Biz Buzz: Paint entrepreneur increasing her reach

Paint entrepreneur increasing her reach
It’s been a busy year for paint entrepreneur Sally Fretwell.

And, if things go as planned, it’ll only get busier.

She owns Sally Fretwell Paints, which sells her brand of environmentally friendly paints.

Fretwell opened her first store—called the Power of Color—in western Henrico County in 2007.

She moved to Carytown and renamed it in April.

While working to build her retail business, she’s also begun selling inside stores elsewhere in Virginia and in North Carolina, South Carolina and Maryland.

The former design consultant is in talks with a distributor to get her products into national chains and is developing a line of stains and outdoor paints.

“It’s been busy,” she said.

And if all that wasn’t enough, Fretwell is about to become a TV star.

Fretwell is set to appear on an episode of “Living with Ed.” The series, on HGTV, follows actor and environmentalist Ed Begely Jr. as he tries to live a more eco-friendly existence. Begely has starred on television shows and in movies.

Fretwell will fly to Los Angeles to tape her episode this month.

The episode, scheduled to air this year, is supposed to show Begely and his wife looking at and discussing Fretwell’s paint samples.

Fretwell said she’s branching out because she wants more.

“I didn’t feel I should just be a store owner,” she said.

As her reach increases, she’ll be spending less time working in the store and more time on the road. She’ll have employees running the store.

“I’m going to focus on development,” she said.

Old Navy backs out
Old Navy is not opening a store at West Broad Village.

A company spokeswoman said late last week that Old Navy had considered opening a store in the development off Interstate 64 and West Broad Street in western Henrico County but decided against it.

Spokeswoman Kris Marubio was unable to say exactly why the chain had decided not to locate a store there. But she said a variety of factors could lead a retailer to decide not to enter a market, including not having enough tenants at the center.

West Broad Village has had problems finding tenants in the down economy. A couple of tenants, including Books-A-Million, backed out of leases.

Old Navy has six stores in the Richmond area.

BBQ opening
Red, Hot & Blue is scheduled to open its newest Richmond-area restaurant next month.

The barbecue restaurant will be in the Westchester Commons center in Chesterfield County, off Midlothian Turnpike at state Route 288.

Construction is under way inside the eatery, and the façade is up. The company has begun hiring.

The Winston-Salem, N.C.-based chain closed its location on West Broad Street in Henrico County to move to the new spot.

The eatery is near Books-A-Million and the Regal Cinema movie theaters.

Red, Hot & Blue is only the second storefront to open in the center’s main street component, which is largely vacant.

Wells Fargo move
Wells Fargo is moving its real estate group from Henrico County to downtown Richmond.

Its middle-market real estate office opened in the Glen Forest Office Park in October 2006—before Wells Fargo completed a merger with Wachovia at the beginning of this year.

The move is scheduled for Friday, according to Bolling Lewis, senior vice president of the bank’s middle-market real estate office, which lends to commercial real estate developers and investors in Virginia, Maryland and Washington.

“With the Wachovia merger now taking effect for our line of business, it makes sense to be located in one office where everyone in our group can also be close to our support areas,” Lewis said.

The new office will be in the James Center II building on East Cary Street.

Contact Louis Llovio at (804) 649-6348 or . Follow him at http://twitter.com/RTDBizBuzz