gift card giveaways, is scheduled for Saturday at 8 a.m.
• Complete Nutrition has opened at Valley View Mall where Ritz Camera was formerly located.
• Frontline Eurosports, which sells BMW and Triumph motorcycles as well as Vespa scooters, is open at 1003 Electric Road in Salem. A grand opening is scheduled for April 20 and 21. Read more about the store here.
• Sport Clips, a male hair care salon, will open Friday at Hunting Hills Plaza in Roanoke (near Kohl’s).

Have I missed anything? Let me know and I’d be happy to add it to this list.

(It’s Leap Day! Check out the Shoptimist blog to see how you can take advantage of Leap Day deals.)