News-Record.com

Between Sunday's retail column, Monday's clipper on back-to-school shopping during the tax-free holiday and Thursday's short story on local store hours, we've got you covered when it comes to local shopping.

But if you're planning to head down to Durham to hit the Apple store during the tax-free blitz (and, if you are, I'd recommend going early and bringing a book/magazine/iPod to entertain you in line) or log some hours at Nordstrom, here's what you need to know:

* The Streets at Southpoint open at 9 a.m. and close at 9 p.m. today and Saturday. Mall hours are 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sunday. Department stores set their own hours.

* Today: A Top Brass Band performs on the Main Street Stage from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m.

* Saturday: Singer Josh Thompson performs at 1 p.m., 3 p.m. and 5 p.m. on the Main Street Stage. Magician and juggler Bobby Maverick performs at 2 p.m., 4 p.m. and 6 p.m. on Main Street. Blues band Amber Alley performs from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. on the Main Street Stage.

* Sunday: The Bouncing Bulldogs, USA Jump Rope national champions, perform from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. at the Main Street Stage.

A Mattress Firm store has opened in a 4,900 square-foot space at 1040 South Main St. This is the Houston-based chain's seventh location in the region, the company reports.

Store hours are:

10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Friday
10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Saturday
noon to 6 p.m. Sunday

Balance Day Spa, located on Battleground Avenue in Greensboro, has added on-site laser hair removal to its menu of services.

The first laser consultation there is free. For more information, visit www.BalanceDaySpa.com or call 574-2556.

Starting Sunday, shoppers at Food Lion can purchase and donate back-to-school kits for needy kids.

The pre-packaged kits, $5.99 each, include pencils, paper, a glue stick, highlighters, a spiral notebook, a two-pocket folder, hand sanitizer and coupons. The coupons are worth about $5.50, according to a news release from the company.

Food Lion plans to deliver all donated kits to area schools, where the packages will be given to underprivileged students. Donations should be added to each customer's receipt.

See the kit after the jump ...

A Summerfield accessory shop should open this week - after nearly three months of delay.

The shop, SARAJANE, has been in the works for months over at Hillsdale Village, a new retail complex at the edge of Summerfield, where N.C. 150 meets Lake Brandt Road. Owner Sarah Jane Miller planned to open her store May 13, but development snafus held up the process, putting both Sarah Janes on hold.

Back in May, developer John Stratton, the brains behind the center, said he expected businesses there to open between June 1 and June 15. Shops and eateries including Moby's Coffee just started to open their doors. The 18,000-square-foot center has about a dozen retail spaces, and Stratton might build an additional 12,000 square feet of shops, eateries and offices.

SARAJANE, slated for a soft opening Tuesday, fills a 1,200-square-foot space there. Miller, a single mother in her early 50s, is stocking her store with accessories that can make an outfit - pieces like headbands, belts and handbags from unique lines. She plans to cater to a fairly high-end demographic, drawing customers from Summerfield, but she also plans to offer a variety of price points.

Her grand opening is scheduled for Aug. 19.

For more information, look in next weekend's Savvy Shopper column, or call SARAJANE at 643-5773.

Standard Tools & Equipment Co., located on Clover Road off Interstate 40, has made the list of the top 500 Web retailers, according to trade publication Internet Retailer. The company, which employs more than 75 people locally, made it into the pub's Top 500 Guide, which I can't get because it costs $59.

The guide is an annual pub that ranks Internet sellers by their 2005 sales. It also considers factors like yearly sales growth, monthly site visits, unique visitors and the average purchase price.

"We are honored to be acknowledged along side (sic) America's largest online retailers," Buddy Turner, the company's chief executive officer, said in a news release. "This is a special recognition in the Internet retail world ..."

In the news release, the company reports more than 140,000 unique visitors to its online retail site. Web sales for 2005 were $6.3 million, a year-over-year increase of 61 percent, according to the release.

Standard Tools makes more than 200 products, including paint booths, frame-straightening machines and auto lifts.

Dynamics Advertising, a local company focused on bilingual media, marketing, advertising and sales, has moved from Summerfield to Greensboro, according to its Web site.

The company's new information is:

2100 W. Corwallis Drive - Unit K-2
Greensboro, NC 27408
Telephone: (336) 644-6705
Fax: (866) 575-4541

Yes, we have no bananas.

Rum Monkey restaurant, open on Battleground Avenue in Greensboro for less than a year, has closed. Owner Kotis Properties hopes to re-lease the space to another restaurant but has no immediate plans.

Look for more in tomorrow's News & Record.

Three months after an explosion that killed one employee, a South High Point company plans to expand.

Future Foam North Carolina, a local operation of Future Foam Inc, an Iowa-based company plans to add 24,000 square-feet to its facility on Prospect Street.

If you’re starting a business or looking to expand, the Tar Heel state may be one of your best bets.

In a list published by Forbes magazine, North Carolina ranked third – behind Virginia and Texas – as the best states for business.

It's a complaint too often heard by the Triad from those who attend the International Home Furnishings Market.

Hotel prices are too high and there aren't enough hotel rooms.

But marketgoers, have no fear, a newly created hotel taskforce is here.

With its headquarters in High Point, MGM Transport, a trucking and logistics company for the home furnishings industry now stretches Coast to Coast.

The company announced Friday that it will add services from Mississippi to Southern California and the Northeast.