Cocoanut Jewelry owner Wendy Garrett in her Tuckahoe Town Center shop (Photo by Jay Paul)
Last Stop: Tuckahoe
Cocoanut Jewelry finds a final, permanent home in the West End
Cocoanut Jewelry, a local favorite that opened in Richmond more than 40 years ago, has consolidated its two stores into a new location in the West End.
Owner Wendy Garrett closed shops in Willow Lawn and Short Pump Town Center in favor of a single store at 405 N. Ridge Road in Tuckahoe Town Center. She says that she wanted a location within reach of all her customers that also gave her greater flexibility without the stress of managing separate stores.
“I really did consider retiring,” Garrett says, “but I love my job and the customers. There really isn’t anything like it.”
Garrett, a Richmond native and Virginia Commonwealth University graduate, opened the first Cocoanut Jewelry on Harrison Street in the Fanin 1976.
Her clientele is new, yet familiar.
“Because we’ve had the store for so long, we are seeing a whole new generation coming in,” Garrett says. “Kids that used to shop with their parents have grown up, and now they’re shopping with us, too.”
The 900-square-foot Tuckahoe store opened in December 2016. All of the jewelry and crafts are handpicked by Garrett. Prices range from $20 to $1,000 and up.
This may well be the final location for Cocoanut Jewelry. “I was at Willow Lawn for 35 years, and at Short Pump for 13 years,” Garrett says. “This is my last stop. When we leave Tuckahoe, we’ll be done.”
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Groundbreaking at 3001 River Road West (Photo courtesy Goochland Free Clinic)
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Rendering of the new clinic (Image by Worley Associates & Architects courtesy Goochland Free Clinic)
Up to the Challenge
Goochland social-service provider receives a matching grant for its building campaign
Goochland Free Clinic and Family Services received a $400,000 challenge grant that will go toward its capital campaign to fund a new building and an endowment.
Donations to the campaign will be matched dollar for dollar for one year through the grant, which was provided through the Mary Morton Parsons Foundation. The private foundation supports the capital needs of charitable organizations in Richmond.
“It really encourages people to help,” says Sally Graham, executive director of the clinic. “If you donate $10, then it’ll be $20 with the Foundation. The intention is that it will attract new people who have not given before.”
The clinic provided services to more than 1,700 Goochland residents in 2016.
The nonprofit seeks to raise $7.1 million, which includes about $5.6 million for construction of a 20,000-square-foot facility that will provide space for 11 programs currently offered at three separate sites. A $1.5 million endowment to ensure future operations is also included in the campaign.
A groundbreaking was held on March 21 at the site, 3001 River Road West. It will combine critical assistance programs including medical and dental clinics, a food pantry, and an initiative to provide clothing to those in need. The existing main building at this location will be converted into emergency housing.
“We anticipate we will be in our new building early next winter,” Graham says.
Photo courtesy Tesla
Tesla on the Richmond Grid
The electric-vehicle manufacturer Tesla will open its first store in the Richmond area this year, in the former Bassett Furniture Direct store at 9850 W. Broad St. in Glen Allen.
In December, Tesla, which sells its cars directly to the customer online and through its branded stores, received a favorable ruling to operate in Richmond from Richard D. Holcombe, the commissioner of the Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles. Tesla also operates a store in Fairfax.
A Publix Place
Dining and shopping options are about to expand for residents of the Twin Hickory and Wyndham communities with the opening later this year of Nuckols Place, a 90,000-square-foot shopping center at Nuckols Road and Twin Hickory Road. The center will have a new Publix grocery, one of two in the Richmond region that is not a conversion of a former Martin’s location. Other tenants will include Starbucks, Chipotle, Sedona, Taphouse, Zaxby’s, Lee Spa and Nails, and PetValu. The development is already home to a Walgreens.
