The right prescription for growing a retail operation?

A decision by a major drug manufacturer to cut production of a popular flu medicine is nothing to sneeze at for an expanding local pharmacy. Rx3 Compounding Pharmacy,  which has a new 4,500-square-foot store and lab/retail store on Ironbridge Road in Chester, is filling prescriptions for the liquid version of Tamiflu, a popular treatment for people who catch the flu.

5 startups practice “The Pitch”

You could call it the business equivalent of a pre-season game. The score didn’t count on the final record, but the bruises and bumps -- and the lessons -- are all real. On Wednesday, five companies from around Virginia and North Carolina laid it all out on the line for a group of angel investors in the third of a series of mock venture capital pitches held at business schools across the state. This final Live Fire! event was held at the University of Richmond’s Robins School of Business. Moderator Letitia Green, managing director of the Virginia Active Angel Network, said that the key to attracting an investor is all in the presentation. "You have to entertain them, this is what I call A-D-D money," said Green. "You only have a few minutes to get their attention.” The event was not a competition, nor were any checks promised. Instead, participating companies polished up their pitching skills, while future entrepreneurs and students watched the venture-capital-raising process firsthand.

The blue envelope, please

The recession has hit the consumer pocketbook hard, and that means coupons are back en vogue. Valpak of Central Virginia, a company that sends out coupon-packed envelopes to 350,000 households in the area every month, is having one of its best years in more than 30 years in business.

Startup sprouts from S&K ruins

And from the ashes, new life emerges. Sounds biblical, but in this case it applies to three entrepreneurs who have a plan to sell low-priced menswear online. Bert Hardy and two other former S&K Menswear executives are trying to take the S&K model and cut out the stores, leaving a profitable online operation. They first tossed around the idea six months ago while helping S&K wind down.

Local glove company swings into the majors

When Atlanta Brave Vladimir Núñez stepped to the plate last summer, it was the closest Pete Vinci had ever been to the majors. His father, Benjamin, owned a vacuum cleaner shop and tried to get his son to learn the family business, but Pete was more concerned with playing pro ball. Vinci started playing Little League at the age of 5 when he was growing up in Westchester County, NY. But Vinci’s contribution to America’s pastime wasn’t destined to be as a player. He turned down an invitation to train with the Kansas City Royals because his father was diagnosed with Lou Gehrig’s disease. Vinci spent the next years caring for his father. While he was out of the game, his preoccupation with the sport didn’t die down. Vinci spent his extra hours designing baseball gloves, researching leathers and contacting factories overseas. Eventually the Vincis relocated to Richmond, and Vinci Pro was born.

Alleged monkey business in the awning industry

One awning company thinks a competitor snuck into the Richmond market illegitimately. And tempers are flaring. Petersburg-based Roberts Awning is occupying the old Norvell Awning company headquarters in the Scott’s Addition section of Richmond. Roberts is also calling back customers who call Norvell Awning, which filed for bankruptcy July 10. (You can read about that here.) Bill McSpadden, chief executive of Capitol Awning, said that Roberts Awning had moved into the Norvell office on Arlington road and that Roberts had been using Norvell assets such as contact lists and customer files, which gives them an unfair advantage.

Monday Q&A: Revving a hobby into a retail business

The local motorcycle shop Velocity Motorcycles stocks an electric motorcycle. That’s the sort of interesting and unusual merchandise that has allowed the store, which opened on Boulevard in 2000, to survive even in a lousy retail environment. There is also a motorcycle that comes with a sidecar. Eric Engler owned the building and first housed his personal collection there. He has been riding for more than 40 years and had a previous career in state government in both his native New York and in Virginia. On the eve of the Retail Merchant’s Expo, BizSense chatted with Engler about the challenges of retail and why he still has second thoughts about selling some of the bikes he gets a little too attached to.

Troubled awning firm files for bankruptcy

An awning company that took deposits for work it never finished filed for bankruptcy, and some clients will have to watch the process to see whether they will get their money back. Thermo-Press Corp, which is a shell for Norvell Awning, filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy July 10. The company had a total debt load of $1,025,803.26. Norvell’s 46 creditors run from bank loans to back rent, the power company, the phone company and at least a dozen customers who paid for work to be done.

Two local labs sign deal

Chesterfield biotech firm Commonwealth Biotechnologies plans to sell off segments of its business to Bostwick Laboratories, which is based in the West End. Bostwick plans to go public this year. The two companies signed a purchase agreement in which Bostwick agreed to buy two of Commonwealth’s divisions for $1.075 million in cash and royalties over a five-year period, according to a news release.

Get ready to get Diesel

Susan Hardwicke wants to pump you up. For Hardwicke, that means starting her own business making health products designed to increase brain functioning for runners and other athletes, and she knows the tricks of manufacturing and selling a product bound for drug stores and specialty shops.

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