New Staunton store; Habitat ReStore coming to Waynesboro; Economic award — The buzz – Staunton News Leader

STAUNTON – A new boutique is coming to downtown Staunton, Habitat for Humanity’s will open a ReStore Waynesboro and a new award will help spur economic development in Waynesboro’s east corridor — here’s the buzz.

New boutique

A new store featuring goods made in Virginia is coming to downtown Staunton. Located at 112 E. Beverley St. The store is where Nanny June Vintage was previously located before it moved up the block to a larger storefront.

Owner Heather DeBoe hopes the new store will be open in mid-April.

It will offer handcrafted items from local artists and farms like jewelry, woodwork, pottery, fine art, stained glass, home decor, candles, clothing, handmade soaps and lotions, leather goods, alpaca fiber products and more. The shop also offers a variety of Virginia-made foods.

DeBoe opened her shop five years ago in Hot Springs and wanted to expand. She owns and operates the store, but her husband James works behind the scenes and her three children, Elijah, Ella and Frankie, all help out along with other family members.

“It turns out I love being a shop keeper and promoting the work of other artisans,” she said. “My little shop has blossomed and I decided to take a leap and open a second location. We are in Staunton often for shopping and date nights, and I’ve fallen in love with its beautiful downtown. When I found out that a space was available, I just decided to go for it.”

DeBoe and her family live in Hot Springs but make the trip in Staunton almost regularly.

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ReStore for Waynesboro

The Staunton-Augusta-Waynesboro Habitat for Humanity will be opening a new ReStore in Waynesboro. The organization recently purchased a building on Arch Avenue, which used to be the home for the Salvation Army Family Thrift Store. The thrift store closed in 2017.

“We are excited to be in downtown Waynesboro and connected to all things going on down there,” said SAW Habitat for Humanity Executive Director Lance Barton. “It needs our energy down there to reenergize things.”

The new store is expected to open in May.

The new location is also centric enough for those in Waynesboro — right across from Kroger with plenty of parking and a new park that SAW Habitat will be building honoring the Jeutter-Robertson Family.

Bill McKenna, the ReStore manager, said the organization wanted to have more of a Waynesboro presence.

“We are planning a number of activities in Waynesboro in the future, in terms of our building activities,” he said. “We have not seen the same kind of engagement in Waynesboro as we have in Staunton.”

McKenna said that donations from the Staunton area are four times higher than those from the Waynesboro area.

“We hope to increase the involvement of the folks from Waynesboro in our activities,” he said. “Having a ReStore there would certainly help.”

SAW Habitat has built more than 20 houses in Waynesboro through the years, Barton said. The hope is the new ReStore will bolster donations and volunteers. Revenue from each store goes directly back into the nonprofit to build more houses. They hope to draw people from Nelson County as well.

SAW Habitat has built 50 houses, rehabilitated four and have had 58 partner families in 25 years. The ReStore sells donated items like appliances and furniture. The organization rents its Staunton ReStore, which is located at 434 Richmond Avenue.

The new ReStore will be at 252 Arch Avenue in Waynesboro.

Grant for biz

Waynesboro’s eastern corridor could be seeing more life thanks to a $25,000 marketing services project.

Creative Economic Development Consulting of Elkin, North Carolina recently awarded the City of Waynesboro Economic Development and Tourism Department the 2019 “Creative Give Back” marketing services project.

The city applied to the competition earlier this year with the proposal of redeveloping the eastern entrance corridor along U.S. 250 — Waynesboro’s East Main Street, a release said. The four-mile corridor connects Skyline Drive and Blue Ridge Parkway to the city’s downtown.

“We are honored to have been selected by Creative Economic Development Consulting for this project,” Greg Hitchin, director of Economic Development and Tourism, said in a release. “The revitalization of the Route 250 corridor is a point on which many other local economic opportunities hinge. Rebranding and redeveloping this entrance to the city is an opportunity to join the businesses already located there with the new initiatives of the city and to integrate the beauty of the Blue Ridge Mountains with sustainable economic development.”

Over the next few months, Waynesboro and Creative Economic Development Consulting will work together to move forward on the project. Both will look at development potential for vacant properties along the corridor, create a marketing strategy and develop marketing outreach tools and resources for both new and existing businesses, a release said.

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Follow Laura Peters @peterslaura. You can reach her at [email protected].

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