Short Pump’s The Wine Loft – A Review By The Good Wine Guru

Local Tweep, Snark, and candidate for Mr. Awesomeness 2010, George R. Perry, everyone!  Remember, behind every man is an awesome woman, and Mr. Perry’s awesome woman April is pictured with him below.

In addition to being one of Richmond’s cutest couples, most dynamic twitterers, and social media sweethearts, the Perrys also enjoy a nice glass of wine every now and then.  George is actually the Good Wine Guru, so who better to review The Wine Loft than him?  Here begin the words of George…

Just inside the border of Short Pump, across from the Kohls and Best Buy on West Broad Street is a new shopping center – the West Broad Village Community in Short Pump.  Featuring numerous new restaurants, grocers, shopping, and living space, West Broad Village has quickly become home to some of the most popular new spots in Richmond.  One of these is the Wine Loft.

A cross between a casual lounge and an upscale wine bar, the Wine Loft offers atmosphere mixed with great food and drink.  The food offerings aren’t your typical faire, being tailored more towards groups of diners with their tapas style of delivery.  However, any conversation about the Wine Loft must begin, obviously, with their wine selection.

As a regular wine drinker, I am always looking for places that offer a wide selection of wine at a wide range of prices.  Sure, there are nights that I’m willing to spend $50 or more on a bottle of wine, but there are just as many nights that I want to drink a couple of $7 glasses.  The Wine Loft caters to both of my moods.

With wine available both by the glass and bottle, there is something for every palate and pocketbook – red or white, sweet or dry, Old World or New World – and the staff is knowledgeable and willing to help you find something to fit your tastes if you’re not familiar with their offerings.

As for their food selection, they’ve done an excellent job of putting together a menu that allows you to pick what will best compliment your wine, or pick your wine to compliment what you’re eating.  While I’ve yet to have anything that I didn’t enjoy, the Baked Brie en Croute for two (and really more than that) is a must-have any time you go there.

Vanilla infused and topped with spiced pecans and a balsamic reduction and served with sliced baguette – which you’ll need more of and they’re happy to provide – the baked brie is a can’t miss no matter what you’re drinking.  For those looking for something more robust, the oven roasted lamb lollipops, shrimp and blue cheese in puff pastry, and shrimp and lump crab four cheese empanadas are all nothing short of amazing.

The food and drink aside, the Wine Loft itself has set itself up as a great place to spend an evening either for an intimate dinner date or for a casual gathering of friends or co-workers.  Low couches, chairs, and tables abound on both levels (that’s right, it has an upstairs), and a center communal table – raised and lighted – is a great gathering place for groups or couples.

No matter the occasion or the size of the dining party, the Wine Loft is the perfect place to spend an evening and one you’ll want to return to time and again.

The Wine Loft
4035 Whittail Way
Glen Allen, VA  23060
804-368-1768

(located between Kona Grill and Mimi’s Café)

Post sponsored by MaverickLabel.com – providing custom wine labels.

Get your Richmond business or service reviewed on RichmondVAPresents.com. Email us at marketing (at) richmondvapresents dot com
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Lead Generation by Roger Leek

A friend of RichmondVAPresents is looking to make your business better.  Check out Roger Leek’s website after reviewing the article about lead generation.

Effective online marketing can be a daunting task for many businesses. If not done right, the return on investment could easily be little or nothing.  As with any marketing effort, the ultimate goal is attracting new business.  When marketing is focused on lead generation, the return on investment becomes obvious.  Like SEO, the objective is attracting the right audience – people interested or in need of your product or service – and capturing their information for immediate or future follow up.

As competition for ad dollars intensifies, the power is gradually moving back toward the advertiser.  A trend toward lead generation is beginning to take hold.  For example, Google Analytics measures the effectiveness of an online advertising campaign from the click through an online transaction and reports the cost per conversion or sale.  Savvy advertising agencies want to buy online media based on cost-per-action instead of cost per impression or click.  This has resulted in an increasing ability for advertisers to pay for performance.

The cost of a lead will naturally vary from business to business.  A few targeted advertising campaigns and some research can determine an average cost per lead for any business.  The goal then becomes driving down the cost per lead without sacrificing quality.

Roger Leek is an experienced online marketing consultant.  Roger currently works with high tech companies like Microsoft, CA, HP, Oracle and advertising agencies like Universal McCann, Starcom Worldwide and JWT.  He can meet with your business in Richmond and help develop an effective lead generation strategy.

Get your Richmond business or service reviewed on RichmondVAPresents.com. Email us at marketing (at) richmondvapresents dot com
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Contact Big Oak SEO, a Richmond SEO company, to help your website get found in Google’s search results.

An Awesome Richmond Business – eMommie.com

I recently had the opportunity to interview Farah Hottle, owner of Richmond-based used maternity clothes company eMommie.com.  I asked her questions, she answered them, and I learned a whole lot about a business that I’ll be sure to use when the time comes (no, Mom-in-Law, not yet).

1. What were the determining factors for you to start your own business?

Maternity consignment came to me when several of my co-workers became pregnant and asked to borrow my maternity clothes.  I did some research and found there was virtually no affordable alternative out there for maternity shopping; let alone a used maternity website.  The stars just sort of aligned and I decided to go for it.  Plus, my daughter, Laila, was 10 months old at the time, and I was thrilled at the thought of being with her more often.

2. Where do you find your inventory of pre-worn  maternity clothes?

Right now, all of the inventory comes from Richmond moms who find us through Google, Craigslist, or mommy websites.   Soon, we’ll be consigning items from moms across the U.S.

3. How do you process the clothes that you receive?

It’s a fairly long process actually.  We photograph, tag, describe, price, and add every item individually.  It’s exhausting! But, well worth it.

4. Your prices seem extraordinarily good.  How do you price your items?  Is pricing based on what the item is, or how worn it is, etc.?

The key factors considered in pricing are brand name, the product’s style compared with current fashion trends/season, and the condition/age of the garment.  We never accept damaged items, but some items are in such great condition, you’d think they were brand new; and others actually are (with original tags still attached!).   We probably could increase our prices, but that would defeat the whole purpose!

5. What is your favorite part of what you do?

That’s a tough one.   My favorite part is probably updating the website.  I’m constantly doing site audits and evaluations to see how I can make the site better, faster, more user-friendly.  The less times a person has to click to get what they want, the better.  Interacting with the customers is great too.  I love hearing from them.  Plus, it’s my opportunity to let them know there’s a real person behind the website who cares about what they want.

6. For someone shopping with you the first time, what advice would you give them about maternity clothes shopping in general, and what would you like for them to know about your business?

The key thing to keep in mind about maternity clothes shopping is that the clothes are generally made to grow with you.  They are cleverly crafted.  A lot of women are easily confused about what size to purchase.  What most don’t know is that you should almost always shop for your pre-pregnancy size; but we are always here to help if you’re uncertain.

As for shopping with eMommie, expectant moms should know that the business was truly started for them; with their best interest at heart.  We are extremely selective about the items we buy for them.  So much so, that we recently started offering free return shipping.  Bottom line, our clients are everything to us and we really want them to be happy with their purchases.  I’m the owner, but everything I do is from my clients’ perspective.  I refuse to let anyone walk away less than excited.  I’m very accessible and want to hear from them about whatever it is they want to talk about.

7. How is working with your sister?

Easy!  She became pregnant with her second child when we were two months in so hasn’t been to the office much!  All jokes aside, she’s an invaluable partner.   We’re four sisters altogether, but Jasmine and I have always been the closest.  She is the comic relief in any situation; always full of energy and jokes.  But when you really need her opinion, she’ll surprise you with some keen insights to things that may have otherwise gone unnoticed.  She’s my ongoing consultant.

8. What are your future plans for the business?

My hope is that eMommie becomes a household name for alternative maternity shopping.   Our focus is the U.S. and Canada, but we have plans to open up to Europe in the near future.  In recent months, the focus on “going green” has increased, but I haven’t heard much mention of how the textile industry in particular impacts our environment.   With our business model, everybody wins and I hope we’re able to shed a little light on the importance of recycling clothing going forward.

9. What was the one thing you wish you had known before you started the business?

I don’t think I understood how detailed and strategic you have to be in designing a website.  I was so excited about the bargain we’d be offering, that I neglected to realize so many other factors (i.e. site speed, landing pages, category structure…) I thought, “Put the clothes up, and they will sell.  People will come.”  Clearly, it’s not quite that simple; but I’ve grown and learned tremendously in these last 10 months.  Our site traffic has increased fairly quickly.  It’s incredible.  I can’t wait to see what the future holds.

Check out the eMommie website if you’re in the market for some high-quality, low-priced maternity clothes, and if you’re not, keep them in mind for you or that pregnant lady you have to buy a present for.

Get your Richmond business or service reviewed on RichmondVAPresents.com. Email us at marketing (at) richmondvapresents dot com
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