The story below is from our July/August 2019 issue. For the full issue Subscribe today, view our FREE interactive digital edition or download our FREE iOS app!
The Wasena neighborhood is growing fast, with retail and restaurants offering a new spot for Roanokers to spend time.
Jennifer Riales
Retro Getgo, RND Coffee and Electric Eye Tattoos are only a few of the new shops on Main.
Walking down the sidewalk toward the Roanoke River the eye at the center of the Electric Eye Custom Tattoos sign compels you to look inside at the bohemian-vintage styled studio. Monica Moses opened the premiere, all-female tattoo studio in 2017 after years of driving by the empty strip.
“I thought how cool they could be if someone just gave them a little love. They were in sad, sad shape for so long,” Moses says.
She said her only concern for the continued growth of the area is the closure of the Wasena bridge, but Moses says, “I feel confident the area can and will survive it.”
Nate Sloan, owner of incoming Bloom Restaurant and Wine Bar opening June 2019, says, “Wasena is beaming with vibrant and enthusiastic energy, and we feel this momentum will jive well with our mission statement.”
Bloom’s mission includes environmental impact awareness, community support and nurturing wellness through food as medicine.
Vintage clothing store, Retro Getgo and sustainable, slow fashion enterprise Line + Tow each opened in 2018 and sit in the same strip as the restaurant.
Retro Getgo sells vintage fashion items from the 1980s, 1970s, 1960s and 1950s. Line + Tow, a clothing store devoted to sustainability and quality made products, sources their materials and production to Guatemala, where owner Grace Brian partners with Casa Flor to bring her designs to fruition.
Quincy Randolph, co-owner of Roasters Next Door (RND) Coffee with his brother Steffon Randolph, opened the doors of their permanent location in April after having only a pop-up shop previously.
“It was the community support and willingness to embrace RND that made us decide to really lay down roots in the heart of Wasena,” Randolph says.
Randolph said the area was ripe for growth of incoming small businesses to take a chance in the formerly forgotten properties. RND Coffee is situated next to the Barber Shop on Main and around the corner from the former Ice House of Wasena, now home to apartments, Wasena City Tap Room and River Rock Climbing.
The Hive and Blacksnake Meadery, another burgeoning business in Wasena chose to plant their business here in 2017 as part of the revitalization of the area. The Hive will be hosting Honey Appreciation classes and Goat Cheese and Mead pairings each month.
“Wasena is kinda turning into the Grandin area’s cool little sister. I hope I have played some small part in enticing other businesses to come to the area,” Moses says.
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