nTraffic drives ads to a captive audience

nTraffic drives clients' ads to captive audience When Darick Lane lost his job as an installation manager for Circuit City in November, he wasn't sure what to do next.

The Henrico County resident had a couple of choices but few prospects. He could take his family back to Los Angeles or find a job.

"I went on 12 or 13 interviews, but at each one they had 200 or 300 applicants," he said.

So, after a couple of months without a job and having made the decision to stay in the area, what to do next was easy: Lane would start a business.

He opened nTraffic Advertising in late January.

"It's in response to the economy," he said. "I needed to take care of my own destiny. I needed to show there was life after Circuit City for me."

nTraffic operates two mobile billboards that travel the area displaying a series of four rotating ads on three screens.

Using data from the Virginia Department of Transportation, Lane maps out the most heavily traveled routes and sends the $40,000 trucks there.

Lane said driving in the most congested areas helps reach a captured audience.

"They can't turn you off," he said.

nTraffic charges about $200 per ad per week, with discounts for long-term contracts.

Early on, Lane has about three steady clients, though he is constantly working on landing more. He cold-calls about 25 businesses each day, he says.

"I'm taking everything I learned in the corporate world and applying it," he said.

One of the most important lessons, Lane says, is offering clients the products and services they need.

To do that, nTraffic not only runs the ads on its two trucks, but Lane and the other driver, wearing khakis and white polo shirts as uniforms, distribute their clients' fliers and hand out business cards.

"My goal is to be an extension of your company," he said.

Fresh Market to open

The Fresh Market grocery store in Midlothian is scheduled to open Wednesday.

The 23,000-square-foot store is on Huguenot Road between Alverser Drive and Midlothian Turnpike across from Chesterfield Towne Center.

The Fresh Market describes itself as a European-style market with a butcher shop, fish market and floral stands along with produce and a bakery.

This is the second Richmond-area store for the grocer and the fifth in Virginia. The other local Fresh Market is in Henrico on Parham Road.

Plan 9 store closing

Plan 9 Music will close its Harrisonburg store next week.

Manager Amy Rohrer said several things brought the music store down, including music downloading.

Five employees will lose their jobs, she said.

This is the second Plan 9 store to close this year. The Lynchburg store shut its doors Jan. 31.

Richmond-based Plan 9 will keep five stores, including one in North Carolina.

Wicker Gallery closing

The Wicker Gallery in western Henrico County is closing.

Owner Barbara Ervin said the lease on the West Broad Street furniture store is up at the end of June, but she expects the store to shut down in May.

A second store in North Carolina will remain open.

Ervin said The Wicker Gallery is a victim of the times.

"We've had a very loyal following, but we just can't hold on to it anymore," she said.

New Ross to open

Discount clothing retailer Ross Dress for Less will open a store in October at the Colonnades West Shopping Center on Cox Road and West Broad Street.

The 26,000-square-foot store will be the chain's third in the Richmond area.

Contact Louis Llovio at (804) 649-6348 or .