Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, August 27, 1995 TAG: 9508280128
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV3 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE:
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
BLACKSBURG - Just as college students come and go in Blacksburg, so too, it seems, do the town's businesses. This year's crop of students will notice that some downtown businesses are gone, some have moved and some new establishments are opening.
Perhaps the biggest news for returning students, at least those who enjoy live music, is South Main Cafe closed in May. The venerable nightspot and restaurant was bought by Bill Ellenbogen, owner of Bogen's Restaurant, who has put the location back on the auction block.
Ellenbogen reports that he has "had some serious inquiries for both restaurant and non-restaurant uses."
He has these simple and predictable words to say about who the new owner will be: "We're going to sell it to whoever comes up with the cash."
And speaking of Bogen's, that time-honored establishment has a new look. Ellenbogen spent the summer adding a new section, featuring pool tables, darts and a juke box.
For jazz and blues lovers
Fans of live music, however, may have nothing to fear, especially if they like jazz and blues.
Joe Nazare, owner of Champs Sports Bar and a self-professed jazz and blues aficionado, will open The Cafe at Champs, below the sports bar on Main Street, perhaps as early as this week.
Nazare hopes to tap into the vibrant jazz and blues scene in the Washington area, hosting live music as many as four or five nights a week.
"We're going to try to get in some real professionals," Nazare said, rattling off a string of names, the way only a true fan can.
Blacksburg is home to other jazz and blues fans, many of whom have expressed their support and interest to him, he said.
"It's like selling fine art. The market is here. You just have to tap into it."
Some like it Cajun
Also hoping to tap into a new market are two recent Virginia Tech graduates who will open Boudreaux's Cajun Restaurant on Main Street downtown.
The owners are brothers, Greg Ames, who graduated in 1992 with a degree in economics, and Jeff Ames, who graduated in May with a degree in business management. Both have restaurant experience, though this is their foray into ownership.
As Jeff Ames says, "We're betting the farm on this."
But he adds he thinks there is a market for spicy Cajun food in Blacksburg. Though the restaurant isn't scheduled to open until early September, the "response has been wonderful so far," Jeff Ames said.
The restaurant's target audience, he said, will be people for whom their undergraduate years are a memory. "We don't think older folks are being targeted ... ," he said.
Keeping in mind that it is those undergrads who pay the bills, Ames said the younger crowd will be welcome, too, though he and his brother do not plan to host live music, at least not yet.
And some like it homestyle
Also hoping to attract both an older and younger audience is Dundrum Bay Co., a new restaurant that opened Aug. 4 off Progress Street where Greeks Restaurant used to be. The restaurant is named for the Irish birthplace of the owner Eugene Lessman of Alexandria.
Lessman's connection with Southwest Virginia is his wife, Sue, who was born on Cloyds Mountain. Their son also attended Virginia Tech. They plan to retire in Blacksburg, said the restaurant's general manager, Cynthia Mooney.
Mooney said Dundrum Bay Co. will feature home-cooked meals as well as such standards as calzones and stromboli. The target audience will be the fraternity crowd on some nights, and older people on others.
TGIF has a new home
While restaurants seem to be most dynamic part of Blacksburg's business environment, clothing stores have also been on the move.
TGIF will relocate into the old Hawaii Kai location, next to the Corner Drug in early September.
The store will continue to feature discounted clothing.
Already moved is the T-Shirt Factory, which opened on College Avenue Aug. 1. Previously the store operated at the corner of Main and Roanoke Streets.
Manager Lisa Sadler says the store, which sells Virginia Tech-related apparel and trinkets, already has had a couple of lucrative weekends, and she thinks the T-Shirt Factory has a bright future.
"It's a little early to tell yet, but I do believe we'll see a nice increase from being down here."
New owner at Corner Drug
And speaking of the Corner Drug, that landmark business has a new owner, Phil Hurst, who previously ran a drug store in North Fork W.Va. for 19 years.
He said he has made few changes since taking over June 1. The Corner Drug's new look includes new greeting cards and new shelving, but most of the rest of the store is the same.
Robert "Bob" Christopher, who owned Corner Drug since 1961, said "the days were getting longer for me." He took the opportunity to retire when he found he could sell his business to another independent.
"My customers have been loyal to me," said Christopher, "and I hope they will stick with the new owner."
Christopher was the consulting pharmacist to Heritage Hall. The store's little pickup truck made regular deliveries of medicine and other essentials at no charge to patients at the nursing home.
by CNB