Alec Depcrynski

Local luxury retailers hang tight

Luxury retailers may be in for a cold winter. After witnessing a decline in sales at the tail end of the summer, luxury brands like Saks, Nordstrom and Tiffany & Co. are bracing for what could be an even weaker holiday season. Local high-end retailers and other business operators say business is holding steady.

Tech Review: a personal newshound

Imagine an army of personal secretaries, assigned by you to monitor news feeds, blogs, and even shopping networks for specific keywords. That’s the idea behind Yotify. The website allows you to create “scouts” that comb through everything from YouTube to eBay, from popular news services like the Wall Street Journal, USA Today and Reuters to… Read more »

Holiday Hiring Market Shrinking, Competition Growing

American retailers are cutting back on the holiday hiring market, according to a survey from Richmond-based job-seekers’ website SnagAJob.com. The number of jobs is going down, while the number of people applying for jobs is going up. That means increased competition for fewer spots. And that means harder work for job seekers, who will have… Read more »

Pipeline: Commercial Real Estate Roundup 9.26.08

Doswell Hospitality LLC delivered the first of three hotels, called the Days Inn at Kings Dominion, in June. Doswell Hospitality sold the property to Sumtinath LLC for $3.2 million. Located at 16220 International St., the Days Inn is a three-story hotel that offers 50 rooms. The other two hotels are currently under construction. Doswell Hospitality… Read more »

Tattoos might still be taboo in Richmond offices

It used to be that you were considered different and rebellious (and maybe even dangerous) if you had a tattoo. You likely rode a Harley or in a drunken stupor let some friend with a needle leave an “I ? Mom” or an anchor on your bicep. Now, they’re as trendy as big hair in… Read more »

Pipeline: Commercial Real Estate Roundup 9.26.08

Doswell Hospitality LLC delivered the first of three hotels, called the Days Inn at Kings Dominion, in June. Doswell Hospitality sold the property to Sumtinath LLC for $3.2 million. Located at 16220 International St., the Days Inn is a three-story hotel that offers 50 rooms. The other two hotels are currently under construction. Doswell Hospitality… Read more »

Carytown vacancy declines

Vacancy in Carytown seems to be declining. It’s been three months since we walked through Carytown to figure out how many unoccupied buildings lined the streets. At the time, we counted 22 empty buildings, or about 13% of the storefronts there. (Note, our figures are not calculated using square footage.) There are currently 17 empty… Read more »

Riverfront condos slow to catch on

The two riverfront condo towers are around 50% occupied, according to a BizSense count. Note: After we published this story, Jack Berry, Executive Director for Venture Richmond, got in touch with us to give us some hard numbers. There are no unsold units at Riverside, and 10 unsold units at Vistas. We would like to… Read more »

VW Raises Stakes with 62 MPG Car

Volkswagen is raising the stakes in the battle for the most fuel-efficient vehicle on the market. The German automaker recently revealed a concept of its next-gen Golf, which delivers a whopping 61.8 miles per gallon. Check it out here.

Follow-up Q&A with Ashland’s director of planning

An Ashland official is excited about new developments like Bass Pro and a proposed outlet center in Hanover County. Zach Robbins, Acting Director for the Department of Planning & Community Development in the Town of Ashland, had a few thoughts about a story BizSense ran last week on Ashland’s retail scene.