Capital One banks on March Madness

Thursday and Friday will be two of the least productive workdays of the year, as the NCAA tournament kicks off today, but one company is banking on that distraction. Capital One, the McLean-based banking corporation originally from Richmond, just signed a multi-year deal with the NCAA making them an “NCAA Official Corporate Champion.” The company withheld the financial specifics of their deal, but the designation is the highest marketing partnership offered by the NCAA. Only Coke and AT&T have partnerships at that level. This marks the second major college sports marketing push for Capital One, who also paid to have college football’s championship week dubbed “Capital One Bowl Week” in 2001. From the Washington Business Journal on the specifics of the deal: It includes marketing and promotional rights around the NCAA’s 88 Divisions, I, II and III men’s and women’s championship events. It also ...

Bus for party-goers may add UR loop

To the Bottom and Back, the free shuttle brainchild of Jim Porter and Sandy Appelman, is set to make its first route expansion. Porter and Appelman are in talks with the University of Richmond over possibly creating a route connecting Richmond’s downtown with the UR campus, according to a story in the student newspaper, The Collegian.

Goodbye Connecticut

The Indian has left the Diamond. Almost. The 2,400-pound sculpture that has peered over the Boulevard for more than two decades will be disassembled Saturday morning by Chesterfield-based Holiday Signs. Kyle Dillaman, an account executive with the company, said the statue breaks down into about five pieces that will be carried down individually by a crane and loaded onto a truck. From there it will be put into storage briefly until the new owners, Shockoe Bottom-based architecture firm Odell Associates, are ready to install it on the roof of their building. “We are going to take three or four guys out of our crew and some alternate help from the folks who purchased it will be there as well,” said Dillaman. Putting the statue back up will be a bit trickier than taking it down, he said. “It is a little more challenging because of the ...

Buz & Ned’s new spot

Buz & Ned’s Real BBQ is headed out west.

Virginia foreclosure rate drops by 16 percent

Virginia’s foreclosure market was literally frozen in the month of February, according to an industry report released today.

Altria donates $1 million to VCU School of Education

The Virginia Commonwealth University School of Education has received a $1 million gift from Altria, the Richmond-based parent company of Philip Morris.

Euro market changes its name

The European Market at Meadow and Main streets is now Olio. Owner Jason Savedoff still owns the specialty food store that also has carryout and dine in eating. In addition to the name change, Olio also has a food cart located at the VCU campus.

Two new shops in Richmond coming soon

A couple of new shops are opening up soon in Richmond. Balance Bicycle at 312 Brook Road will be opening in April according to its website. The store is located near the intersection of Broad and Adams streets and will sell new bikes as well as build and repair bikes. Also cropping up is Sprout Market and Café at 1 N. Morris near VCU campus. The restaurant will serve carry out food with locally sourced ingredients. According to a message on its website, the owners previously operated All Star Market and Deli  on Lombardy Street but closed it to open Sprout. The market will also sell beer and wine. The location was previously Cuppa Tea, which closed last year but now sells tea online. BizSense wrote about them in June.

Va. settles suit with id theft company

Virginia, along with 34 other states, has settled a lawsuit with Phoenix, Ariz.-based Lifelock. The states and the Federal Trade Commission charged the identity protection company with false advertising. Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli told the Associated Press that Lifelock agreed to stop saying it protects against all types of identity theft and pay $11 million in restitution to customers, as well as another $1 million to pay for the investigation. The company’s advertises heavily on radio, and CEO Todd Davis shares his social security number in ads. Ironically he became a victim of identity theft himself. Wired Magazine has more on the story: In fact, Lifelock CEO Davis was the victim of identity theft in 2007 when a thief used his widely advertised Social Security number to obtain a $500 loan in Davis’ name. Lifelock also promised customers that sensitive data they provided ...

And the beat goes on

This club on West Grace Street was the Hyperlink Cafe, but has been rebranded by owner Charles Lambert as Xscape Ultra Premium Lounge. "We were Hyperlink for three or four years, so it was just time for change," Lambert said. A few weeks ago the club was facing foreclosure but Lambert said that problem has been resolved. "The loan has been reinstated and everything is working smoothly," he said.

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