Richmond’s retail scene saw some seasoned local retailers relocate or add new locations in 2022.
Also of interest was the new-to-market retailers selling everything from sporting goods to Legos that decided this was the year for their Richmond expansions.
The region’s medical cannabis provider continued to stake out storefronts for its piece of Virginia’s budding marijuana market, despite hurdles both in the statehouse and locally in 2023.
New storefronts and locations
Ledbury’s storefront at 315 W. Broad St. The menswear seller plans to shutter the store at the end of 2022 as it prepares to relocate its operations to a new, yet-to-be-determined location. (BizSense file photo)
Beecroft & Bull departed River Road Shopping Center after nearly two decades to move to the Libbie-Grove corridor, where it took over the space at 5712 Grove Ave. formerly home to La Grande Dame.
Ledbury shared plans in early December to leave its downtown Richmond store at 315 W. Broad St. after six years. It has yet to be revealed where the menswear store will land.
Jeansmaker Shockoe Atelier started operations in a new home at 1623 W. Broad St. after a decade in Shockoe Bottom. And vintage clothing stores Rosewood Clothing Co. and Saturn Return both expanded their operations in 2022 by moving into bigger spaces at 106 S. Robinson St. in the Fan and at 2239 W. Broad St. near the Science Museum of Virginia, respectively.
Emily Warden recently relocated her jewelry store and studio to a space on Hanover Avenue that’s larger than her previous location in the Fan. (Photos courtesy of Halle Kennon/Emily Warden Designs)
Emily Warden Designs roughly doubled its footprint when it relocated its jewelry shop and production studio to 2225 Hanover Ave. in the fall, staying within the same neighborhood it has operated in since 2019.
Schwarzschild Jewelers opted to find a larger space while staying in Carytown, where it’s been a fixture for decades. It signed a lease for a bigger spot in the new Carytown Exchange, where it plans to set up shop in 2023.
Vinyl Conflict ended a 14-year-run in Oregon Hill when it relocated this year to a larger location at 300 E. Grace St. in downtown Richmond.
Brick and Mortar Mercantile owner Ben Wegdam recently opened a location in Carytown, the fourth for the brand. (Courtesy of Brick and Mortar Mercantile)
Middleburg-based West Federal Retail added to its Richmond holdings with the opening of Brick and Mortar Mercantile at 3114 W. Cary St. in Carytown, where it also operates other store concepts.
The local Fleet Feet franchise this year inked a lease in Chesterfield County, teeing up a store south of the river in addition to existing outposts in Short Pump and Westhampton.
After coming to Richmond in 2019, North Carolina-based PlantHouse made plans in 2022 to relocate to a bigger space in Scott’s Addition, a move now scheduled to happen in spring 2023.
New-to-market arrivals
Academy Sports + Outdoors has opened its first store in Virginia within The Corner at Short Pump shopping center. (Jack Jacobs photos)
A handful of out-of-town retailers picked 2022 to expand into the Richmond region.
Big-box sporting goods retailer Academy Sports + Outdoors opened in August at The Corner at Short Pump shopping center. The store took over a space that had been occupied by a Toys ‘R’ Us-Babies ‘R’ Us combo store that shuttered in 2018.
Also in Short Pump, outdoor gear supplier Sierra and furniture and furnishings store Homesense both opened in Short Pump Crossing shopping center in the fall.
National lighting retailer Circa Lighting opened at 3125 W. Broad St. near Scott’s Addition, falling in behind ceramics seller Architessa, a fellow newcomer to the area, which planted its flag at 1726 E. Main St. in Shockoe Bottom.
Cannabis stores continued to grow locally
Medical marijuana dispensary Cannabist has opened in the former Need Supply Co. space in Carytown. (Jack Jacobs photo)
Though the launch of a recreational cannabis market was shot down in early 2022, the region’s state-approved medical marijuana provider continued to build out its brick-and-mortar presence during the year.
Green Leaf Medical, as the only state-sanctioned medical cannabis provider for the Richmond area, is allowed under state law to operate five satellite dispensaries in addition to the dispensary attached to its growing and processing facility in Manchester.
The company made progress toward its cap during the year, opening its Carytown outpost at 3100 W. Cary St. (branded Cannabist) in the fall and bringing it to a total of two operational dispensaries in its territory (the other in Short Pump).
The company also inked leases for a Colonial Heights dispensary, now slated to open in 2023, and a Midlothian dispensary, which became the subject of a zoning appeal when Chesterfield rejected a building permit tied to the proposed dispensary, citing marijuana’s status as an illegal substance under federal law. The county’s zoning appeal board upheld county staff’s rejection in October.
Though sales of recreational marijuana are still prohibited in Virginia, it is legal to grow and possess pot in the Old Dominion. Capitalizing on that law this year was national hydroponics chain GrowGeneration USA, which opened its first local store in Chesterfield County.
