Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, April 27, 1994 TAG: 9404270072
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: B-8 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Sandra Brown Kelly
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
La De Da, a dress shop, soon will be ready at Church and Market.
On Market Square, Donnie Akers and Mike Woods, owners of Confeddy's, have leased the building where Patina, a women's store, recently vacated. Confeddy's, a restaurant, will move from across the street about mid-June. Akers said the restaurant will be larger and have an expanded menu for dinner, but otherwise will stick to the fare its customers are used to.
Confeddy's move will free up a prime corner of the Market building and an inside food court vendor spot, and Don Shelton, who owns the area Chick-Fil-A franchise, is talking with the leasing company, Fralin & Waldron, about them.
"We want to be down there pretty bad," Shelton said. He said he might know something within a month. Once his company decides on a location, it could be open in 30 days, he said.
Chick-Fil-A, a national chicken sandwich chain, in the past has clung to mall locations, such as those Shelton has at Tanglewood and Valley View, but the company is branching out, Shelton said.
"We want to bring Chick-Fil-A to the customer," he said.
The first double drive-through Chick-Fil-A in Virginia opened April 7 in Lynchburg. Chick-Fil-A is also doing business in the Lynchburg Christian Academy cafeteria and looking for a spot at Virginia Tech.
Shelton said the company kept hearing from customers who said they liked the food but didn't find the mall locations very convenient. He said the Lynchburg drive-through set a sales record for the Atlanta-based company on its first weekend of operation.
Other City Market changes involve the arts and crafts minimall that Gary Baldwin and Barry Booher are planning to open at 114 Campbell Ave., the former home of Phoenix-The Earth Store. Baldwin and Booherh have owned Much 'N Such - formerly Granny's Teepee - on Williamson Road since early last year.
Bobbie Morris, Booher's sister and a new employee, said Much 'N Such will close when the Blue Ridge Crafters Emporium opens downtown in early June.
She said the crafts and arts mall will have items from about 90 vendors.
Two Roanoke men have seized an opportunity to promote downtown businesses and their own welfare simultaneously. Stephen Urick and David Kunca have started The Downtowner's Club, which promises member discounts at 38 businesses for an annual membership fee of $35.
The discounts range from 10 percent to 20 percent, but have various restrictions varying among the merchants. For example, participating restaurants in the Market Building food court will give a 15 percent discount, but only between 2 and 5 p.m.
The memberships are being sold by Urick and Kunca directly, and by the Science Museum Store at Center-in-the-Square. The Science Museum of Western Virginia gets $10 for each membership it sells, Kunca said; he and Urick hope to get other nonprofit groups to sell the memberships.
Kunca operates Kirk's on Kirk, an antiques and collectibles shop in a building he owns with another partner, and Urick, a former real estate agent, is marketing salvage from the Hotel Roanoke interior.
Sidewalk cafes still may come to the City Market, but merchants are learning that it can't happen yet. Several weeks ago, The Greedy Pig owners got zealous and set up a sidewalk table and were told by city authorities to move it or face a $1,000 fine.
Last Sunday, Mill Mountain Coffee tried outside seating briefly until operators were reminded that it's not legal.
Downtown Roanoke Inc. has asked the city to allow sidewalk cafes on the market and the city attorney has been asked to determine what legal routes are necessary for the proposal to follow. Community planner Evie Gunter said the Architectural Review Board, which has to approve changes in the historical area of the market, was asked to review the sidewalk cafe proposal and concluded the idea was good.
Gunter said the board thought there should be standards on table size and placement so as not to interfere with pedestrians' access to stores.
by CNB