KingDog

For fans of inexpensive Chinese-made tools, Harbor Freight has a coming soon banner up on the old Books a Million store on West Broad in the Westland Shopping Center.

From what I know, the older, more established stores in places like PA and NY are smaller than what they've recently been building. The one by my folk's place in Hunt Valley, MD was their biggest when it opened several years ago. 140,000 sq. ft. ! I believe most of their new stores are all in the same size range. There's one in Fredericksburg which is the same size and not terribly far away. Was up there last weekend and I can say that I never in my life thought I'd be excited about a grocery store, but there you have it.

A couple weeks ago, I heard a rumor from a friend, who knows someone, who knows someone else that's supposedly in commercial refrigeration and said that Wegman's was looking for land in Richmond and Charlottesville. Well, I don't place much stock in "friend of a friend" rumors, but wouldn't you know it, C'ville is getting a Wegman's: http://www.nbc29.com/story/18647390/wegmans-announces-plans-to-come-to-albemarle So, I'm kind of thinking (hoping) that if they're going to drive trucks down 95 and out 64, they might as well make stop somewhere in Richmond along the way.

And the Fro-yo bubble continues to grow. "...plan to open Mix It, a self-serve frozen yogurt and cereal bar, in the West Broad Village shopping center in March. And the venture hopes selling bowls of cereal as well as fro-yo will give it a competitive edge in an increasingly crowded market." From today's Richmond Biz Sense: http://www.richmondbizsense.com/2012/01/27/more-fro-yo-in-the-mix

Agreed and IMO people are fickle about their desserts so it's only a matter of time until the market "right sizes". Here are some other entrants into the market: Beriberry in Commons Center Plaza in Chesterfield (coming soon) Yapple right next to the Carrytown Sweet Frog and in Willow Lawn (announced) I thought there was a Moonberry in Mechanicsville very near the Sweetfrog, but a search did not come up with a Moonberry location nearby. I know a co-worker told me he would go to someplace else when the line at Sweetfrog was too long and he had a frequent buyer card from the place. So, perhaps its gone out already or they're just the worst company ever at getting their name out via the Internet

I believe the sign I saw out front today said it was a Value Place, which I presume is one of these:

I ate at BURGER WORKS near Innsbrook yesterday. They're occupying a spot at the opposite end of the stip mall that has the Panera and right next to Chipotle. Interestingly, that spot has been vacant for as long as the center has been open which by my estimation is at least 5 years, but probably even longer. According to the cashier, they opened on Monday. I've tried to do some research on them online and other than their ABC license application, I found nothing. Based on that I'm assuming it's a new concept. Anyway, they're a typical burger joint but they do seem to be focused on a large selection - you can get different types of meat. I ordered the 1/3rd pound (smallest) beef burger, a side of fries and drink and the total came to just under $12. :-O The burger's flavor was fine and it was cooked ok, with the exception that some of the edges were a little crunchy for my tastes. The bun was so-so and seemed like it was a day old. The fries appeared to be hand cut and while not the best I've ever had, they tasted good. The place was packed when I got there - only two tables left. It took them about 15 minutes to get my food out to me. I suspect they're still working out the processes because that just seemed way too long based on what I've seen 5 Guys can do. Then again, they've been in business for more than 5 days. The manager / owner (not sure which) did seem very involved in the operations and he was going around asking customers if everything tasted ok. Overall, not a bad experience, but for the price I would hope for more. I'll probably give them another shot once they've been opened for a few more weeks.

Ignore - double post. Board was acting wonky earlier.

BUZ & NEDS REAL BARBECUE's second location is about to continue construction which has been halted for more than a year. The new location will be in the West End on Broad near Parham in the old Fudrucker's location. http://www.richmondbizsense.com/2011/06/23/slow-cooked-construction/

Richmond BizSense has an article on THE WHITE ANCHOVIE: Bringing downtown flavor to Short Pump I ate there the other night. I had the scallops with roasted red peper sauce along with roasted fingerling potatoes. Everything was excellent. My dining partners split the lasagna and a side of asparagus which the also liked. My bill with 2 draft beers ($6 each) came to just over $50 w/ tip. So, it's not cheap but it was very good. I hope they do ok, but the location is really horrible. Not only are they a down a bit on Lauderdale, but they are also tucked into a corner in a shopping center, very much out of site. It must have the worst visibility in the whole center.

My girlfriend and I went there tonight. The restaurant is in 3 sections - a large smoking section with a large bar w/ maybe a dozen or two seats, a smaller non-smoking section with a bar - maybe 8 or 10 seats, and another room called "Augies Cafe" that looks like it can be a function room as well. Apparently Augies will open in a week or two and will offer breakfast. We sat at the smaller non-smoking bar and our bartender told us they would also open up the Augie's section when it got busy. According to the schedule we saw, they have music almost every Wed, Thur, Fri, and Sat with Karaoke on Sundays. I'm not sure where the bands will set up but my money is on the larger smoking section. On St. Patty's day, they'll have 3 bands with the earliest one starting at 3. Tonight was half price appetizers - except for wings. We ordered the soft pretzels, shrimp, and wings. Overall, the food was very mediocre. My girlfriend probably described it best - everything seemed like it was reheated, not cooked. THe wings were barely warm, though they tasted fine. They also messed up the order and brought us some perogies at first which were hot, but nothing special. The shrimp were hot, but I didn't care for them that much. The staff were friendly, especially our bartender. I'll give them another shot, but overall I felt kind of let down by the food and atmosphere.

Apparently KEAGANS is now open. Looks like they beat "May".... but two years later Linkage:

Richmond BizSense is reporting that Plaza Azteca, a Mexican restaurant chain out of Newport News, will take over the former Max and Erma's spot on Broad St. in front of the Westin. http://www.richmondbizsense.com/2010/05/28/reynolds-crossing-restaurant-lands-new-tenant/

Maybe, but the site was most recently an "American Cafe" which closed some time ago and the property has been empty for a while. It's in the same shopping center ad Buffalo Wild Wings.

It is what it is. They already have a location in Newport News.

Shortly after Islamorada Fish Company opened up at Bass Pro, I was having dinner at the bar and ended up striking up a conversation with a guy who turned out to be Buz. At the time, he mentioned that he was about to close on the new property. It was going to be across the road from Bass Pro, not in the store itself. It's been a while since I've been there but I haven't seen much in the way of building on the outlying shops. Perhaps either financing or worries about foot traffic without the other shops is the driver? He mentioned to me what he was paying for his location on the Boulevard and it was not that much at all. He also quizzed me about where I lived and which location I would be more likely to go to. I told him I'd go to a newer location since the current one has the worst layout ever. In other news, it looks like they are renovating the old Bennigan's building on Broad St. If I read the "coming soon" sign correctly, it's going to be a Quaker Steak and Lube. Never been to one, but I think I've heard good things. Either way, it'll be nice to have another choice in the area.

I swung by this evening. It was not open - had a "closed" sign in the window - but they did have a banner out front saying "private event" and about a dozen people gathered out front, some with what looked like post cards in their hands. I'm assuming they were opening at 6 this evening for an invite-only event. I'm wondering which person at the post office stole my postcard

That would make sense that they did a soft launch. I can't imagine them dealing with the crush that is sure to happen this coming weekend.

And it looks like hhgregg has also opened in Short Pump: http://www.richmondbizsense.com/2009/11/16/electronics-retailer-opens-in-former-short-pump-circuit-city/

Yes, that's where it is. It's essentially right in front of Whole Foods and the newly opened Home Goods. I drove by on Friday and looked in the windows - they look to be all ready to go. REI is probably the only store I can spend more than 1 hour at a time in.

Another Cafe Caturra is under construction in Short Pump in the shopping center where Ukrops is (Pump and Broad). It's in the end of the strips of shops where Subway and Einstein Bagels is.

Some more information on Bouchon, previously mentioned in this forum. "A new French bistro is in the works for Shockoe Slip will open later this summer. Dubbed Bouchon, the restaurant will dish up Proven

Ok, so I know this is not exactly Richmond related, but it is ~60 miles / 1hr away and will be considered a destination shopping experience for many from Richmond. Wegmans opened a 140k sq. ft. store in Fredericksburg (Central Park) yesterday. Wegman's has been steadliy expanding south from NY state over the past several years. They are privately held and are pretty open about their future plans. So far, nothing announced for Richmond for the next several years, but I can say that if they ever arrived, they would drastically change the grocery landscape here. I never in all my life expected to be excited about a grocery store, of all things, but their stores are something else. It's difficult to convey how different and unique they are. Check out the video to get an idea of what they are about: http://newstores.wegmans.com/

You bet: http://www.fishcompany.com/ They don't seem to have a menu for Hanover yet but I looked at 3 other menus and the Denver one was the closest to what they had at Hanover.

Just got back from a visit to Bass Pro and Dinner at Islamorada. Did not get to go into Bass Pro as they closed at 5:00pm today (Sunday) but they did open again at 6:00pm for an "employee appreciation night" where each employee got to invite 2 people. There were more cars in the parking lot when we left dinner than when we got there. We did eat at Islamorada and it was pretty good. I had jumbo fried shrimp which tasted good but could have been hotter - they were lukewarm. My girlfriend had calamari and a garden salad and said both were excellent. We'll likely go back and I'll give them one more shot to give me some hot food. We were at the bar and Buz from Buz and Ned's sat next to me for a bit. We chatted about his new restaurant. Said he is supposed to close on the land next month and is still working on the details for the actual building. I believe he said it would seat 180 and it's "very well planned" so they don't have the same issues they have at their current location. He's hoping to be open by summer of next year. He's really a nice guy.