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A couple of years ago I posted a thread asking what people would like to see in Charleston. Let me be the first to tell you that most of my wishes have been answered!
Retail has somehow taken off in the last year!
Two New Qdoba Restaurants are also coming to Charleston! One in the mall next to the new 5 Guys, and the other at Dudley Farms Plaza! I love this place and will go there just as much as 5 guys! LOL
Here is a brief list of the new retail recently (2 years most)
Already Built (all chains, not local owned)
2 new Walgreens--- West Side/Cross Lanes
new CVS ---Kanawha City
Pita Pit ---Kanawha City
Best Buy--- Shops at Trace Fork
New Shoe Carnival--- Dudley Farms
2 new Buffalo Wildwings--- Southridge Center/ Cross Lanes
New McDonalds--- East End
New KFC--- West Side
Remodeled Kanawha Mall, now Shops at Kanawha--- new stores
new Pizza hut/Wingstreet--- Kanawha city
Sonic--- Saint Albans
Starbucks--- University of Charleston
new Panera Bread in the mall
TeaCo--- CTCM
2 remodeled One Stop Gas Stations
Cold Stone--- Saint Albans
Jimmy Johns--- Downtown
Being Built, or soon to start
Walmart--- Quincy (opening soon)
Sheetz--- Kanawha City
Chick-fil-a --- Southridge Center
2 Five Guys --- CTCM/Dudley Farms Plaza
2 Qdobas---- CTCM/Dudley Farms Plaza
(some chain Japanese Steakhouse)--- Kanawha City
Starbucks--- Kanwha City
there could be some I've Forgot, but the point was is that the Charleston area has seen some quality places call us home in the past few months/years! I'm glad to see the pick up in retail.
Hope they're also building about 20 new gyms in the area to deal with all those unhealthy eating options...
Hope they're also building about 20 new gyms in the area to deal with all those unhealthy eating options...
BRING A WHOLE FOODS TO WV!!!!!!!!!!!
Krogers has an organic section and capitol market in season is WV's whole foods. It doesn't get any better than local grown. Drug emporium over by Patrick street bridge carries lots of exotic items you'd find in whole foods. Wild capers, Jasmine tea, flax seed, tofu, supplements... it's mostly all there. Folks who'd rather spend $12 on a pie than $3 on a bag of spinach don't want help. Building a gym won't solve what raising the price of beer would solve. It's not like dinner salads aren't on the menu at Applebee's or Shoney's. It's an unhealthy relationship with food that's the real problem.
I had a wonderful curried goat dish last year at Jamaican cuisine in South Charleston. Sadly she's since closed, but I doubt it was the food more than the chef didn't have business mgmt skills in a neighborhood of restaurant row. She's the chef for The Leonards now and I'll make a point to check out her influence on the menu. Rumor has it her jerk chicken landed there. This other Vietnamese restaurant looks promising for my next wild hair adventure; Pho Vinh Long - South Charleston | Urbanspoon
Noodles, broth and spring rolls are to blame for the state's weight problems? I don't think so.
That pita pit sounds interesting. I'll be sure to look for it. Still I hope to see more mom and pop type stores than franchises. Much as I adore Tudor biscuits, it shouldn't be the only thing that defines local character.
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I actually intended to leave out the number of local business because I wanted to showcase the new chains.
here are some really good local restaurants that are either new or kinda new
Pies and Pints
Adephia Sports Bar
Tricky Fish
Fruit Cake
Bluegrass Kitchen
Creperie Cafe
Blossom Deli (new owners)
Stillwater Cafe
and that is just a few that came to me, but I'm sure there are more.
Off Broadway Shoes is opening up in Town Center in the old Steve & Berry's T-shirt section. They are putting in what appears to be a pretty big store, and it will be the first in WV. They are located all across the country. DEB moved into the other half of that space this summer. I could care less about either one of these stores, but they are just added proof to the Town Center's growth. Now if we can get another book store to open up in the old Borders. Maybe a Barnes & Noble?
We already have an official Habachi, but this one begins with a F and I can't pronounce or spell it LOL
Charleston has alot of steakhouses, and out Corridor G they are always crowded. I guess they are doing just fine, and so are the countless dozens in the area because they are all busy.
Corridor G went for a period without seeing any development, but recently it has just taken off! That is even without the new Cabela's that they are going to build. The Cabela's will probably draw in more retail developments, maybe even more shopping plazas.
Putnam County is at the edge of building up in retail aswell. I had seen plans for a large shopping plaza at the junction of 64 and the new 35. It looked like it was going to bring in some large stores, and even an office park.
Another area that has seen a growth pattern is Kanawha City. Not only in restaurants, but in office buildings and housing. A new office building was built beside Lowes, and Highland Hospital is building a four story structure now. Our first Sheetz store is under construction in KC, and I think the Shops at Kanawha is getting a new shoe store, and a chain hardware store. Also a small strip mall is building behind the new Pizza Hut.
Don't kid yourself about the influence of the Cabelas. The folks who build these chain restaurants likely knew this was coming before the general public, and that has heavily influenced their decisions. Believe me, it will have an effect that is good for the area where it will locate and not so good for some of the surrounding areas.
Don't kid yourself about the influence of the Cabelas. The folks who build these chain restaurants likely knew this was coming before the general public, and that has heavily influenced their decisions. Believe me, it will have an effect that is good for the area where it will locate and not so good for some of the surrounding areas.
I don't really understand what you mean. I was just saying that Cabela's will probably attract more shopping and dining to both Southridge and the entire area.
I don't really understand what you mean. I was just saying that Cabela's will probably attract more shopping and dining to both Southridge and the entire area.
Overall it will be a plus for your area. It will have some negative effects on surrounding areas though, and likely some negative effect downtown as business seeks closer proximity to Cabelas. If you want to get an idea of the effect, take a trip to Wheeling and see what it did there. Major retail on the other end of the area (St. Clairsville) is off by maybe 30% and several businesses have left downtown to be near Cabelas.
It is, however, drawing customers to the county from as far as Pittsburgh so overall it is a plus. It is a much smaller operation planned there than what they have in Wheeling, but it will still have a big impact. Expect it to draw heavily from Putnam and Cabell counties and from as far away as Parkersburg and Beckley in my opinion.
People will drive to shop there, no doubt about it. It is a huge get for Kanawha County as a whole.
Overall it will be a plus for your area. It will have some negative effects on surrounding areas though, and likely some negative effect downtown as business seeks closer proximity to Cabelas. If you want to get an idea of the effect, take a trip to Wheeling and see what it did there. Major retail on the other end of the area (St. Clairsville) is off by maybe 30% and several businesses have left downtown to be near Cabelas.
It is, however, drawing customers to the county from as far as Pittsburgh so overall it is a plus. It is a much smaller operation planned there than what they have in Wheeling, but it will still have a big impact. Expect it to draw heavily from Putnam and Cabell counties and from as far away as Parkersburg and Beckley in my opinion.
People will drive to shop there, no doubt about it. It is a huge get for Kanawha County as a whole.
But the Charleston is different from Wheeling in that Southridge is already the city's largest retail market. In Wheeling, there was nothing where Cabela's moved to. There is already a large retail and hospitality scene out there, and I doubt there will be much impact on area businesses becasue that area already has the advantage. Downtown and Southridge have nothing in common as far as types of business and the type of people it is marketing to.
And I think you are missing the Cabela's market as a whole. People drive hundreds of miles to those places, sometimes leaving with truck loads of junk. Our Cabela's will be special for two reasons. One being it is located in the heart of major highways and vacation routes and will attract people from the south because it will be the most southern store. Second it is located close to West Virginia's major attractions and outdoor venues, and will act as a economy boost for the tourism industry in the region. Where the Wheeling store really didn't impact the whole state, our store has a chance to do that.
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