THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, August 14, 1994 TAG: 9408120262
SECTION: SUFFOLK SUN PAGE: 10 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Business
SOURCE: BY CAROLE O'KEEFFE, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: SUFFOLK LENGTH: Medium: 69 lines
AFTER NEARLY HALF a century, the name Russell & Holmes will soon no longer exist in the central business district, and a dress shop in the shoe store will move out of downtown to a shopping center.
Russell & Holmes will cease to exist by year's end. And Holmes Ltd., a ladies fashion store, will open in October in the former space of the Roses Garden Shop at Suffolk Shopping Center.
Leggett Outlet Center will open Wednesday in the main part of the old Roses Department Store.
The move by Russell & Holmes continues a pattern of downtown businesses moving elsewhere, a situation the city is hoping to reverse.
Lynnette Holmes Park, owner of Holmes Ltd., said while she ``firmly believes in the future of downtown,'' her present location at 139 N. Main St., ``is just too large at this time.''
She will be switching 24,000 square feet of space for 2,000 square feet at the shopping center.
``The only reason we are moving is there is not another suitable space in downtown right now,'' Park said.
While the new store will open sometime in October, the old fashion store will remain open with a special inventory clearance sale until the end of this year.
Her father, Lynn W. Holmes, began Russell & Holmes Shoe Store in 1946 on West Washington Street and moved the store to North Main in the 1970s.
Park's mother, Mildred S. Holmes, founded Holmes Ltd. in about 1970. The elder Holmeses have now retired and Park operates the fashion store.
Mr. and Mrs. Fred Upchurch, owners of The Shoetique and The Ritz, both adjacent to Russell & Holmes, have been leasing the shoe store name since the Holmeses retired.
By the end of the year, Fred Upchurch will relinquish use of the Russell & Holmes name. He has not yet come up with a name for the shoe store which he will continue to operate.
In all, the Upchurches will be operating three separate shoe stores, each side by side.
Bob Chisom, director of the Downtown Suffolk Association, sees the leaving of Holmes Ltd. not as a vacancy, but as an opportunity.
``We hate to lose a store of that quality and that tenure, but we don't see it as a setback. It could be an opportunity for fresh blood,'' he said.
In a move calculated to bring new business vitality to downtown, a new courthouse complex that officials of the Downtown Suffolk Association lobbied hard to secure is soon to become reality at Bank and Main streets.
``That's sure to be a boon to downtown, and the spinoff will be an enhancement to the retail and service sectors,'' Chisom said. Secretaries International to meet
A dinner meeting of the Tidewater chapter of Professional Secretaries International will be held at 6 p.m. Tuesday at the Holiday Inn on Greenwich Road in Virginia Beach.
Barry Iacono of D. Barry Iacono & Associates will speak on personal finance and tax tips. The cost is $13 per person.
For reservations, call Susan Turner, 498-9763, Voice Mail 8. ILLUSTRATION: Staff photo by JOHN H. SHEALLY II
Lynnette Park dresses the window of the Russell & Holmes Shoe Store
on Main Street. She'll move Holmes Ltd. to a shopping center.
by CNB