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Business

  • Run over by The Bus

    Sebastiano Stia has been run over by "The Bus."

    Stia currently lives on Scruggs Road on the Franklin County side of Smith Mountain Lake. A few years ago, he was working on a freelance photo assignment which took him to a Pittsburgh Steelers-Philadelphia Eagles game. This work gets a man on the sidelines of pro football games. A sports photographer needs to be alert and quick as more than getting good shots is at stake. At one point during this game, Stia was just not quick enough.

    "Jerome Bettis is running with the ball," Stia recalled.

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  • Treasures in the basement

    Ginger Bell has finished filling the old Murray building on North Bridge Street, in Bedford.

    Bell acquired the building last May and opened the Bridge Street level as Ginger Bell's House of Mini Shops. This consists of space rented to seven small businesses, including a beauty salon that had been there for 30 years before Bell bought the place. The House of Mini Shops is full, and now there is a business in the basement. It's called Bell's Treasures.

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  • Business helps pet, home owners go away with confidence

    Through experience, Randy Holden, who has several dogs of his own, knows when someone has pets it's hard to just pick up and go on a trip.

    That reality helped him decide a few months ago to open his own house and pet-sitting service, Whisker Watchers.

    Holden said he knows how he wants his pets and home to be looked after when he leaves town. "We have our needs when we want to go on vacation," Holden said. "That's exactly what I offer, the same thing I would want offered by another pet sitter."

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  • Bringing out the best

    Bringing some of her own old family photos back to life gave the impetus for a Lake-area woman's new business.

    Cheryl Smith-Clifton opened Smith Mountain Lake Photo Restoration last summer, working out of her home in the Radford Church area. Last month, she opened an office on North Bridge Street, in Bedford. She now divides her work time between her home office and the Bedford office.

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  • Artists display work at the Electric Company

    "This is a big milestone for all of us," commented Pattie Siehien as she cut a ribbon the building that served as the Bedford Electric Department's home for a century.

    The Depot Street building is now home to two dog related business, Paw Wash and Pawcasso. It also houses the Artisan Cafe, open for lunch, and 13 crazy artists. Actually, they aren't crazy. When Siehien held her grand opening this month, she billed the event as "Meet the Crazy Artists" and some of them were on hand to talk to the public. They all live in the Bedford area.

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  • Barr announces major expansion

    Barr Laboratories, a subsidiary of Barr Pharmaceuticals, is planning a $62 million expansion at its facility in Forest.

    Barr first came to Bedford County in 1996 and County Administrator Kathleen Guzi noted that it has expanded ever since. The company started with 22 employees and now employs 500.

    "The fact that it continues to expand shows that they are committed to the community," Guzi said.

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  • Businesses open up in former city electric building

    The old Electric Department Building on Depot Street, in Bedford, has gone to the dogs.

    At least part of it has, but that's good. Paw Wash, a dog grooming business is one of the new businesses that have opened in the former city electric building.

    Jenne Chelloram served her first furry customers on Dec. 11.

    Paw Wash is equipped with state of the art pet grooming equipment and has its own dedicated parking next to the building. It even has provisions for meeting doggie toilet needs.

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  • Carriage Hill celebrates two decades of service

    Carriage Hill marked 20 years in business this year.

    It came into being when Al Persinger, Tommy Reynolds and Don Rowe decided, back in the '80s, that there was a need for a modern assisted living facility in the Bedford area.

    " Most of the people were going to Lynchburg and Roanoke at that time," recalled Persinger.

    "We knew people around town that needed places to put family members," Reynolds added.

    Along with seeing a need, the three men knew each other well. They had worked together on other business ventures prior to this effort.

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  • D. Reynolds celebrates 60 years

    D. Reynolds celebrated 60 years in business last week.

    The men's clothing store has been at the same location on South Bridge Street in Bedford since William Dawson Reynolds opened it on Nov. 14, 1947. It's a bit larger than it originally was.

    "It was two separate stores when I came here," said Ruth Crouch, the store's manager. Crouch has been there since 1963 and has managed the store for the past 33 years.

    Back in 1947, W. Dawson Reynolds' brother, Alex, opened a shoe store next door. A door connected the two businesses.

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  • Duchess of Bedford's new owner tastes business ownership

    For Becky Turner owning your own business was something always in the back of her mind. She is now the new owner of The Duchess of Bedford, the town's popular bakery and breakfast and luncheon stop.

    As a child she never cooked. "Mama would never let us in the kitchen. We made such a mess," she explained. "I did Pampered Chef to stock my kitchen because I did enjoy cooking and it is much more enjoyable with the right tools."

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