BizSense Beat is a weekly collaboration between VPM News and Richmond BizSense that brings you the top business stories during NPR's Morning Edition on Fridays.
Here’s a recap of the top stories for the week of September 6, 2024:
New Richmond Stadium to be called CarMax Park
Reported by Richmond Bizsense’s Jonathan Spiers
A not-so-well-kept secret has been made official: Richmond’s new baseball stadium will be called CarMax Park.
The Richmond Flying Squirrels and Goochland-based CarMax formally announced a multiyear naming rights deal Wednesday that Lou DiBella, the team’s managing general partner, said helped push the deal for the $117 million ballpark over the finish line.
“Without that CarMax deal and the comfort in knowing that their commitment was there, we would not have been able to make the extraordinary commitment that we made in our lease with the city,” DiBella told attendees at Wednesday’s announcement.
“Baseball,” he added, “is here because of CarMax.”
GRTC selects former Public Safety Building site for new bus transfer station
Reported by Richmond Bizsense’s Jack Jacobs
Nearly a year after GRTC opened its current temporary bus transfer hub in downtown Richmond, the transit agency has decided it wants to see the permanent replacement rise just across the street.
The GRTC Board of Directors voted Thursday to select the city’s former Public Safety Building property at 500 N. 10th St. as its preferred site for a permanent bus transfer station.
The transfer hub would act as a nexus point for GRTC bus routes across the region, which would converge there to connect and transfer riders in a central place. It is planned to be built as part of a mixed-use development, which would feature apartments and retail space in addition to the GRTC facility.
Shuttered Steam Bell Beer Works files for bankruptcy to liquidate assets
Reported by Richmond Bizsense’s Mike Platania
A recently shuttered Chesterfield brewery is looking to liquidate its assets via bankruptcy.
Steam Bell Beer Works filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy last week in the Eastern District of Virginia, court records show.
The filing came just days after Steam Bell ceased operations after over nine years in business at 1717 E. Oak Lake Blvd.
In the bankruptcy filing, Steam Bell owner Brad Cooper claims the business has $403,000 in assets and $824,000 in liabilities owed to 20 creditors. Steam Bell is seeking Chapter 7 bankruptcy protection, which indicates the business’s remaining assets would be liquidated and sold off to repay creditors at least a portion of what they’re owed.
Burger Bach closes in West Broad Village after 11-year run
Reported by Richmond Bizsense’s Mike Platania
A Short Pump burger joint has grilled its last patty.
Burger Bach ceased operations at its West Broad location at 2225 Old Brick Road over the weekend. A sign on the restaurant’s door announced the closure on Sept. 1.
“We regret to inform you that this location is now closed. We want to extend our heartfelt thanks for your years of support and loyalty,” the sign reads.
The restaurant opened in the Whole Foods anchored mixed-use development in 2013, a year after the locally based chain was founded in Carytown by Angela Whitley and her late husband Michael Ripp.
Burger Bach’s spots in Carytown, Midlothian and Durham, North Carolina remain open for business. Its Charlottesville location, which opened in2016, appears to also have been shuttered in recent days.
Slingshot game club closes in Scott’s Addition
Reported by Richmond Bizsense’s Mike Platania
Another Scott’s Addition “eatertainment” venue has closed, though it looks like its space won’t sit vacant long.
Slingshot Social Game Club has ceased operations at 1304 MacTavish Ave.
With duckpin bowling, bocce ball and skee-ball, Slingshot was one of a handful of gaming and hospitality venues in the neighborhood. It opened in 2019 as a spinoff of Robert Lupica’s Circuit Arcade Bar, a bar on Leigh Street in the neighborhood that closed last fall.
Lupica couldn’t be reached for comment last week regarding Slingshot’s closure. It’s unclear when exactly it closed. The venue hasn’t been open during its regularly posted hours in recent days and construction paper lines its windows.
City records show that Slingshot’s space is already being eyed by a mystery group.
You can have these and other local business stories sent right to your inbox. Sign up for the Richmond BizSense newsletter!
