BIZ BUZZ COLUMN: Carytown merchants leader trying to unify area

Thom Suddeth is tired.

It's Wednesday afternoon and he's working at his Carytown shop after a morning filled with going over marketing budgets and meeting with city officials. His plans for the afternoon include pulling weeds around a sign at the entrance to Carytown.

"It's a lot of work," he said.

Suddeth owns the Road Runner Running Store at 3002 W. Cary St.

He's also president of the Carytown Merchants Association. It's that gig that's wearing him out.

Suddeth, whose shop has been in Carytown for 17 years, took over as president of the association earlier this year. His tenure ends in December.

He has been a member of the association on and off for most of his time in the district, but took on the presidency to try to bolster the area's place in the city and help unify business owners.

Carytown has about 300 businesses, but only about 30 percent are members of the merchants association, Suddeth said.

To get work done on some of the common areas, the association needs money, and it depends on dues for its funds.

"The first six months of the year are spent going door-to-door trying to get people to sign up," he said.

To help boost membership as well as give Suddeth's successor a leg up, the association is offering merchants discounted dues if they join through the end of next year.

But the job is not all about getting new members and retaining current ones.

Suddeth said the association has been talking with the city in hopes of getting improvements along the mile-long stretch of West Cary Street between Thompson Street and the Boulevard.

The relationship has been fruitful.

The city has replaced all but a few garbage cans, and it's going to add signage directing people to the parking garage. The city plans to repave Cary Street starting this week.

In addition to the city's work, the association is buying a new and larger entrance sign to place just off Thompson Street at the western edge of Carytown. The group also is looking into adding bike racks with a bit more flair.

"It's a good group [of business owners]. We could get a lot more done if we were all working together," Suddeth said.

Bookbinder's goings-on

Its Philadelphia namesake has closed, but the Old Original Bookbinder's in Richmond's Tobacco Row is fine, according to its general manager.

"This restaurant is a separate entity and financially healthy," Dan Todd said.

However, the Bookbinder's Grill on Alverser Drive in Chesterfield County has closed. It opened in late 2003.

Phone calls and e-mails about when and why that location closed were not returned.

In Philadelphia, the Old Original Bookbinder's, which opened in 1865, closed in March as its owner, John E. Taxin, worked to find a buyer, according to newspaper reports.

Calls and e-mails to Taxin's attorney last week were not returned.

At one time, Taxin owned a part interest in the Richmond Old Original Bookbinder's.

Belle Vie European Bistro is scheduled to open next month in the space once occupied by Bookbinder's Grill.

White Oak happenings

Firehouse Subs will open today in the Shops at White Oak Village in eastern Henrico County.

The sandwich shop will be in the middle part of the shopping center facing Laburnum Avenue.

Firehouse is the latest restaurant in the center. It joins Cracker Barrel, Chick-fil-A, Red Lobster and McDonald's. An Olive Garden will open later this year.

White Oak Village has a gaping hole to fill after Circuit City closed it 20,000-square-foot store.

Property manager Terry Scott said several prospective tenants have looked at the space, but no lease has been signed. She wouldn't say who the companies were.

The spot next to the former Circuit City store also is empty, and its façade is being repainted, Scott said.

Firehouse Subs has 18 restaurants in the state. This will be its fourth in the Richmond area.

Rite Aid shutting down

The Rite Aid on Patterson Avenue in Henrico will close by the end of the month.

The store is being liquidated of all its merchandise. Prescriptions have been transferred to the Ridge Road and Forest Avenue store.

Eric Harkreader, a spokesman for the drugstore chain, said the Patterson Avenue location was not profitable and its prospects were dim. There are no plans to close any other area stores.

Employees were offered positions at other Rite Aid stores in the area. Harkreader said the average store employed 15 to 25 people.

There are 10 Rite Aids in the Richmond area.

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