Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, July 21, 1990 TAG: 9007200153
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV1 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: CATHRYN McCUE NEW RIVER VALLEY BUREAU
DATELINE: BLACKSBURG LENGTH: Medium
Start with a whole new plaza anchored by a restaurant twice the size of the current Macado's with five eating levels.
Add a '57 Chevy convertible parked on the second floor, serving as a table for four.
Throw in an Elton John jacket, an electric guitar once played by Bon Jovi, a replica of Batman flying across the room and a 10-foot high Statue of Liberty holding . . . a sandwich.
"I don't know where I get these ideas. I just dream them up," said Macher.
He and his brother, Richard, own eight Macado's scattered throughout Western Virginia, including in Radford, Roanoke and Lexington and one scheduled to open in Salem this summer. They also have a Macado's in West Virginia and one in North Carolina.
The decor is distinctly Macher - post-wacky, neo-closet, pseudo-junk. In other words, a hodge-podge of Americana that hangs from the ceilings, walls and anywhere else the brothers - who recently closed down an antique mall on the City Market in Roanoke - can nail in a hook.
And the new Blacksburg location promises to be the most outrageous yet.
"Actually, it's going to be our showcase," said Macher.
The brothers are building a whole new shopping center called University Plaza to accommodate the large, new Macado's. The development will be next to Bonomo's Plaza and directly across from University Mall where the Blacksburg restaurant has been catering primarily to Virginia Tech students for 10 years.
Scheduled to open next spring, the new Macado's will seat 250 for dinner and 100 at the bar - a 36 percent increase in seating capacity.
Macher said he expects the number of customers at the Blacksburg restaurant - already their highest-volume location by 50 percent - to increase 25 percent.
The first thing those customers will see when they walk in the doors will be the headlights of the '57 Chevy. The automotive relic turned out to be, as Macher put it, "a pain in the neck." Construction has been delayed because the 2,500 pound vehicle needed extra-strength steel support, Macher said.
"It's cost a lot of money, but I think it's going to be worth it."
The Statue of Liberty will be smack in the middle of the first floor, about on eye-level with folks eating lunch on the mezzanine level.
Also on display will be a black silk jacket once worn by rock pianist Elton John, which Macher bought at a Sotheby's auction in London for $2,000, and a black leather sequined suit comedian Eddie Murphy wore on tour.
Macher said he's leased all the space in the new plaza to other retailers - Professional Resume Service, MicroSystems software store, and a full-service bridal store.
Those spaces should be finished and the stores open by October, he said.
Meanwhile, across the street at University Mall, the Machers have several more years to go on their lease. Along with two investors, the brothers are considering opening a sports bar, with basketball machines and pool tables.
Macher said plans aren't definite, but if they follow through with the idea, the bar would probably open the same time as the new Macado's.
The brothers decided to move out of University Mall chiefly because the rent, based partly on gross receipts, was skyrocketing while maintenance, repairs and services from the landlord dwindled, Macher said.
"It was just falling apart around us," he said of the 16-year-old building. Most of the problems occurred before November last year, he said, when a new management firm - Richard I. Rubin Co. Inc. - took over operations.
Prior to that, several different companies had managed the property.
Also, the University Mall has suffered increasing vacancies since losing several stores to the New River Valley Mall.
The current owner - National Property Analysts in Philadelphia - has been plagued by financial troubles since taking over ownership and management in 1986.
But Sharon Morgan, mall manager with the Rubin Co., said the company is working to fill the vacancies and upgrade the mall.
by CNB