Area shops reflect the region’s connection to the outdoors, wellness and the arts.
Courtesy of Wasena Creative/Pedro Vega Jr.
Crystal Spring Grocery features a made-to-order lunch counter, along with unique ingredients for your busy lifestyle.
When you think Roanoke, here’s what likely comes to mind: outdoor mountain town, mountain biking capital of the East, millennial stomping ground, a place where the living’s good and the people are even better.
It only makes sense that the Roanoke Valley’s shops and businesses travel that same path.
With last year’s arrival of Mast General Store, the launching of a new wellness hub downtown, and the much-anticipated opening of a foodie-focused shop in South Roanoke, the direction is clear. Roanoke’s retail is rooted in the mountains, inspired by the outdoors and ready to roll.
“Roanoke really has the vibe and feel of one of our mountain communities,” says Mast General Store president Lisa Cooper, explaining what made the Star City an attractive addition to the Mast lineup of stores located throughout North and South Carolina and beyond. “It felt like the right place for us.”
While 2020 was a tough year for nearly every industry, Roanoke’s retail persevered by strengthening ties with local shoppers, developing a greater online presence and pivoting to provide customers the products and services they were most looking for.
“We’ve had to stay very nimble,” says Black Dog Salvage CEO and founder Mike Whiteside. “You’ve got to be able to redirect for whatever the market wants.”
Last year, Black Dog Salvage began offering monthly vendor fairs at their outside Dog Bowl venue, complete with live music and food trucks. It was a way to attract shoppers to their expansive showroom on a regular basis.
“You have to serve the local community,” he says. “They are your constant.”
For locals and tourists alike, Roanoke’s small businesses offer one-of-a-kind finds, top-shelf service and destination experiences — across all sectors.
Courtesy of Mast General Store
Mast General Store is one of the newest downtown Roanoke retail shops.
Say you’re in search of an outdoor adventure. You’ll want to discover the leading brands and employee know-how of Walkabout Outfitter, fly fishing guru Orvis, East Coasters Bike Shop or Just the Right Gear, located within riding distance of the region’s biking trail epicenter, Carvins Cove Natural Reserve.
Or maybe running’s your thing. Be sure to stop by Roanoke County’s two specialty stores, Fleet Feet and RunAbout Sports.
For gifts you can’t find anywhere else — many made in Virginia — visit downtown Roanoke’s chocolatepaper, Crafteria: Handmade Food & Goods or The Gift Niche. Or peruse the swirl of candy and clothing and cast iron and fun of Mast General Store.
“Every time we go to a new market, we look for local products to support,” Cooper explains.
For clothes that are a cut above, try downtown’s La De Da, Grandin Village’s Urban Gypsy, Roanoke County’s The Bird Cage Boutique, or Seven47 in Vinton. For first-class menswear, Davidsons Clothing and Alligator Alley can’t be beat.
Take home unique furnishings — and local art — from Towers Shopping Center’s Present Thyme, Roanoke County’s Magnolia, or Grandin Village’s Black Dog Salvage.
“We make ‘Wow’ pieces, as in people say ‘Wow! Where’d that come from?’” says Black Dog’s Whiteside.
Roanoke is a great city for foodies, too, with restaurant gems sprinkled throughout the region and a strong community of local providers. A dozen or more farmers markets dot the region — many of them open weekdays as well as Saturdays.
Specialty food shops invite browsing, as well. Think: Roanoke County’s Oliveto, featuring top-shelf olive oils and balsamic vinegars that can be tasted in-store and poured into refillable bottles. Or, downtown Roanoke’s Ladles and Linens Kitchen Shoppe, offering whimsical inspiration for parties and meals.
If beer or wine are your jam, Mr. Bill’s Wine Cellar, Wine Gourmet, Barrel Chest Wine & Beer and The Jolly Grape can help you make a selection perfect for your table.
New to the gourmet scene is Crystal Spring Grocery Co., located in the refurbished Tinnell’s Finer Foods space in South Roanoke. Featuring grab-and-go sandwiches, unique cocktail ingredients, a made-to-order lunch counter and take-home meal kits, the concept matches Roanokers’ appreciation of quality food and on-the-go lifestyle.
“I kind of have this vision of folks buying everything they’d want for a picnic or a trip to the winery,” says former chef/owner Aaron Deal.
Wellness — everything from yoga studios to alternative health therapies to health food stores — is a growing sector of Roanoke’s retail scene.
Recently opened holistic businesses include yoga studio with “potions bar” Hustle/Haven, The Buffalo Hemp Company, Still Water Floatation, Earth Fare and The Haven on 5th, with its acupuncture studio and healthful restaurant, Garden Song Eco Cafe.
But Valarie Angle and her business partner (and fiancé) Jonathan Roberts have an even bigger wellness dream in mind. They’re envisioning a downtown storefront that brings holistic services, events and goods together under one roof.
“We want to create a wellness focus and we want it to be loud so that visitors and tourists and people in the community have to start paying attention to it,” Angle explains.
The WellNest Roanoke is unfolding in stages. But endgame plans include up to four floors of provider offices and studios, a cafe, a retail area, and spaces for informal gatherings and more formal events. Angle has lined up investors, gathered hypnosis practitioners, red light therapists and shamanic healers, and compiled a membership list.
“If there’s something exactly like this, I haven’t found it yet,” she explains.
Which makes Roanoke the perfect place for The WellNest to launch, she says.
“Roanoke is very open-minded and diverse for a small city,” she says.
It’s also tight-knit, friendly and community-focused, business owners say. The Star City is forward-looking and ready to serve locals and visitors.
“Roanokers value creating a place we want to live,” Angle says.