Tomas Rahal, who favored an underpass instead of a bridge, took over the former Spudnuts building in 2017 after the donut shop shuttered in 2016. Photo by Eze Amos.
Both Project Gait-Way and the Belmont Vortex created ways for planners to dream up ideas for the urban landscape around Avon Street. Since 2011, there have been many transformations while the new bridge and street layout awaited construction.
In December 2014, what had previously been used as a hair salon and then a small grocery store became one of the area’s most sought-after restaurants: Lampo Neapolitan Pizzeria. The previous June, the owners of Lampo had used a crane to lower a three-ton oven from Naples into their space at 205 Monticello Rd.
At least one exhibition on potential options was held next door in the space formerly occupied by the Bridge Performing Arts Initiative. The creative center moved to the Downtown Mall last year after Lightning Properties, the real estate umbrella of Lampo and Bar Baleno, bought both properties for $800,000 in April 2022 to allow for expansion.
Lampo reopened after the pandemic in August 2022 while construction of the bridge was underway.
“Finally feels like things are back to normal,” says Lampo co-owner Loren Mendosa. “The bridge was certainly a pain, but now that it’s done we’ve noticed a bit of an uptick.”
In 2016, Charlottesville said goodbye to Spudnuts, a beloved purveyor of potato-flour donuts at 309 Avon St. that had been in business since 1969. Tomas Rahal, a former chef at Mas Tapas, took over the space in 2017 with Quality Pie. During construction of the bridge, Rahal took the city to task for not doing enough to support local businesses in the face of the disruption. He preferred the underpass option.
“The roadway, not a bridge at all, serves as a visual scar across our viewscape, instead of healing the rift between north Downtown and Belmont,” Rahal says. “They have cleaned up most of their mess, [but] the damage to us was deep, persistent, long-lasting.”
Located one block to the north at 403 Avon St., Fox’s Cafe closed during the pandemic, and the building and two adjacent lots were purchased for $1.4 million in February 2023. There are currently no plans filed to redevelop the site except for an application for a building permit for a new alcove. Daddy Mack’s Grub Shack food truck currently operates from the site.
Across the street at 405 Avon St. and 405 Levy Ave., the Charlottesville Redevelopment and Housing Authority continues to operate its maintenance division on 1.1 acres now owned by the City of Charlottesville. The CRHA adopted a master plan in the summer of 2010 that called for the former auto service station to become a new apartment building with affordable units. That never happened—in part because of opposition from Belmont residents. The nonprofit Community Bikes occupied the site for many years before the CRHA began to use the property.
Earlier this year, several Belmont residents also opposed the notion of the city purchasing the property for a potential homeless shelter, while others welcomed that possibility. In January, City Manager Sam Sanders recommended that $4 million in leftover federal COVID-relief funds be used to buy the land and to allow CRHA to remain as a tenant while determining the property’s potential future. Afton Schneider, the city’s communications director, said there are no plans that can be shared with the public at this time.
There are also no redevelopment plans filed for 310 Avon St., a property under the single ownership of Avon Court LLC, which formerly housed the original location of Better Living and an old lumber supply warehouse. That building was demolished in late 2009, leaving other commercial properties on the site. One of them was the original home of Champion Brewing Company, which opened in the fall of 2012 and closed at the end of June 2023.
The construction of the bridge created new ways to get to 100 and 110 Avon St. just to the south of Lampo. The building at 100 Avon St. changed hands in December 2020 for $4.5 million, and the new owner renovated the existing structure to add several apartments. A site plan for an additional four-story building has been approved, but the units have not yet been built.
Deborah Bell and Martin Burks of J.F. Bell Funeral Home. Photo by Amy Jackson.
In a city like Charlottesville, where Thomas Jefferson sneezed his creativity and innovation into practically every brick paver, it’s easy for entrepreneurs to feel buoyed enough to follow a dream. It makes for an ever-changing skyline, with new businesses springing up like wildflowers.
But amid that same skyline there exists a group of businesses that have stood the test of time—some even for centuries. With this year’s Power Issue, we’re taking a look at 40 over 40: venerable establishments that have, over the course of their tenure in Charlottesville, become pillars of the community, repositories of local lore, and witnesses to the city’s transformation.
Their endurance is a testament to their commitment to quality and service, certainly, but it also endows them with a unique form of power–one that’s not merely economic, but is woven into the social and cultural fabric of the city. It manifests in their ability to shape local traditions, support community initiatives, and even steer public discourse. As we delve into the stories of the longest-running businesses in our city, we uncover how their remarkable longevity grants them a potent and enduring legacy of influence and respect.
#lawyered
McGuireWoods 1834 (190 years)
Supplied photo.
The story of local law firm McGuireWoods starts nearly two centuries ago with President James Monroe’s private secretary, Egbert Watson. An Albemarle native who began his legal career as a law clerk for George Hay (a co-counsel in the treason trial of then-Vice President Aaron Burr), Watson started his one-man law firm—the very one that would become McGuireWoods—at the Albemarle County Courthouse at age 24. Watson’s first case, tried unsuccessfully, was the defense of two Black men accused of murdering a local tinsmith.
Today, McGuireWoods is a leading full-service law firm with 21 offices and 1,100 lawyers worldwide handling cases across multiple sectors: energy, commercial, fiduciary, products and consumer goods, transportation, and labor and employment.
“Our rich culture is one of a kind, in large part because we live our core values everyday—excellence, integrity, client service, diversity and inclusion, community, and collegiality,” says Michael Sluss, McGuireWoods’ marketing and communications manager.
According to National Law Journal’s 2023 NLJ 500, McGuireWoods is the 64th highest-grossing firm in the world. Through a series of mergers and acquisitions, the firm has changed hands multiple times since its founding but continues to hold its roots in high regard.
“Our history … imbues us with a profound sense of responsibility for the firm of today and tomorrow,” says Sluss.
Good, better, best
Better Living Building Supply 1893 (131 years)
Supplied photo.
Better Living has its stamp on buildings across the city. As general contractors, they built the McGuffey School, the Barringer Wing of the original University Hospital, and Peabody Hall at the University of Virginia—not to mention subdivisions like Camelot, Foxbrook, and Green Lea.
But when L.W. Graves started the business in 1893, the company had one product: lumber. And it was delivered by horse and buggy, no less!
It wasn’t until the mid-1920s that Better Living—then known as Charlottesville Lumber—expanded into the construction business, and later, during World War II, produced portable barracks and large shipping crates to support the war effort. (Future company president Richard L. Nunley was at the time serving in the 13th Air Force in the Philippines.) It opened a furniture business in 1960, changing its name in 1969 to Better Living, but closed in 2016 to refocus on its speciality: building supplies, custom millwork, and cabinetry.
Stay fancy
Keswick Hall 1912 (112 years)
Photo via Keswick Hall.
The first 35 years of Keswick Hall’s centerpiece structure, Villa Crawford, were spent as a residence to five different owners, including Robert and Florence Crawford, the couple who built it in 1912. But, as with any home—even the upscale ones—the more people living in it, the more wear and tear it acquires, and by the 1980s, it was in shambles.
The property was rescued in 1990 by Sir Bernard Ashley, an English businessman who, with his wife Laura Ashley (yes, that Laura Ashley), had a growing textile and clothing empire. Laura Ashley had passed five years prior, and Bernard began purchasing estates to convert into hotels—two in America (including Keswick) and one in England. He transformed the residence into a boutique hotel, decorating it with his own collection of antiques and giving each room a theme.
From there Keswick changed hands a few more times, but unlike before, it leveled up with each new ownership. Today the hotel is owned by Molly and Robert Hardie, longtime guests and eventually members of the club who bought the property in 2017. Together they’ve upgraded its dining (Marigold by Jean-Georges), accommodations (standardizing room sizes and creating custom-scented in-room toiletries), and amenities (a revamped horizon pool, seven-court tennis facility, and a pickleball court). And the iconic Villa Crawford? It was transformed into Crawford’s Bar, “a beautifully preserved space that retains the charm of its 1912 origins,” says Molly.
“Our design philosophy draws direct inspiration from the region’s rich environmental and historical tapestry, offering guests an authentic journey through the area’s cultural past,” she says. “Our aim is for every guest to depart with cherished memories of a stay that captures the essence of Keswick Hall’s storied heritage and contemporary comforts.”
Resting place
J.F. Bell Funeral Home 1917 (107 years)
Photo by Eze Amos.
Today the oldest Black-owned business in Charlottesville, J.F. Bell Funeral Home might never have opened were it not for John Ferris Bell’s cousin, who lured the tailor to Charlottesville. A local dentist, John Jackson told Bell that the city was lacking a funeral home for its growing population of Black residents. Bell moved from Chicago, where he’d also trained as a funeral director and mortician, to the heart of Charlottesville’s Vinegar Hill neighborhood to set up shop.
He opened J.F. Bell Funeral Home in 1917 at 275 W. Main St., a two-story brick building across the street from the wooden boarding house where Bell lived. A few years after he married in 1919 to Maude Lee, who later became a funeral director herself, the couple relocated the business to its current location on Sixth Street NW, hiring a local contractor to build the funeral home with an apartment upstairs for the family.
Four generations later, J.F. Bell Funeral Home is today run by Bell’s granddaughter, Deborah Burks, and her husband Martin.
Turning the page
New Dominion Bookshop 1924 (100 years)
Photo by Amanda Maglione.
C.C. Wells, the UVA student who purchased New Dominion in 1926 and moved it to the Downtown Mall, had a dream.
“All I ever wanted to do was sell books,” Wells told Charlottesville’s Observer newspaper in 1989, two years after Carol Troxell had taken over as the shop’s owner. And that’s exactly what he did, to hordes of customers who will likely forever remember seeing their favorite author give a book talk at the base of the store’s iconic staircase, or having one of the knowledgeable staff members pick out their next favorite read, or even getting married (the shop has recently begun offering microweddings for bibliophiles)!
The oldest independent bookstore in Virginia, New Dominion continues to build on its legacy. In 2017, creative writing M.F.A. and former schoolteacher Julia Hoppe purchased the store, making a few modern changes (including a new cash register and website) while keeping the best of what Wells (and Troxell) had established before her.
Open to all
Barrett Early Learning Center 1935 (89 years)
Supplied photo.
Born to a formerly enslaved woman just after the Civil War, Janie Porter Barrett spent a lifetime advocating for the rights and education of Black girls and women. She studied at Hampton University, taught there and at industrial schools in Georgia, and eventually founded the Locust Street Settlement House, where local Black students would come for classes, entertainment, and childcare.
In 1915, Barrett opened the Industrial School for Wayward Colored Girls near Hanover to serve Black girls paroled from the prison system; it was renamed the Janie Porter Barrett School for Girls in 1950.
But it was in 1935 that, under FDR’s Works Progress Administration program, the Janie Porter Barrett Day Nursery opened its doors in Charlottesville’s Vinegar Hill neighborhood. It remained there until 1958, when the United Way (then Community Chest) gifted it a new home on Ridge Street. In the years since, it has become a fixture for the neighborhood as one of the few affordable childcare options for low-income residents, and it still attracts generations of mostly Black families.
In 2013 it nearly shuttered due to financial hardship, but residents rallied, forming a board of directors that within a month raised more than $30,000 to keep its doors open, demonstrating its vital role in the community.
Pipes to t-shirts
Mincer’s 1948 (76 years)
Supplied photo.
Everyone’s favorite UVA merch spot didn’t always sell apparel with the University logo. In fact, the Corner shop’s first product was … pipes?
Robert Mincer started the business just after the end of World War II, following a layoff from his job as a foreman at a Long Island-based pipe manufacturer. Too many military-issued pipes had made their way back to the United States post-war and, thanks to increased supply and demand, Mincer needed to find his next step. He and his wife moved to Charlottesville, where they opened a 100-square-foot smoke shop.
The store evolved over time to the sportswear business it is today, moving to its current location at the corner of Elliewood and University avenues, and expanding the product line to include everything from t-shirts and sweatshirts to books, water bottles, and toys for kids. It’s the go-to spot for UVA merch—especially after UVA wins a game.
Today the store, which opened a second location at Stonefield Shopping Center in 2013, is run by Mincer’s great-grandson, Cal, who took the reins in early 2023 following the passing of his father, Mark, who himself had run the store since graduating from the University’s McIntire School in 1985.
Spree spot
Barracks Road Shopping Center 1957 (67 years)
Before there was the Downtown Mall, there was Barracks Road Shopping Center. In fact, the success of Barracks Road was a major impetus for the Mall’s conversion. The shopping center touted “acres of free parking” on its first run of advertisements from developer Rinehart, luring shoppers from Main Street’s metered spots and prompting studies in 1959 to reboot downtown’s popularity shortly after Barracks Road opened.
Today Barracks Road is one of the oldest shopping centers in the country, with a mix of 80+ stores, restaurants, and experiences that include both big-name brands like Madewell, Warby Parker, and Ulta, as well as locally owned boutiques like Scarpa and Happy Cook.
“Known for its evolving collection of popular national and regional brands, intertwined with the allure of specialty local boutiques, eateries, and convenient services, Barracks Road continues to attract and maintain retailers,” says Sarah North, senior director of marketing for Federal Realty, who owns the shopping center. “Barracks will remain a fundamental member of the community and we look forward to the next 40 years.”
Play’s the thing
Shenanigans 1974 (50 years)
Photo by Eric Kelley.
When Kai Rady moved to Charlottesville with her family in 1974, she was surprised (and dismayed) to find it didn’t have a toy store. Her son was active and curious, and she needed things to keep him stimulated.
Rady remembered seeing an article in Ms. Magazine (“a terrific list of at least 100 items, 90 percent of which were not in the area—including LEGO!” she told C-VILLE in 2013) and it spurred her to start her own store. She opened Shenanigans in her Ivy Road home before moving it to Barracks Road Shopping Center and, eventually, to its current spot on West Main Street.
Now 50 years in, the store hasn’t changed much in terms of its mission: “I’m looking always for play value,” Rady told us. “A toy can be very educational … but if they’re not going to play with it, it’s not [useful]. It has to appeal to a child’s sensibilities.”
Amanda Stevens, a former elementary school teacher and principal, purchased the beloved shop with her husband Jimmy in 2019 and has since made a few valuable changes, including creating an online inventory.
“Generations of families have shared in the wonder of Shenanigans Toy Store over the last 50 years, and our family considers it a tremendous honor to be a part of this legacy,” Stevens said in a press release announcing the store’s 50th anniversary. “We treasure our customers’ loyalty, the opportunities we have to interact with families, and the chance to give back to children in the community.”
Making history
The story of Charlottesville’s life wouldn’t be complete without each of these well-established players:
To commemorate the ending of slavery in the United States, Charlottesville’s Juneteenth Celebration kicks off with an early-morning parade followed by a welcome address that includes the Negro National Anthem. The afternoon features an Emancipation Concert with the soulful sounds of singer Ezra Hamilton and the trumpet-heavy tunes of the Ellis Williams Band, plus performances by Chris Redd, Raymond Brooks, and other talented musicians. The 8th annual Charlottesville-Albemarle Black Business Expo will also take place during the celebration, with dozens of booths from local Black-owned businesses, panel discussions aimed at entrepreneurs, and a business pitch competition with cash prizes.
Saturday 6/15. Free, 9am–3pm. Jefferson School African American Heritage Center, 233 Fourth St. NW. jeffschoolheritagecenter.org
Long before he was a successful businessman, pilot, and entrepreneur, it was evident that Bill Crutchfield’s fate was to be the main character of his story, whatever that may be. In 1950, at 8 years old, he built his first radio. At 13, he built what was, to the best of his knowledge, “the first stereo system in Virginia.”
“It was very crude by today’s standards,” he says. “I combined two sets of speakers connected to two separate mono hi-fi amplifiers in my bedroom. They were connected to a two-channel tape head mounted to an old office reel-to-reel tape recorder.”
Crutchfield’s father was the head of neurology at the University of Virginia, and a man his son describes as “an early adopter of technology.” That forward-thinking, open-mindedness wouldn’t simply be passed down to his son—it would be amplified by his talent, augmented by his experience, and harnessed as one of Bill Crutchfield’s greatest assets as an entrepreneur.
This aptitude for detecting trends, and Crutchfield’s ability to detect problems and solve them before they exist, were what helped him turn his modest car stereo business into an electronics empire that became one of Charlottesville’s flagship businesses.
“I wanted to restore old Porsches,” Crutchfield says. “And that’s when I noticed that there was a real lack of car stereo retailers. I thought it was a market that was really underserved at that time. That’s how I found my niche.”
Prior to the 1970s, car audio systems were something that came stock from the factory, and their availability from third-party retailers was extremely limited. Until the advent of the 8-track tape, the sound system in a vehicle was thought of as a luxury by many—an afterthought. By the late 1970s and early 1980s, as cassette tapes became the popular album format, car audio exploded into a million-dollar industry. By that time, Crutchfield had already established itself as one of the premier names in the business, not through the promulgation of retail stores like most of their main competitors, but through their mail-order business and the Crutchfield “magalog.”
“Our first catalog was a disaster,” Crutchfield says. “A lot of it was wiring diagrams we drew ourselves, and it just didn’t work very well. Our second one wasn’t much better. I thought it would be a good idea to start including articles about installing these devices in our catalog, but it went against everything people knew about advertising and marketing back then to use space for anything other than sales copy. But that was when we really started seeing some success, was with our ‘magalog.’”
While Bill Crutchfield was building his business, he says he worked 100 hours or more almost every week. He credits this work ethic, along with finding the right niche and even his name, as possible reasons for the success of his 50-year-old company. Photo by Eze Amos.
As the company was making its name in the mail-order business, Crutchfield’s retail store was becoming more popular in Charlottesville, and its advertising on radio and television in the area became inescapable. The company outgrew building after building, eventually constructing its headquarters and fulfillment center beside the Charlottesville Albemarle Airport.
Arriving at 1 Crutchfield Circle for the first time, I notice that the building is earth-sheltered, with the ground built up around it for temperature regulation. Forty years before “going green” was a thing, Crutchfield designed his company headquarters to be one of the most energy efficient commercial buildings in the world at that time. I walk through the door and, after a firm, old-school handshake, Crutchfield invites me to tour the facility with him.
We hop in his electric Mercedes-Benz, and silently glide through the rain between the three different properties that make up the Crutchfield complex. The first stop on the tour is the call center, a soft-white cubicle matrix dotted with personalized workspaces, comfy chairs, and baby gates used to keep people’s dogs confined in their own workspaces.
“We’re a dog-friendly company,” Crutchfield says, a bit of an understatement, given that every third person seems to have a furry friend with them.
Everywhere we walk, inspirational messages adorn the walls. At first glance, they seem like the pseudo-spiritual posters created to motivate employees stuck in the daily office grind. What I don’t realize is that what hangs on the walls at Crutchfield isn’t the trite clichés so commonly used as filler for blank office spaces. I am reading Bill Crutchfield’s core values, something everyone takes seriously, and with good reason: They saved his company.
It was the 1980s, and Crutchfield was struggling.
“Our 1982 sales grew significantly while our profits nosedived,” Crutchfield says. “In 1983, our financial situation worsened. Sales fell by 10 percent, and earnings turned negative. Our cash reserves dwindled rapidly because of these losses. By spring, I had to take out more short-term bank loans to help cover these losses.”
He sought help, and one vice president was vocal about his belief that Crutchfield needed to spend less on the quality of his magazine and customer support, and focus on matching his competitor’s prices. Crutchfield even got input from the University of Virginia undergraduate business school (for which he chaired the advisory committee). A professor wrote a case study that concluded, “Crutchfield Corporation has gotten bigger than Bill Crutchfield can handle.”
Crutchfield spent several weeks and months contemplating the problem, and the conclusion he came to was that the issue with his company was one of culture and not of capital.
“During this lonely intellectual probing, I read a statement which was so appropriate to our situation that it was almost uncanny,” Crutchfield wrote on the company website in a retrospective post. “It was made by Thomas Watson, Jr. during a lecture at Columbia University in 1962. The IBM chair said, ‘I firmly believe that any organization, in order to survive and achieve success, must have a sound set of beliefs on which it premises all its policies and actions. Next … I believe that if an organization is to meet the challenges of a changing world, it must be prepared to change everything about itself except those beliefs as it moves through corporate life.’
“Now I understood exactly what the problem was,” Crutchfield continued. “My company once had a set of common beliefs—my beliefs. When the company was much smaller, I was instinctively able to ensure that everyone adhered to my beliefs. As it grew, I had to delegate decision-making to others. As a result, my beliefs and the company’s beliefs gradually started to diverge. By 1983, they were vastly different. Since this change had occurred so slowly, I never fully recognized the problem until I read Mr. Watson’s comments.”
Crutchfield’s campaign to reinstill his values into the company he built began with the obvious task of defining those values. First, the total satisfaction of the customer is paramount. Second, respect for dedication to your fellow employees. Third, maintaining a commitment to excellence. Paramount above all three things, though, is a very simple, ancient maxim: Treat others as you want to be treated.
Through training, innovation, incentives, and discipline, he began to regain control of his company’s culture and morale. It was a crucial time, and it’s why many people, including Chief Human Resources Officer Chris Lilley and Chief Content Officer Amy Lenert, say the culture and camaraderie within the company is what makes Crutchfield such an amazing place to work.
“Working in creative [departments], there can be a certain amount of egos involved,” Lenert says. “That really just … doesn’t exist here. Honestly. Everyone’s really on the same team.”
“I came on in ’94,” Lilley says. “I thought I would be here maybe a couple years.”
Lilley says it was during the COVID-19 pandemic that the true commitment toward each other and the business really shined.
“We were open because the governor kept a lot of businesses with shipping capacity open in case they needed the distribution access for PPE,” he says. “So we were dealing with that, plus all the people working remotely, and in the middle of all that, sales went through the roof. It was up, like, 30 percent. I mean, it was crazy. And in the middle of all that, Bill came and we were talking and he said something I’ll never forget. He said, ‘You need to understand: You and I are responsible for 400 families.’ I think it’s even more than that now. But I think that’s what really makes me love my job, is having someone who shares my values and really wants to take care of people.”
When Lilley talks about Crutchfield—both the company and the man—“taking care of people,” it isn’t euphemistic. Crutchfield was the driving force behind smoking cessation programs in his company in the ’80s, back when you could still smoke on some airplanes. He was concerned about the environment when he built his primary corporate headquarters building in 1977. When Crutchfield recognized the negative environmental impact of styrofoam packing peanuts, he came up with a biodegradable, starch-based replacement that is manufactured in-house.
“Sometimes, I tell people from Charlottesville I work for Crutchfield,” Lenert says. “And sometimes they’re like, ‘the stereo store?’” in reference to the company’s retail space on 29 North near Rio Hill. “We’re a multi-million dollar company, with four huge buildings, hundreds of employees. … All I tell them is, ‘it’s so much more than a store.’”
Super Bit General Manager Elizabeth Kadeli and owner Chris Jackson
are dedicated to preserving the experience of playing retro video games on physical media. @superbitcville on Instagram
Everywhere I travel, I look for a retro video game store. But when I moved to Charlottesville, I was shocked to find not a single one—especially because my hometown Richmond has several. Vinyl? Sure. Books? Tons. But vintage games were not available in C’ville.
That all changed when Super Bit came to town in November. Spun off from its initial location in Annandale, the new Seminole Square shop fills an important niche. People here want to play old games, and now it’s as easy as walking into a store.
“I would say the overall theme of Charlottesville, in my opinion, has just been people being nostalgic,” says owner Chris Jackson. “People like having a store like this and people want to support the store.”
Jackson and general manager Elizabeth Kadeli opened Super Bit in the perfect spot—its neighbors include other hobby shops, like The End Games, and Hello Comics. But since opening a second location in Charlottesville, Jackson and Kadeli have struck up friendships with store owners all over town, even partnering with SuperFly Brewing Co. for a one-night-only retro gaming lounge in February.
Retro game shops often play off of nostalgia, but not everyone comes into Super Bit looking for famous games like Super Mario Bros. 3 or Street Fighter II.
“You never know what people are gonna look for,” Jackson says. “You know, someone sees a random $7 game on the shelf that you never would have thought of, and they go, ‘Oh my gosh, this game was everything. My sister and I spent hundreds of hours playing this.’”
And sometimes, those $7 games are trapped on the cartridge or disc they shipped on—it’s the only legal way to play them. A staggering 87 percent of all classic games released in the U.S. are out of print, according to a 2023 study by the Video Game History Foundation and the Software Preservation Network. Stores like Super Bit help keep these works in circulation.
To that end, the shop is committed to physical media, especially since the transitory nature of digital downloads and streaming services means fewer and fewer people actually own the games, movies, music, and ebooks they buy.
“These companies don’t hesitate to tell you that you don’t own these things. You’re just borrowing them, but you paid for it,” says Kadeli. “There’s a certain majesty in having the physical copies of the games, or to actually have the systems because you don’t have to have that same fear.”
“There’s also a lot of people in the surrounding areas who don’t have internet access,” Kadeli adds, “but who can come and get a Genesis, an NES, all these things that don’t need the internet—you just need the system and the games, and you can play it. And you don’t need to worry about having to update anything, you don’t need to worry about any of that.”
Super Bit’s dedication to physical media means it also carries some vintage VHS tapes, board games, and toys. And while Jackson and Kadeli would like to expand into more mediums, games remain their focus. They’re committed enough to preserving the experience of playing retro games that they also sell CRT televisions, which many purists argue is the ideal way to play titles from the 1980s and ’90s.
“The further we get away from physical stuff, the more demand there is going to be for it,” says Jackson. “If you watch any kind of futuristic movie, there’s always people that collect, like, VHS players. … I think it’s gonna come full circle.”
During the summer, Corner businesses adapt to a smaller population with fewer customers. Photo courtesy of Skyclad Aerial.
By Caroline Eastham
During the summer, the UVA student population dwindles from near 25,000 to around 4,000. Despite this significant decrease, it’s business as usual for many Corner restaurants and stores, which have learned over the years to use this time as an opportunity to cater to different crowds and to improve overall customer experience.
Cal Mincer, vice president at Mincer’s, says staying afloat is not a concern for the sportswear store, especially with recent national championships for UVA men’s basketball and lacrosse. “This summer we are definitely summer-proof,” he says. “With two championships back to back…business is as good as it’s ever been.”
Summer events like sports camps and reunions also contribute to expected annual business surges, he says. “We definitely have slow periods in most summers without the students, but we also have some of our busiest weekends in the summer.”
At Corner Juice, the summer offers a time to reset and consider aspects that may get overlooked during the hectic school year, says Willem van Dijk, director of operations. “The nice thing about the summer is that there’s time to rethink your menu and rethink the experience. You get to really have a conversation with people and make sure that they are getting the best experience possible.”
Corner Juice tweaks its hours during the warm months. “It works better to have concentrated hours in which you want your customers to come for those breakfast and lunch times,” says van Dijk. During the school year, he says the restaurant can have a line out the door for hours at a time. “You don’t get that when there’s 20,000 people missing, but we cope.” The juicery is using the summer to open a second location on the Downtown Mall.
Other Corner establishments offer deals or special menu items to sustain customer traffic. Brittany Knouse, Trinity Irish Pub general manager, says the bar has specials to boost business. “We want to offer something to people who work at the hospital and around the Corner and keep them coming back,” she says.
Similarly, at Roots Natural Kitchen, assistant crew leader Lisa Oktayuren says the UVA hospital and Charlottesville families serve as some of its biggest customer groups during the summer. “The knowledge of students being gone brings out all the other people,” she says. “People like to have a cleared Corner versus a crowded Corner. Summer isn’t an obstacle, it’s just a different perspective.”
The demise of Performance Bicycle will still leave Charlottesville with what the industry considers an overcrowded market.
Staff photo
At a time when more people are pedaling, our area will kick off the new year with one fewer bike shop. Customers were told that longtime fixture Performance Bicycle in Seminole Square will close by the end of January, following the bankruptcy of Philadelphia-based parent company Advanced Sports Enterprises.
“It’s sad to see it close, sad for the people who work there,” says Andrew Sterling, an amateur bike builder and casual rider in Charlottesville. “The number of bicycle stores is shrinking. I’m surprised.”
Sterling points out that in addition to Performance, Cville Bike and Tri closed within the past four or so years. At the same time, other local bike experts say ridership is still growing.
The apparent disparity traces to overcrowding in the local market. Scott Paisley, co-owner of Blue Wheel Bikes, which was established in 1973, says industry norms suggest a city like Charlottesville can sustain about three bike shops.
Today, aside from chain store Performance, the city has Blue Wheel, two Blue Ridge Cyclery locations, the Bike Factory, Endeavour Bicycles, and Community Bikes, plus outlying businesses like Crozet Bicycle Shop.
No one at the local Performance store would speak with the media, and store manager Tim Gathright, who has been with the company 22 years, referred us to ASE, which had not responded at press time.
Performance was doing poorly two years ago. In August 2016, Advanced Sports International merged with Performance Bicycle and ASE became the parent company to both. Sales and profit growth lagged on the retail side, an ASE media release noted.
Performance has been known for its “head-scratchingly low prices,” and the low margins made profits difficult, according to Bicycling magazine.
Its closing could leave a sizeable amount of business available to other local stores. Shawn Tevendale, owner of Blue Ridge Cyclery, says that information he has puts Charlottesville as a $5 million to $6 million market for retail bicycles. Of that total, Performance has a 15 percent to 20 percent share, in the annual range from about $750,000 to $1.2 million.
Paisley says the pending departure of Performance may or may not significantly lift his business. “It’s always been hard to keep our nose above water,” he says. He credits the store’s 45-year longevity to co-owner Roger Friend’s attention to the bottom line and their ability to make financial sacrifices in the face of both brick-and-mortar and internet competition.
Tevendale is more optimistic. “Every retailer in Charlottesville stands to benefit from this and it will allow some other businesses to succeed.” He says he may be able to expand his team of 13.
“Cycling in Charlottesville is tricky,” says Paisley, “ but doable.”
Updated January 7 to add the Bike Factory among remaining bike shops.
The city shut-down placard sounds a lot worse than a collapsed ceiling.
Photo courtesy Sean Tubbs
West Main passersby were alarmed last week to see yellow caution tape stretched in front of Parallel 38 and Gus’ Custom Tailoring, and a sign declaring Continental Divide “unfit for human habitation or occupation.” Despite that dire warning, the problem (a collapsed ceiling) should be repaired and the restaurant up and running again next week, owners say.
Building owner Blake Hurt says no one was hurt when the false ceiling collapsed, dropping drywall into the popular southwestern eatery. When a city inspector checked the ceiling, he also noticed a few other issues with the building that resulted in the temporary shuttering of the other businesses. Among the problems: a groundhog hole under the foundation.
“It certainly got our attention,” says Hurt. “It’s an old building.”
He had a structural engineer inspect the building and says all the issues have been addressed.
Parallel 38 has been granted permission for re-occupancy, according to Neighborhood Development director Alex Ikefuna. Gus’ Custom Tailoring also is open.
The “unfit” sign in Continental Divide’s door has been replaced with a “What the heck haiku” that reads, “Hey y’all. We’re okay. Ceiling fell but not the sky. Don’t fret! Back real soon.”
Divide owner Duffy Pappas says the ceiling is being replaced and a re-opening is in sight. “We’re hoping for the end of next week.”
Soon the sign at Continental Divide will say “Get in here.”
Continental Divide’s ceiling repair is underway. Staff photo
Attorney Deborah Wyatt decided to buy her new Audi in Richmond rather than sign an arbitration agreement in Charlottesville.
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Devoted Audi owner Deborah Wyatt was set to buy her third car from Flow Automotive in Charlottesville in August—until she was presented with a separate arbitration agreement after signing the sales contract.
Arbitration agreements, which are more often part of banking or credit card terms, are usually designed to block your ability to sue in the event of a problem. As soon as Wyatt, who happens to be a lawyer, saw the title at the top she refused to sign. “The finance man made a face rather indicating he thought it was going to be required, but I felt certain it couldn’t legally be, since it wasn’t part of the contract,” Wyatt says. “It had never before been mentioned.”
The salesman let Wyatt drive the new car home, even though it wasn’t yet officially hers. When she returned the next day, again the arbitration agreement was presented.
She ripped it in half, gave back the car, and had to ask for a ride home.
“If it isn’t part of a purchaser’s agreement, it isn’t legal to then require a purchaser to basically waive the right to go to court,” says Wyatt, who has experience as a consumers’ rights attorney.
Most arbitration clauses prevent people from joining a class action lawsuit, instead requiring them to bring an individual claim against the company and to settle it outside of court with an arbitrator. Consumer agencies say this favors businesses rather than the consumer, because companies know that people almost never spend the time or money to pursue relief individually, especially when the amounts at stake are small.
Local consumer protection attorney Edward Wayland says most of his cases that involve car sales are disagreements over warranty terms. If a car dealer does insist on arbitration terms, Wayland says, “I think it would create big problems for consumers,” who could not sue, appeal, or join class-action suits, depending on the terms.
Remar Sutton, president of the Consumer Task Force for Automotive Issues, has urged consumers not to buy vehicles from any seller requiring a mandatory binding arbitration agreement. Why would consumers need to be able to sue an auto dealer? In a piece on autoissues.org, Sutton gives such examples as a dealership that buys wrecked vehicles then sells them without disclosing damage, one that forges your credit statement to give you a loan you could never afford, or even a dealership that trades in your old car but does not pay off the loan on the old car, which leaves you open to a suit from a financing company.
Flow Automotive manager Shawn Ayers didn’t wish to answer questions about the mandatory arbitration agreement, and referred a reporter to Flow Automotive Companies, based in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Several calls to the headquarters office were not answered. However, a call to a different Flow Automotive dealership in Statesville, North Carolina, confirmed that other Flows are using the arbitration agreement, which is separate from the sales contract.
At Umansky Toyota in Charlottesville, a finance department employee says the arbitration wording only applies to leased vehicles, and is not part of sales contracts.
Wyatt says that, by not including the arbitration agreement in the purchase contract, Flow possibly was violating the part of the Virginia Consumer Protection Act that says you can’t add terms to a contract. But she thinks signing to allow arbitration in a vehicle sale, whether in the purchase agreement or not, is a bad idea.
Savvy consumer Wyatt didn’t give up. She purchased the Audi she wanted from Audi Richmond, which did not require an arbitration agreement. In fact, she spoke with Audi USA, “which assured me there was no such Audi requirement” for arbitration. She called other Audi dealers to see if they would require this, and Roanoke didn’t either.
Despite the clause for concern, Wyatt is not done with Flow Charlottesville. She says she will continue to get her new Audi repaired there because she likes the service department.
DBAC chair Joan Fenton says the Downtown Mall has suffered after this summer, and the city needs to pitch in for what’s one of the area’s top tourist attractions.
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The Downtown Mall is not faring well, at least according to the Downtown Business Association of Charlottesville, which wants the city to pump up the maintenance and provide DBAC with $250,000 for advertising, staff, rent and holiday lighting.
Business in the entire city of Charlottesville dropped $14 million—nearly 12 percent—in September, the Charlottesville Regional Chamber of Commerce reports. And while August 12 is cited as a reason people aren’t coming downtown, so is parking, shoddy maintenance and safety concerns.
DBAC chair Joan Fenton points to the bricks on the mall that are sticking up and hazardous, despite the city’s $7.5 million rebricking project in 2009. “It’s an easy maintenance,” she says. “You need someone who knows what they’re doing.”
Loose brick on the mall, photographed in late August. Staff photo
Lighting is another big concern and the “biggest complaint from employees walking at night,” she says.
Fenton wrote a letter to City Manager Maurice Jones and City Council January 2 asking for increased mall funding in the upcoming budget for fiscal year 2019. She says the city’s budget has grown 17 percent over the past four years while the mall’s maintenance has declined 20 percent.
And Fenton is being vigilant about the budget after a walk on the mall last spring with city department heads. “I pointed out that the plants look awful,” she says. “[Assistant City Manager] Mike Murphy said I should have paid attention to the budget.”
The DBAC letter has a laundry list of wants: Seven-day-a-week policing, particularly at 2am when bars close, cameras, trash cans and public restrooms. The business association wants the city to hire a person to oversee mall decisions and an extra staffer to maintain and clean the mall as well as West Main to the Corner and side streets.
And it wants the city to provide $100,000 for DBAC to hire its own staffer and to pay rent for an office, along with $100,000 for advertising and $50,000 for lighting and decorations as part of the mall recovery program.
Spring Street Boutique owner Cynthia Schroeder, a DBAC member who also started the Downtown Business Alliance, says more mall maintenance is warranted, particularly with the city’s $9 million surplus, but she is skeptical about the DBAC request. “I would think a quarter million dollars with $100,000 for salaries is a bit high,” she says.
She supports a marketing plan to bring locals back downtown, and not just for one-time, alcohol-themed events like this fall’s Heal C-ville Beer Garden.
“Locals have a bad perception of the mall,” she says—that it’s “dangerous, dirty and filled with homeless people asking for money.”
Chamber of Commerce head Timothy Hulbert suggests there’s another big reason city revenues are down from a year ago. “Last September, last October, there was no 5th Street Station,” he says. And while the Unite the Right rally could be a factor, so could the weather or the timing of football games. “A month or a quarter doesn’t make a trend.”
North downtown resident Pat Napoleon, who is petitioning to remove three city councilors remaining from last year, says areas near the mall like Emancipation Park are filthy. “I don’t think it’s an inviting place.”
With erosion at the park, people sleeping there and a proliferation of cigarette butts tossed on the ground, she says, “A lot of people feel uncomfortable. It’s not a clean-looking place.”
Napoleon doesn’t think the city needs to give money to DBAC for staffing. “When I hear about a surplus, I think the city needs to use it more wisely. I think downtown business people need to put screws to the city.”
Former city spokesperson Miriam Dickler says of DBAC’s request, “There has been no decision on this. The budget is in process. Like all requests, this will be considered.”
Vice-Mayor Heather Hill says the request has to be evaluated against other priorities, but safety—of surfaces and lighting and cameras—are infrastructure expenditures “I’d certainly consider.”
Fenton wants the Downtown Mall to be in its own business improvement district, and says that appeared possible until commercial property assessments skyrocketed last year. “Once taxes increased, there was no way you could ask people to pay extra,” she says.
Because the mall is an income generator, she says the city should be investing in it. “People don’t drive from Northern Virginia to go to Barracks Road,” she says. “When UVA has new faculty prospects, they bring them to the Downtown Mall.”
Word on the mall is that some businesses are struggling. “If there isn’t a strong effort, I think we’re going to see a lot of businesses close,” says Schroeder. “The Downtown Mall clearly needs the support.”
Spring Street had busy days this fall, she says, but she will continue to re-evaluate her business. “When you put your heart and soul into something and traffic is down because of where you are…” She leaves the alternatives unspoken.
Correction January 30: The $14 million/12 percent decline in retail sales for Charlottesville was in September, not for the first three quarters of 2017 as originally reported.
