ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Friday, September 20, 1996 TAG: 9609200085
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV2 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
DATELINE: BLACKSBURG
SOURCE: MARK CLOTHIER STAFF WRITER
Moovies is moving. And a new Italian restaurant is set to open near University Mall next month.
The North Main Street Blacksburg location of Moovies, the South Carolina-based video rental chain is moving 100 feet or so from its present 3,400-square-foot North Main location to the first floor of a 12,000-square-foot, two-story building at 708 N. Main St., at Price's Fork Road and North Main.
Construction on the new building is set to begin Monday, said Tom King, a Blacksburg developer. The move is expected sometime in the spring.
The added floor space gives the room to make the North Main location a Moovies superstore, said Kern Davis, senior vice president of store development for the 196-store chain.
Superstores stock 10,000 video titles including more new releases, Davis said. The store layout and decor is more user-friendly as well, he said.
King is the former owner of King Video, which became Moovies. King now works as a consultant for Moovies.
Meanwhile, Doris Fleming and Joe Slattery are set to open Zeppoli's, a midpriced Italian eatery in a newly developed part of Pointe West Commons on University City Boulevard in Blacksburg.
Opening is set for early October.
A zeppoli, Fleming said, is a small, deep-fried, sugar-powdered Italian doughball - kind of like an Italian Dunkin' Munchkin.
The name, Fleming said, has no further meaning other than it sounded good when she and Slattery were putting together a business plan. The name kind of grew on them and it stuck.
The rationale for opening an Italian restaurant runs deeper: Both Slattery and Fleming were raised by Italian mothers.
They plan to offer homemade pasta and sausage and freshly baked bread, she said. The pasta will also be sold over-the-counter at the restaurant, Fleming said.
Slattery, who owns the London Underground Pub and was an owner of Backstreet's Restaurant, met Fleming when she worked as a cook and manager at Backstreet's. Fleming has more than 20 years in the food service business, most recently as manager of food services for Roanoke Memorial Hospital. This is her first foray as an owner.
"I'm very excited," she said. "It's been a lot of work and we're anxious to get the doors open and see the fruit of our labor. But it's been a lot of fun."
Entrees at the 84-seat restaurant will range in price from $5.95 to $12.95 and will include seafood, chicken and veal. Beer and wine will be offered as well, with an emphasis on Italian wine, Fleming said.
LENGTH: Medium: 55 linesby CNB