After seeing a car go into the FasMart and a vehicle rollover in the Shoe Warehouse lot, the Westover Hills/Clarence/Dunston parking lot curse reared its head again today in the form of a car hitting the exterior of the Family Dollar store. Store damage was noticeable, but apparently not structural.

A couple of unrelated questions from readers, the answers to which I certainly don’t know:

Any idea what’s going on with the former equipment rental place on Westover Hills? I’ve noticed intermittent work going on, but can’t tell what might be going in there.

Secondly:

Are there any July 4th activities on this side of the river? Dogwood Dell is nice but it’s too crowded and we’re tired of standing on the bridge trying to catch a glimpse of fireworks.

Anyone?

The latest issue of Richmond Magazine includes a brief feature on life in Stratford Hills, with a focus on Riverside Outfitters owners Matt Perry and Scott Turner.

Today’s retail column has a nice feature on the folks behind Once Upon A Vine South.

Sort of, anyway. The Stratford Hills Shopping Center will be celebrating several milestones tomorrow afternoon. Positive Vibe Cafe is celebrating their 3rd Anniversary with live music and their nationally-recognized food. Once Upon A Vine South holds their official grand opening with a beer & wine tasting featuring several distributors sampling their wares. To top things off, Forest Hill Antiques is holding a large sale.

In talking with the Once Upon A Vine folks tonight, I learned that the merchant community at the Stratford Hills Shopping Center is a reasonably tight group that’s working together to better the neighborhood. I encourage everyone to stop by at some point tomorrow afternoon.

The “South of the James” section of this month’s Richmond Magazine has a nice article on the retail state of Westover Hills. Much of this is old news to the neighborhood association folks, but for the rest of us, some juicy tidbits are there. More below the fold…

Read more >

The fine folks at Once Upon A Vine South have been up and running for a couple weeks in the Stratford Hills Shopping Center, featuring the same format (and occasionally some of the same faces) as the Bellevue original. Please note that H&H is not affiliated with Once Upon A Vine in any way, but as wine & beer enthusiasts, we feel it’s our duty to let everyone know that there’s finally a proper beverage shop in the neighborhood.

A little birdie tells me that Maldini’s Ristorante will be offering delivery to the immediate area. Look for a Richmond.com blurb on them shortly.

On the beverage front, the much anticipated Stratford Hills location of Once Upon a Vine is nearing. ABC permits have been posted for quite some time now, and while no official date has been announced, folks at the Bellevue location say it won’t be long now.

Your favorite neighborhood foodies, Seven Hills Market, are having a wine tasting tomorrow evening, 4:30-7:00.
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A Plan of Development was submitted to the city seeking to tear down the vacant McCrory Dollar at Forest Hill and Westover Hills Blvd and build 12 small commercial/retail spaces with residential on the 2nd floor.

Ryan @ Richmond City Watch posted preliminary renderings and added that the city is waiting on a resubmittal of plans from the developer.

I’m under the impression that some of the neighborhood groups may have seen/heard this already, but it’s new (within the last 3 weeks or so) to me. I’ll be curious to see how this develops (no pun intended).

The folks at Urban Richmond and VCU’s Commonwealth Times let us know that our own Crossroads Coffee & Ice Cream is taking over the World Cup Coffee space on Morris Street, near VCU. Here’s hoping they hang tough against the Big Green Monster.

On the other end of the beverage spectrum, Bellevue’s favorite Beer & Wine shop, Once Upon A Vine, is soon to open a 2nd store in the Shops At Stratford Hills, in the vicinity of Rock Falls Tavern. The Bellevue store’s selection has been known to attract beer fans from out state and the summer movie nights they host have been a big hit with neighborhood residents. Their expansion to Stratford Hills will be a very welcome addition!