Driving north on Chamberlayne Avenue from downtown, you’ll see a nondescript beige building that sits off to the left. From a distance, it looks like any warehouse in any urban area in America. But look a little closer and what you’ll find is a nearly 60-year-old building that has been gutted and renovated by its owners, brothers David and Tom Kern.

Years in the works, Chesterfield County’s plans for redeveloping the now-vacant Cloverleaf Mall are moving forward—but slowly. After 35 years of business, the mall closed in February 2008.

Before they reach store shelves, food and drinks proposed to be made for Kroger Co.‘s brands must pass muster with taste-testers who are paid in nibbles and sips and in-store coupons. Seven at a time, volunteers fill a row of cubicles down the hall from the lobby at Kroger’s downtown Cincinnati headquarters, helping Kroger assess its store-brand lineup, which has nearly doubled in five years. They sit facing slots from which trays emerge with individual samples.

The Kroger Co.‘s second-quarter profit fell nearly 8 percent as bargain-minded households cut spending and the grocer cut prices to retain worried shoppers. Cincinnati-based Kroger, the nation’s largest traditional grocery chain, said sales also fell in the quarter. It cut its earnings guidance for the full year. Net earnings totaled $254.4 million, or 39 cents per share, down from $276.5 million, or 42 cents, a year earlier. Analysts expected 44 cents per share.

The nation’s largest traditional grocer says American consumers are going to its supermarkets more often as they look for bargains and try to make their money last until their next check. The Kroger Co. reported yesterday that its fiscal first-quarter profit shot up 12.7 percent as more recession-hit households eat at home instead of restaurants and buy low-priced store brands.

A soaring adoption rate for healthy dogs and cats has secured a $230,200 Lifesaving Award for the Richmond SPCA and the city’s Animal Care and Control Division from Maddie’s Fund, a national pet-rescue foundation in California founded by software executive Dave Duffield. Richmond is the fourth community nationwide to receive the Lifesaving Award.

Working out of her Chesterfield County kitchen, Bernie Richardson has turned her hobby into a business poised on breaking into the big time. Richardson owns Bernie’s Baked Goods. The company, which started about eight years ago after friends told Richardson she should charge for what she bakes, sells made-to-order cakes, pies, cookies and wedding cakes.

Working out of her Chesterfield County kitchen, Bernie Richardson has turned her hobby into a business poised on breaking into the big time. Richardson owns Bernie’s Baked Goods. The company, which started about eight years ago after friends told Richardson she should charge for what she bakes, sells made-to-order cakes, pies, cookies and wedding cakes.