Election concerns, falling gas prices, and scarce credit availability have slowed sales at Scoot Richmond this fall, but owner Chelsea Lahmers says they still sold around 80 scooters since August. By comparison, the South side scooter store sold around 60 scooters in June.
August sales were down because manufacturers had some difficulty delivering scooters, but Lahmers says there were plenty of people looking to buy.
Some of those people might have held back when September rolled around as news of an economic downturn dominated the media.
“Previous years have typically seen September as one of our best months, and this year it was one of our worst,” Lahmers said.
Gas prices have fallen to about $2 a gallon, and Lahmers expects that to temporarily hurt sales.
“Obviously falling fuel prices make it a little bit less desperate for folks to start commuting on a vehicle that gets fantastic fuel economy,” Lahmers said.
But she fully expects sales to pick back up before the end of the year.
If you haven’t heard of the Pickens Plan by now, you must be living off the grid.
The radio and television spots have been running since summer urging you to join billionaire T. Boone Pickens in his effort to get the U.S. to quit its $700 billion oil addiction.
Last week BizSense ran an article about the availability of natural gas vehicles in the Richmond area, which might be primed for some fast growth depending on the availablility of fueling stations. The always entertaining and super wealthy T.Boone Pickens has a plan to solve that problem, and make a boatload in the process.
A growing number of Richmonders are installing tankless water heaters to lower energy bills.
“Once they started raising the price of electricity it became worth the investment,” said Ross Herring, a plumber who sells and installs the units for Marshall Mechanical.
Ukrop’s new fuelperks! program saved customers $2 million on gasoline since its launch on June 30, the Times-Dispatch reports Monday.
Customers who use their Ukrop’s Valued Customer card at participating gas stations save 10 cents for every $50 they spend at the supermarket. So far the discount has been applied to 3.5 million gallons of gas.
Locally owned Uppy’s Convenience Stores is the grocery chain’s partner in the program.
Moped fever is spreading. And more dealers in Richmond are trying to get in on the action.
Whitten Motor Sports in Ashland now sells Vespas, the high end Italian scooter.
The dealership began carrying the fashionable two-wheelrs about a month ago, according to sales manager Jeremy Larsen.
Whitten struck a franchise deal with Piaggio, the Italian manufacturer of Vespa, Larsen said. The deal allows them to sell from Piaggio’s full line of scooters, which includes Vespas and Aprilias.
Larsen said that they have sold some of the scooters -- “a few” -- but he thinks sales will increase as word spreads that the dealership has them in stock.
The high-end scooters are also available at Scoot Richmond, including vintage ones from decades past. BizSense has reported that Scoot Richmond sold more scooters/mopeds in both May and June than during the entire previous year.
Perhaps that's because Vespas get between 70-80 mpg.
Vespas are imported from Italy. Enrico Piaggio, the son of Piaggio's founder Rinaldo Piaggio, was shown a prototype of the scooter. When he heard the buzzing sound of the engine, he allegedly said, “Sembra una vespa,” which is Italian for “seems like a wasp.”
And the name stuck.
And, in another interesting note, check out this list of famous Vespa owners.
There is also a moped gang in Richmond called Hell's Satans. You can read more about that here.
Richmond bikers often complain that drivers have no regard for their safety.
But according to a study released by researchers in Wales, the number of collisions decreases as the number of bicycles increases. Motorists are more likely to drive safely and respectfully when there are more bikes on the road.
Over the last few weeks BizSense has reported on the growing trend of recreational and commuting bicyclists on the road. The study makes sense, but it also sounds paradoxical. More bikes would mean more chances for accidents. Especially if more of the new riders are beginners and not used to the rules of the road or the handling of their rig.
On the other hand, drivers obviously know to look out for them and get habituated to sharing the road. It brings to mind an argument I read somewhere (Freakonomics, maybe) that unsafe cars reduce accident fatalities because drivers are far more cautious than in big SUVs that make them feel invincible.
But it’s a feather in the bike helmet of those who pedal around.
We still want to hear if any Richmond employers are offering incentives to employees who bike to work. Do any companies have new bike racks?
And please share harrowing experience of almost getting run down by a Mac Truck, or some rouge biker.
Starting in November, residents of Church Hill will have a bike shop in their backyard.
Cyclus Bike Shop will open at 2709 East Marshall Street, according to the shop's Myspace page. The shop will carry new and used bikes and will sell parts and accessories in addition to repair services.
According to the Church Hill People Hill News the shop will open on November 1st. Twice in the last two weeks, BizSense has reported on the slowly growing popularity of biking. All those new riders need places to buy stuff. Of course, there are already a bunch of bike shops. Click here for a Google map of them.
Richmond is the fourth most walkable city in the nation - if you believe walkscore.com, which ranks cities and neighborhoods based on proximity to stores, restaurants and other establishments.
Walk Score gives Richmond a walkability score of 78. By comparison, the top three cities ranked by Walk Score are San Francisco, New York and Boston, with scores of 86, 83 and 79, respectively.
Richmond’s score of 78 would be good for fourth on the list. Unfortunately, the website only ranks the 40 largest cities in the United States, so Richmond is not included.
Still, Richmond’s score tops that of large cities like Chicago, Philadelphia, and Washington, D.C.
You can read a full explanation of Walk Score’s scoring system here.
Scores between 70-89 are deemed as “very walkable,” with the idea being that you can get by without owning a car.
But what do you think? Does the score seem right? Is Richmond really a more walkable city than Philadelphia or D.C? And is it possible to get by without owning a car here?
Alec Depcrynski walks to his car. Then he drives home. Please send story tips to
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Ukrop’s is turning used chicken-fryer oil into biodiesel fuel that will be used to power the super market’s fleet of vehicles
This weekend marked the first time that Ukrop’s trucks and trailers were filled up with locally mixed biodiesel fuel. Two local partners play central roles in the operation. Richmond-based RECO Biodiesel, Inc. collects recycled soy oil from Ukrop’s chicken-frying operations at 17 area stores.
Southside Fuel, also based in Richmond, takes the oil from RECO and then splash blends the fryer oil with regular diesel fuel, resulting in B15 biodiesel fuel. The 2,800 gallons of oil collected thus far will make an estimated 14,000 gallons of biodiesel.
Ukrop’s fleet of vehicles includes 15 trucks and 45 refrigerated trailers. They travel 1.3 million miles per year on average, using 275,000 gallons of diesel fuel. Ukrop’s plans to make 50,000 to 65,000 gallons of biodiesel fuel each year.
Earlier in the summer, potential car buyers were searching for smaller, more efficient vehicles in the wake of high gas prices and a struggling economy.
But the gas prices are coming down, and auto buyers responded by making trucks the most sought after vehicle on the market last month.
Richmond motorists are spending less time on the roads – or at least avoiding the tolls on the Southside.
According to the Richmond Metropolitan Authority, traffic at the Powhite Parkway mainline toll plaza has been falling since February compared to the previous year.
Slate has a great review of Traffic, a book about human psychology and the car-culture.
“Vanderbilt’s book surveys the advanced auto-life of America, where we have spent the past 100 years reshaping our lives and cities around cars. The Volvo, the Honda, the Prius have become our public selves, the face we show to the world, and the result has been a general decline of civility. Oh, how much easier it is to give someone the finger at 70 mph than at the farmer’s market.”
Wired has a phenomenal feature about an entrepreneur who’s convincing entire country’s to adopt an electric grid, which will replace gas stations with charging stations.
The website for Wired magazine has a neat slideshow of ten green concept cars. The beauty of designing a car on paper, the materials and technology don’t have to exist yet.
Gas-related promotions are spreading like errant balls on a driving range.
On August 4, golf course owner Tradition Golf Prosperities started running a promotion at Stonehouse in New Kent. Play golf, get a $10 gas card to Wawa.
So far about 250 golfers have used the coupons, which expire today. The promotion might be extended, the company said.
“We tried price point ads, but we’re making it a little more value-added than cutting price,” said Paul Mauk, the manager of the company that owns the course.
“Everyone’s hot point seems to be gas prices. That’s one of the constant things we’ve heard during the summer.”
The Traditional Club’s courses include The Crossings in Glen Allen, Kiskiak in Williamsburg, Stonehouse and Royal New Kent.
Golfers must click on the ad online and print it out. That enables the company to keep track of web traffic, Mauk said.
The golf industry is sluggish. Mauk said that the number of rounds is steady, but golfers are spending less in the club house on meals and gear.
Aaron Kremer is the BizSense Editor. He likes to play a Pro V1 (when he finds one in the woods). Please send story tips to
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In what can only be described as “The Biggest Waiting List Ever,” customers are lining up to reserve their Smart Cars, the pint-sized, planet friendly vehicle produced by automotive giant Daimler AG. (Mercedes)
The cute, if shockingly tiny, cars are starting to appear in Richmond.
And if you want in, take a number; you might be waiting for a year or more.
Here’s how it works: Interested buyers throw down $99 to join the Smart Reservation Program. Basically, the $99 gets you a place in line to buy the mini-car. Then buyers are given a reservation number, a configuration date (when the car is made), and the name of the Smart Center where their vehicle will be delivered. After that, it’s all about playing the waiting game. Buyers are contacted throughout the development process, and are notified when the car is ready and when it will be shipped to a nearby distribution center.
Prior to the Smart Car’s official arrival in the states, thousands of reservation requests poured in. More than 20,000 such requests were filed by December 2007. And since the car was not sold in the U.S. until January 2008, many of the people who reserved are still waiting for theirs to arrive.
As of July, approximately 13,958 Smart Fortwos have been sold in the United States. That equals out to about 2,000 per month. That figure is on pace to break the projected sales number of 20,000 cars by years end. However, the figure is misleading, as almost all of these “sales” have come from buyers who reserved Smart Cars up to a year in advance. Those who wish to buy a Smart Car now have no choice but to jump on the waiting list and hope for the best.
There are three Smart Car distribution centers in Virginia. The closest to Richmond is the Smart Center Virginia Beach. There are also distributors in Alexandria and Vienna, near Washington D.C.
The most popular version of the Smart Car, dubbed the Smart Fortwo, can get 33 mpg in the city and 41 mpg on the freeway. It requires premium fuel, and although it was made for city driving, it can handle interstates and highways, provided you don’t drive much faster than 60 mph.
Prices for the Smart Fortwo start at $11,590 and top out at just under $20,000.
So…is it cute, or is it ridiculous?
Alec Depcrynski is a BizSense Staff Writer. He covers commercial real estate, retail and transportation. He does not own the vehicle mentioned here. Please email story tips to
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Election concerns, falling gas prices, and scarce credit availability have slowed sales at Scoot Richmond this fall, but owner Chelsea Lahmers says they still sold around 80 scooters since August. By comparison, the South side scooter store sold around 60 scooters in June. 
If you haven’t heard of the 
Demand for compressed natural gas (CNG) vehicles is increasing, but availability in Richmond is limited. 
A growing number of Richmonders are installing tankless water heaters to lower energy bills. 
Ukrop’s new fuelperks! program saved customers $2 million on gasoline since its launch on June 30, the Times-Dispatch 
Moped fever is spreading. And more dealers in Richmond are trying to get in on the action.
Volkswagen is raising the stakes in the battle for the most fuel-efficient vehicle on the market.
Richmond
Starting in November, residents of Church Hill will have a bike shop in their backyard.
Richmond is the fourth most walkable city in the nation - if you believe walkscore.com, which ranks cities and neighborhoods based on proximity to stores, restaurants and other establishments. 
The tolls on the downtown expressway, and the Powhite Parkway just rose from 50 cents to 70 cents. Why such an awkward number? 
Ukrop’s is turning used chicken-fryer oil into biodiesel fuel that will be used to power the super market’s fleet of vehicles
Earlier in the summer, potential car buyers were 
Carmax is reporting that from March to July, searches for hybrids on carmax.com have risen 43 percent. 
Slate has a great 
Wired has a phenomenal feature about an entrepreneur who’s convincing entire country’s to adopt an electric grid, which will replace gas stations with charging stations. 
The website for 
Gas-related promotions are spreading like errant balls on a driving range. 
In what can only be described as “The Biggest Waiting List Ever,” customers are lining up to reserve their Smart Cars, the pint-sized, planet friendly vehicle produced by automotive giant Daimler AG. (Mercedes) 
