Kellman closed Loving Lemons’ Church Hill location in the beginning of July.
After souring on Church Hill, a local retailer is moving to Carytown, not far from where another business is trying to sweeten things up in the shopping district.
Loving Lemons, a gift shop that sells jewelry, candy, antiques and other trinkets, closed its storefront at 2709 E. Marshall St. on July 1 in favor of a space at 3643 W. Cary St.
Rachel Kellman opened the shop with the help of a grant from the Bon Secours Supporting East End Entrepreneurship Development program about nine months ago.
“Church Hill is not ready for retail,” Kellman said. “We needed to go to Carytown.”
She reopened in Carytown on July 17 in a 2,700-square-foot space she now shares with The Stolen Pig, a furniture and gift shop that opened last year.
The move is an expansion from 600 square feet in Church Hill to 1,000 square feet, and Kellman plans to add Loving Lemons signage to the storefront.
Kellman’s shop won’t be the only new tenant trying to bear fruit in Carytown.
Three massage therapists plan to open a juice bar, massage and yoga studio concept called Squeeze at 3317-3319 W. Cary St. next month. The property was formerly home to Kambourian Jewelers before the jewelry shop moved down the street.
Owners Christie Randall, Logan Harte, and Mark Ducut will operate Squeeze out of the 2,260-square-foot space and will look to cater to the health and wellness crowd.
“All three aspects are coming together,” Randall said of the startup’s trio of offerings. “The biggest income will come from massage therapy and juicing.”
Randall, 30, launched River City Massage and Wellness in 2007. Squeeze came about when she was looking for a bigger studio of her own. She had sub-leased a room from CrossFit RVA at 900 W. Leigh St. since 2011.
Randall said the long lines at Ellwood Thompson’s juice bar at 4 N. Thompson St. convinced her there is a demand for liquefied fruits and vegetables. Squeeze’s juice bar will be able to seat 25.
“I really wanted to see a juice bar in Carytown,” Randall said. “If you’ve seen the line at Ellwood’s, it’s crazy.”
Randall said she, Harte, and Ducut are trying to keep the cost of opening Squeeze under $30,000. They are financing the business themselves. Squeeze’s industrial juicer came by way of England with a $2,500 price tag.
Squeeze, a juice bar and yoga studio, is expected to open in August.
Squeeze’s massage studio will offer sports, deep tissue, pregnancy, and therapeutic massages. There are two massage rooms upstairs as well as a reception area.
“We work on a lot of athletes,” Randall said. “We plan to do cross-promotion with bike shops and gyms.”
A month’s worth of yoga at Squeeze will cost $60. Drop-in classes will be $10, and some classes will have a name-your-price promotion. The 600-square-foot yoga studio will also be available to rent to the public for classes or personal training.
Randall said she and her partners are not looking to compete with other nearby yoga studios, including Yoga Source at 3122 W. Cary St. and Ashtanga Yoga at 2902 W. Cary St.
“We definitely don’t want to step on anyone’s toes,” she said. “We want to gear it to people who can’t afford yoga.”
Kellman closed Loving Lemons’ Church Hill location in the beginning of July.
After souring on Church Hill, a local retailer is moving to Carytown, not far from where another business is trying to sweeten things up in the shopping district.
Loving Lemons, a gift shop that sells jewelry, candy, antiques and other trinkets, closed its storefront at 2709 E. Marshall St. on July 1 in favor of a space at 3643 W. Cary St.
Rachel Kellman opened the shop with the help of a grant from the Bon Secours Supporting East End Entrepreneurship Development program about nine months ago.
“Church Hill is not ready for retail,” Kellman said. “We needed to go to Carytown.”
She reopened in Carytown on July 17 in a 2,700-square-foot space she now shares with The Stolen Pig, a furniture and gift shop that opened last year.
The move is an expansion from 600 square feet in Church Hill to 1,000 square feet, and Kellman plans to add Loving Lemons signage to the storefront.
Kellman’s shop won’t be the only new tenant trying to bear fruit in Carytown.
Three massage therapists plan to open a juice bar, massage and yoga studio concept called Squeeze at 3317-3319 W. Cary St. next month. The property was formerly home to Kambourian Jewelers before the jewelry shop moved down the street.
Owners Christie Randall, Logan Harte, and Mark Ducut will operate Squeeze out of the 2,260-square-foot space and will look to cater to the health and wellness crowd.
“All three aspects are coming together,” Randall said of the startup’s trio of offerings. “The biggest income will come from massage therapy and juicing.”
Randall, 30, launched River City Massage and Wellness in 2007. Squeeze came about when she was looking for a bigger studio of her own. She had sub-leased a room from CrossFit RVA at 900 W. Leigh St. since 2011.
Randall said the long lines at Ellwood Thompson’s juice bar at 4 N. Thompson St. convinced her there is a demand for liquefied fruits and vegetables. Squeeze’s juice bar will be able to seat 25.
“I really wanted to see a juice bar in Carytown,” Randall said. “If you’ve seen the line at Ellwood’s, it’s crazy.”
Randall said she, Harte, and Ducut are trying to keep the cost of opening Squeeze under $30,000. They are financing the business themselves. Squeeze’s industrial juicer came by way of England with a $2,500 price tag.
Squeeze, a juice bar and yoga studio, is expected to open in August.
Squeeze’s massage studio will offer sports, deep tissue, pregnancy, and therapeutic massages. There are two massage rooms upstairs as well as a reception area.
“We work on a lot of athletes,” Randall said. “We plan to do cross-promotion with bike shops and gyms.”
A month’s worth of yoga at Squeeze will cost $60. Drop-in classes will be $10, and some classes will have a name-your-price promotion. The 600-square-foot yoga studio will also be available to rent to the public for classes or personal training.
Randall said she and her partners are not looking to compete with other nearby yoga studios, including Yoga Source at 3122 W. Cary St. and Ashtanga Yoga at 2902 W. Cary St.
“We definitely don’t want to step on anyone’s toes,” she said. “We want to gear it to people who can’t afford yoga.”
Don’t blame Church Hill for Lemon’s failure in the neighborhood. The store was never open. There are a number of comments on CHPN from people who tried numerous times to visit, but were unable.
Agree, pretty sure they will meet the same fate in Carytown. Plus they are moving into an area that sells a lot of the same stuff. Juice bar sounds cool.
Loving Lemons is a great store. Good selection of products, budget friendly prices and a personal shopper in the owner. My wife loves their store… And the new location is much bigger with new items and a husband chair so I can sit while my wife shops. I personally stopped in on Thursday and bought my wife a gift. The owner has a loyalty program so I got 15% off. Free gift wrap and a greeting card on the house. I wish them more success. Also, I think the move was good for them, Carytown has a better attitude towards… Read more »