The Church Avenue storefront that housed Tudor’s Biscuit World for 28 years has a new tenant.
Roanoker Chad Ferguson signed a one-year lease with
Louis and Jessica Tudor, who still own the property, with plans to put a
grocery store in the well-known downtown location.
Ferguson has spent the past few weeks renovating the
space to convert it from a restaurant to what he calls an
old-fashioned grocery store. He has put up newspapers over the windows
while they renovate, piquing the interest of many people walking past.
For decades the store was home to the breakfast
bastion Tudor’s Biscuit World until the owners decided to close in
September 2012. Since then, the property has been empty. Louis Tudor
said he had a lot of interest in the property, but he was very
particular about who he would lease the space to.
“I didn’t want another business selling cigarettes and beer,” he said.
Ferguson, he said, was a longtime Biscuit World
customer who grew up in the grocery business. He felt the spot would be
successful for a grocer with the right set of skills.
Ferguson has worked for more than eight years in the
grocery business, which he learned from his father, who also worked
for a grocer. He had been scouting for a good location to bring a
traditional store downtown since so many people have moved to the area
in the past few years. The specialty for Ferguson’s Grocery, which will be the new name on the front door, will be hand-cut meats and a delivery service.
Ferguson said he grew up when grocers carried bags
of groceries out to customers’ cars and made house calls to bring food
and medicine. He wants to bring that type of service back to people in
the community, especially for the people who live and work downtown and
don’t want to drive to a grocery store.
He hopes to open the store around the Thanksgiving
holiday and is in the process of hiring employees. Ferguson will work in
the store as well.
The downtown area has seen two other grocery stores set up shop in the past year. S&W Market at Sixteen West Marketplace — right across the street from Ferguson’s Grocery — was the first, in October 2012. Roanoke Natural Foods Co-op opened its Market Square outpost in May.
New gun store opens in Stewartsville
Mitchell Taylor never planned on being in the
retail business. But to his surprise, he and his brother have been able
to turn one of their favorite hobbies into a successful business
venture.
In October, Taylor opened Safeside Tactical,
a 6,000-square-foot retail palace of guns, ammunition and everything in
between in Stewartsville . Taylor’s family has always boasted its
share of gun enthusiasts, but it wasn’t until December that he and his
brother decided to get a firearms dealer license and sell and trade
guns as a side job. Taylor said they got a 1,000-square-foot
“hole-in-the-wall” in Bedford County where they worked just a couple
of days a week, but then the business took off by word-of-mouth. There
was also a lot of talking in Congress regarding gun control, which
Taylor said brought a jump in gun sales.
Safeside Tactical, now at 15875 Stewartsville Road, has nine employees and plenty of space for a wide selection of guns.
“Lots of gun shops are dingy and dirty and run by a
good ole’ boy, and that’s fine. But we are a major retail operation,”
Taylor said. He wants the store to look as clean as a large chain, but
have the service of a small gun shop.
“If you go to Gander Mountain or Dick’s you have to search for someone who knows about guns,” he said. “Not here.”
Safeside Tactical is a class three dealer, which
means the business can manufacture its own guns. That has become one of
its specialties, Taylor said. Customers can get personalized guns built
and change parts of them out. Historic collectors’ guns are also
available in the store, which brings in new people.
Thanksgiving Day store openings
The retail shopping Day of Reckoning, Black Friday,
begins earlier than ever this year, with a lot of stores getting the
jump on the largest shopping day of the year by opening Thanksgiving
Day.
In Roanoke, all four of Valley View Mall’s department stores — Macy’s, Belk, JCPenney and Sears
— will open at 8 p.m. Thanksgiving Day. The rest of the shops at Valley
View will open either at 8 p.m. Thanksgiving Day, midnight on Black
Friday or 4 a.m. on Black Friday.
At Tanglewood Mall, Belk and JCPenney will open at 8 p.m. on Thanksgiving as well.
Other Thanksgiving Day store hours:
Opening at 6 a.m.: Kmart
Opening at 5 p.m.: Toys-R-Us
Opening at 6 p.m.: Best Buy
Opening at 7 p.m.: Old Navy
Opening at 8 p.m.: Target, Kohl’s, Office Max, Office Depot and Dick’s Sporting Goods
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