Aside from these deals, a popular Fourth of July item has gone up in price. This year, you’re likely paying more for fireworks. Rising fuel costs and an explosion at some fireworks warehouses in China, which impacted supplies, are some reasons for price hikes across the country.
Read this article for more information.

Let me know if you've paid more for fireworks this year and if so, how much more.

Happy holiday weekend!

I spoke with Cathy briefly about several topics, including Chick-fil-A's business principals, the economy and the speed of drive-through. Check out my interview with him below.

Q: Many fast food restaurants have added $1 menus. Does Chick-fil-A plan to create this kind of menu?
A: No. We’re not competing on price. We’re competing on service and our product quality...Our customer is really value conscious, but we’re trying to really give them a lot of value for what they’re paying for.

Q: How have rising food costs impacted Chick-fil-A?
A: We’ve had a price adjustment that we had to make, almost 5 percent that we made on May 19... That was our new menu pricing on our menu boards. Some of our costs actually went up even more than that on some items. Some items went up a little more than others did. We also changed a lot of things, too. We upgraded our chicken salad sandwich.

Q: What is the largest meal in sales volume a day at most Chick-fil-A’s?
A: In most markets, lunch is the strongest period for us, followed by dinner...We actually see that breakfast is the fastest growing day part that we have nationally right now...People are becoming accustomed to thinking about Chick-fil-A as a breakfast alternative. In fact, I would say that McDonalds chicken and biscuit national promotion they had, that really helped I think broaden the potential customer base. Most people are thinking about chicken biscuits and similar items like we have on our menu, as an alternative
Also, the snack category we see growing a lot. Our dessert items, our milkshakes, are growing in the afternoons.

I don't yet have details from the Florida-based company about this new location. Shula’s has several different restaurant concepts, including Shula’s Steak House, Shula’s 2 Steak & Sports, Shula’s on the Beach and Shula’s 347 Grill.

Shula’s 347 Grill is named for Don Shula's 347 NFL wins, according to the company's Web site. These restaurants serve steaks, hamburgers, fish entrees and other menu fare. The closest Shula’s 347 Grill to the Roanoke Valley is in Norfolk.

I’ll update you when I find out more details about this restaurant.

At this point, we don’t know if the closings will include Starbucks locations in the Roanoke and New River valleys. Starbucks has expanded rapidly here in the last few years. There are seven Roanoke Valley locations, including the mini stores inside a local Kroger and Ukrop’s Super Market. There are two in Blacksburg and one in Christiansburg.

But in a statement released to me today by a public relations firm representing Starbucks, the coffee retailer said many of the closings will involve stores that opened since 2006.

Here’s the statement:

Details for specific locations are still being finalized. The stores identified for closure are spread across all major U.S. markets with approximately 70 percent of them opened since fiscal 2006. Out of respect and dignity for our partners, and our desire to share this information with impacted partners first, we are not publishing a full list of the stores. Starbucks will continue to evaluate all aspects of our business as we work to accomplish our multi-faceted plan to transform the company. We cannot offer any more specifics at this time.

The fuel center at the new Kroger, under construction in the Bonsack area, will open on July 9. This will be the fifth Kroger gasoline center in the Roanoke Valley.

It's funny that this fuel center will open before Kroger actually opens its doors. Though the grocer hasn't stated an official store opening date, the fuel center is coming three weeks before the store will debut, according to a news release.

Check out my retail column in this Sunday's Business section for updates on other stores that will land at this center, named Kroger Square at Bonsack and located off U.S. 460 in Roanoke County.

The new home improvement store will rise to 106,000 square feet, with an adjacent garden center. The retailer says it will stock 32,000 different items.

You can support a good cause on July 10, which is the store’s grand opening. The festivities include a gift card match event. If you buy a Lowe’s gift card, the retailer will match your purchases up to $5,000, to support the Bedford Habitat for Humanity.

The restaurant doesn’t yet have a name, but Trinkle said he expects it to be a take-off on Fork in the Alley. The menu largely will be similar, with brick oven pizza and some new additions. The manager of Fork in the Alley is handling most of the details, Trinkle said.

This new restaurant will be open for business by late this year or early next year.

This part of downtown, with vacant and run down buildings, isn’t the city’s retail hub. But Trinkle said some renovation work set to transform this area attracted him to the site.

Ed Walker, a local developer, owns much of this block, including the Gary’s location and a building across the street that is planned for art studios. Also, Walker owns the former Virginia Mills Cotton Products plant on 6th Street. He wants to renovate it for 108 condominiums or apartments.

Here are some of the activities going on between 9:30 a.m. and 6 p.m. at Ukrop's Franklin Road store:

--Starting at noon, the grocer will give away slices of a custom-made Mill Mountain cake. It weighs more than 200 pounds and serves more than 400.
--There will be samples of certain food brands, including Homestead Creamery and Boar’s Head offerings.
--$2 snow cones will be sold. For every snow cone sold, Ukrop’s will donate a can of food to the Second Harvest Food Bank.
--From 8 a.m. to 10 a.m., representatives from Appalachian Harvest Organic Growers in Abingdon will talk about their produce, sold at Ukrop’s.
--A kid’s composting event, led by Ukrop’s environmental workers, will be held from 9:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.

And here’s your chance to comment on Ukrop’s Roanoke store. If you’ve been there in the last year, what do you think about the store, its prices, foods, etc.? In your opinion, has it had a successful first year in business?

This store, housed on Center's lower level, used to be a shared space for the art, history and science museums. But the Science Museum of Western Virginia has taken over as its primary operator. It closed the store for awhile to switch up the merchandise to a science theme. The store reopened this week.

The selection includes science kits, toys, gadgets and a Rock Sluice, which previously was located in the museum’s fourth floor galleries. For $4 a bag, you receive a mystery bag of gem stones.
Some items are priced at $5 and under, such as wind-up robots, and they're primarily child-centered. The museum is trying to offer affordable merchandise at the shop, said Fran Ferguson, who is director of development for the museum.

The upper level of the Launch Pad will be used for different activities, such as summer camps and birthday parties.

Museum members and visitors (on the day of your visit) are eligible for a 10 percent discount on purchases at the shop.

But the Launch Pad won’t remain at its spot for too long. With Center in the Square’s upcoming renovations, the store may move to an upper level space, possibly in another year, Ferguson said.

They’re all serving the hot coffee, but the Vinton location also is selling Dunkin Donuts’ iced java and tea.

But you’ll still have to go to Dunkin Donuts on Franklin Road in Roanoke for doughnuts. They haven't been added to the Wilco Hess selection.

Tractor Supply claims to be the largest retail farm and ranch store chain in the country, with 791 locations as of March. It's based in Tennessee.

Tractor Supply's Roanoke County store went up adjacent to Gander Mountain, which opened in April off Interstate 81, in the Hollins area.

Also, Camping World is slated for this center, though I don't yet know its opening date. Its Web site only states that the Roanoke County store is "Coming Soon."

Certain electronics, such as digital cameras, along with hotel room rates, women’s clothing and some dinnerware are supposedly priced lower than they were last year, on average. You may find that some of these items still are more expensive comparatively, depending on where you shop.

But this is a bit of good news, considering all of the reports that prices for most everything in our lives are higher.

Have you discovered anything that’s cheaper now compared with last year? I’m having a hard time thinking of examples, but I’m sure your thoughts will trigger ideas.

About the number of competiting coffee shops, Sebolt said in an email that "There are quite a few but we always felt we had something really unique and special."

Can we ever have too many?

Mike Sebolt and Kathy Johnson delved into the coffee retail business in 2007 with high hopes. Their coffee shop, High Point Coffee, may not have turned out as they expected.

High Point on Brambleton Avenue in Roanoke County has closed, and Doreen's Gourmet is taking over. Check out the details on the SWCo blog.

Sebolt told me that Johnson has taken a new job as a guidance counselor at the Governor’s School. When they opened High Point, she quit her job as a guidance counselor at William Byrd High School to manage the shop. Sebolt’s still a teacher at Salem High School.

It’s unclear why they decided to sell High Point. Sebolt didn’t respond to questions about their decision. Perhaps it was a way for Johnson to go back into an education-related career.

But it's also no secret that the local coffee retail business is extremely saturated.

There are five Starbucks in the Roanoke Valley and locally-owned coffee shops galore. Mill Mountain Coffee & Tea has four shops, and Mojo Café and Brambleton Blend aren't too far from High Point’s former location on Brambleton Avenue. There also are two Daily Grinds, one on Electric Road and another in Salem. And don't forget several Java the Hutt drive-through kiosks.

High Point's closing raises questions about its ability to withstand so much coffee competition.

McDonald’s, Wendy’s, and Yum Brands, the parent company for Taco Bell, Kentucky Fried Chicken and Pizza Hut, this week added tomatoes cleared of the salmonella risk back onto sandwiches, salads and other menu items.
Here’s a news story with more detail.

Also, Kroger and Ukrop’s Super Market stores locally have rolled tomatoes back onto shelves, according to spokesmen for these grocers. Ukrop’s tomatoes are grown in Florida, but once certain varieties were proven safe, the chain began selling them again, said Wade Carmichael, who is Ukrop’s senior category manager of produce.

It’s www.freeshipping.org. This is not a new Web site. It launched in December. But it’s a convenient way to find discounts on shipping or freebies for this service in one place. There are coupons for a host of retailers, including Old Navy, Macy’s, Sears, Kohl’s, Amazon.com and Best Buy.

The drawback is that some of these coupons require you to spend a certain amount or order a specific item, such as free shipping for orders valued at $75 or more at Caribou Coffee or free shipping only on Godiva purchases at Macy’s.

One of the best deals that I noticed was a free two-day shipping offer with no minimum purchase required at Amazon.com.

Let me know what you think of some of these deals.