Lamp and electronics repairman Norman Rose can take random objects — a piece of metal from a horse harness, an auto steering wheel or leftover chandelier crystals, for instance — and turn them into interesting light fixtures.
The evidence is hanging from the ceiling in his shop at Holly Grove Repair & Restoration inside Project1 Home Furnishings, which has a mix of home furnishings vendors and dealers at 2012 Staples Mill Road.
“We get tons of things to be repaired,” Rose said.
Rose scored a chandelier maker’s dream. He recently purchased the entire inventory of decorative crystals from Anthill Antiques when the owners closed the Carytown shop in December after 21 years.
“I had been fixing and modifying chandeliers and things for [Anthill Antiques] and, to some degree, I was a customer of theirs. When they decided to close, they gave me a call and we worked it out,” said Rose, who started Holly Grove Repair & Restoration in 2010 after he retired.
He did not disclose what he paid for the inventory of crystals, which come in multiple shapes, sizes, colors and forms.
For every one of the crystals displayed in rows on a back wall of his shop space, there are 50 to 100 times more crystals stored, he said. In all, there are probably about 400,000 pieces, he said.
“Some of them are beads and things like that,” said Rose, who uses a numerical filing system to manage the inventory.
“You can use them for anything you want,” not just lamps, he said.
“Almost all of it is leaded crystal, high quality,” Rose said. “If you have a chandelier, there’s probably something on here that matches,” he said.
He is at the Project1 space several times a week but does most of the repairs in his workshop at his home in Louisa County.
Many older items brought in for repair are put together with screws, threads and fasteners that can be taken apart to repair. Many newer lamps are crimped or glued together, he said.
“If it comes apart without breaking, I can put it back together usually,” he said.
Carytown Cupcakes adding location
Carytown Cupcakes is planning to open a location in Short Pump Town Center in mid- to late June.
“Kevin [Liu], the other owner, and I, we decided a couple of months ago to start looking,” said Jessye Valerie, a partner in the business that has a store and bakery at 3111 W. Cary St.
“We’ve played around with expansion for a little while now. We toyed around with Church Hill and the Capitol area, but we decided that Short Pump was really the best option,” she said.
The new location will be on the lower-level floor next to the Pandora store in the Dillard’s department store wing. An Oil & Vinegar shop previously operated in the space. The shop will be storefront only; the cupcakes will be baked at the Cary Street store and transported to Short Pump every morning.
“There will be a nice seating area, lots of merchandise. No alcohol,” Valerie said. The Carytown location serves beer and wine.
“I’m just excited, different clientele,” Valerie said.
The business has about 15 employees and will probably need to add two more bakers, Valerie said. The new location will employ five to seven people and have a different look from the Carytown location.
“We actually are going to update the [Carytown] location after we do the Short Pump location.
“It’s a little more modern, a little more fun,” Valerie said.
Possible changes coming to Merchants Walk
A preliminary plan filed with the Henrico County Planning Department shows possible redevelopment of part of the Merchants Walk shopping center at 7502 W. Broad St.
The documents say an existing Bank of America ATM drive-through on the site would be demolished and replaced with two new ATM drive-throughs and 4,670 square feet of retail space. The shopping center is anchored by a Food Lion, Marshalls and Jo-Ann fabric and craft store.
An official with the shopping center management company said the plans are preliminary. The leading brochure for the property indicates that extensive exterior improvements were planned for 2017 and 2018.
County property records indicate the shopping center was purchased by RCC Merchants Walk LLC last June, but the land remains under the ownership of Richard I. Pruitt.
Some recently issued building permits
Here are some notable building permits issued in Chesterfield and Henrico counties. The amounts shown might not represent full cost of a project as additional permits could be issued for other related work.
Chesterfield County:
- New 220,825-square-foot warehouse facility, distribution center at 1520 Willis Road, River City Bottling Group LLC, $15 million; contractor is AHP Construction LLC.
- New construction of a motor vehicle repair garage facility for Virginia Tire and Auto at 7501 Harpers Green Way, $1.1 million; contractor is Johnson Building Corp.
- Tenant upfit for Launch Trampoline Park at 10903 Hull Street Road, $556,000; contractor is Super Structures General Contractors Inc.
Henrico County:
- Medical office building, 6600 W. Broad St., $679,972, alterations; contractor is Commonwealth Construction Management.
- CVS, 11271 Nuckols Road, $110,000, alterations; contractor is Project Builders Inc.
- Jumpology Trampoline Park, 10087 Brook Road, $100,000, alterations; contractor is Fas Trac General Contractors Inc.
- Kroger, 9000 Staples Mill Road, $70,000, alterations; contractor is O’Keefe Electric & Construction.
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