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RandomThoughts! (8/2/2014)

I haven’t had much time to think lately. Go ahead and make the obvious joke. How about some RandomThoughts?

One of these days, I’ll only ask for a Moderately-Sized Board…

  • It’s Tax Free Weekend! Only in Virginia, though. The dysfunctional NC legislature zapped their tax free weekend in the name of revamping the state income tax code. Here’s the state’s website that will give you a complete list of items that are tax-exempt.
  • I was down at the JTI Fountain this week for some night photography and noticed some of the LED lighting is starting to mess up.
  • How can South Boston have and support two frozen yogurt shops and Danville only has one?
  • Food alert! Danville’s Sonic has half-priced shakes after 8 PM.
  • The Register & Bee handles pushback by closing the comments to their badly written stories. Nice.
  • I also notice that the Register & Bee’s paywall system is now working. Then it’s not working. SouthsideCentral remains free to read.
  • Update on that RandomThoughts: I’ve already broken through the R&B’s paywall. That didn’t take long.
  • Remember the JC Penney factory outlet in Martinsville’s Liberty Fair Mall? Gone. Totally gone. They used to have some very good buys there.
  • With apologies to Chuck Vipperman, Clarke Whitfield and Ricky McFarling… it’s too damn early for high school football. Even for football practice.
  • It’s also too damn late for kids to be playing baseball. Let them enjoy the summer. Heck, American Legion Post 325’s baseball team had to forfeit out of the tournament because the kids had other things to do and they couldn’t field a whole team.

That’s some RandomThoughts for Saturday. More coming up on SouthsideCentral…

sclogo

22 comments to RandomThoughts! (8/2/2014)

  • trevoe

    how can Danville have the idea it needs a gigantic sporting goods store in the former Boscov’s store with Dic’s and smaller stores operating? if we had NONE,,,,then, ok. understandable but another one???? the city-county can’t even get the number of people initially needed for the get fit Danville competition goal so why another sporting goods store? I guess those people who pay 50 or 60 $$$ to wallow around in the mud run will patronize the new one. probably prices will fit their wallet???

  • Lee Smallwood

    The puzzler for me is how South Boston’s Sheetz can be completely packed every time I am there with far less traffic than that at Danville’s. Or heck how Princeton, West Virginia, population 6,400, has two Sheetz and Danville has but one.

    • Well, the South Boston Sheetz is well-placed on a highly used stretch of 58: between people headed to Clarksville and the lake and people getting onto and off of 360 (to Richmond) where the decent stops are practically nonexistent. That’s not a difficult one to figure out. I’ve never been to Princeton, WV BUT Sheetz is a family owned company placed smack dab in a
      part of Western PA (Altoona) not far from WV. They began their expansion outward so there are just more Sheetz up there. I would, personally, LOVE to see one on 29 between Danville and Lynchburg. The one on 29 in Lynchburg is similarly packed as is ours every time I’m there.

      • Lee Smallwood

        Princeton is Southern West Virginia. It’s nowhere close to Altoona. Both locations also opened within about the last 3 years.

      • Lynnette

        Sheetz typically puts their stores at very busy highway intersections, for instance in Princeton, WV there is one at the junction of 77 and 460. In Opal, VA there is one at the junction of 29 and 17 that is so packed you cannot get into the parking lot. As a matter of fact, straight from the Sheetz family, I can tell you that the Opal store (between Culpepper and Warrenton) is actually the busiest Sheetz on earth. Location, location, location. Disclosure; my husband grew up with the family.

        • Lee Smallwood

          Eh, it’s sort of near the 77 and 460 interchange. There are a couple stations that are closer. The second location is the one that completely puzzles me, though. It’s nowhere near any busy interchange, and it was the second one opened.

        • Lee Smallwood

          Oh and no offense to the family behind Sheetz, but I’d really love to see a Wawa far more than a second Sheetz. In that one regard, I favor eastern PA over western PA. For everything else I’m much more Pittsburgh than Philadelphia.

  • Gus

    It would be great if a sizable store made its home downtown. It was great when Thalheimers, Sears, and Belk were all downtown. Maybe something will come of the old R&B building? Are there any nice bookstores there? I only remember there being B. Dalton in the mall; but this was years ago.

    Many thanks for providing such an interesting outlet for local, hometown news!

    • Lee Smallwood

      Danville has no bookstores other than Bible stores. It’s pathetic.

      • Gus

        That is unbelievable, and really quite disturbing. How on earth, in 2014, can a city go without a proper bookstore, especially given that there is a university, a community college, and of course thousands of kids spread across the primary/secondary schools in Danville and Pittsylvania County? Is there a particular reason why there is no Books-A-Million or Barnes & Noble?

        • Averett has a bookstore that stocks current titles and can order what you want. Danville’s demographics just don’t support a big bookstore.

          Now that the library offers free ebook rentals and free emagazines, I have little need for a bookstore.

          • Gus

            It’s just really surprising that one hasn’t opened in all these years. When I was growing up there, we went to B. Dalton to buy or order books. There are some small cities with these kinds of bookstores, even ones whose demographics mirror Danville’s (or would appear to make them even less likely a location). Rocky Mount has a Books-A-Million, in addition to the public library and the bookstores at North Carolina Wesleyan and the community college in the town. Winchester has a population of less than 30K, yet still has a major bookstore. I think there’s more to it than mere demographics, and I wish I knew the answer. Bookstores are fantastic, whether of the larger commercial variety, or a mom & pop kind of operation that also offers used books. It’s something that I think would flourish downtown, and would be a nice complement to the public library.

          • Jerry

            You’re correct about Barnes and Noble…..I think they’ll still be viable in major cities and university towns, but that’s it.

            I will tell you one major obstacle to downtown redevelopment….the placement of the Farmer’s Market. It’s too far away for a lot of people to “make a day of it” and walk downtown. I’d urge readers of this blog to visit Roanoke, Lynchburg, and Charlottesville on a Saturday. Their farmer’s markets are strategically located in their main downtown area. Thus, once people have picked up their produce, they can then go to other businesses on the main drags in those cities. I think redeveloping the old Downtowner lot into the farmer’s market on Saturday would be huge for Main St. development.

    • Thanks for the kind words. All I ask in return is that my readers patronize the advertisers that will be here soon.

  • Jerry

    As to Sheetz…..I think Lynette is correct about Sobo’s location. I can’t really comment too much about the SoBo food, but I have stopped for a MTO @ the one in Lynchburg as well as a few around the East Coast. I hate to be the “why can’t we have nice things, Danville is always mediocre”, but on this one…yeah. The food at the Danville Sheetz is awful and they take forever. I’ve been to the one @ Lynchburg right after a Liberty basketball game. Huge line. I was out of there in 20 minutes with a good sandwich. I’ve been the only customer @ Danville and it takes 15 minutes and isn’t good. If you go to PA, you’ll learn that a lot of Pennsylvanians stop in Sheetz and WaWa just for the sandwiches. Again…hate to be negative, but the Danville Sheetz really needs to improve their food offerings. I’ve also noticed how dead it is compared to almost all other Sheetz I’ve been to on the East Coast.

  • Centurian

    I also would love to see a Wawa in this area, great food! Love their soft pretzels also! Sheetz use all the same suppliers so don’t know why the food would be any different. I have dealt with Sheetz corporate and they are a class operation. They have a computer center that can give you the current sales numbers by the minute of any Sheetz in the US. Their sales computers also interface with supply center so automatic shipping of product takes place.

  • trevoe

    PANERA BREAD is needed

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