Brothers Ben and Tomy Harris worked at upscale restaurants in Key West, Fla., for many years.

But they wanted to return to their native Richmond. They hoped to work somehow with high-end wines and food.

When Ben moved back about two years ago, he approached Bob Kocher, owner of the Once Upon A Vine wine shop on Macarthur Avenue in North Richmond.

"Ben liked this wine business, but he never worked retail. He always worked in a restaurant," Kocher said. "I told him to start working here and learn the trade and keep an eye open on what I do so he could open a store just like this."

Ben did just that. He worked at the shop as he and Kocher looked for another location.

Late last year, Ben and his brother, along with Kocher, opened Once Upon A Vine/South shop in the Stratford Hills Shopping Center off Forest Hill Avenue in South Richmond.

"I didn't want to own it myself," Kocher said. "I came up with the idea that each of them come up with a third and I would come up with a third and then they could eventually buy me out."

Kocher thought the shop should be in the Westover Hills area because some of his customers were from that area.

Interestingly, the location once was the Rexall drugstore where Ben worked in the 1960s delivering prescriptions.

The "Rx" is still embedded in the floor. "We sell wine for medicinal purposes," Kocher said and laughed.

Tomy Harris said he and his brother hope to carry on the welcoming atmosphere at the wine shop that they remember from the drugstore.

"We want it to be a friendly neighborhood destination," Tomy said.

Buying wines can be intimidating, but Tomy said Once Upon A Vine tries to make the process more approachable.

For instance, the aisles of wine are arranged by price -- from $6.99 to $9.99 a bottle.

"It is for ease of finding things," he said.

Wines selling for more than $10 are on racks along the wall and are arranged by region.

"You can come in here and get a good value and you can come in here and get a nice bottle of wine," Tomy said.

The shop also carries domestic and imported beers.

Once Upon A Wine/South has a deli case carrying imported cheeses and meats. It sells homemade desserts from the Charley's Waterfront Cafe in Farmville, including carrot cake, key lime cheesecake, and coffee toffee chocolate tart -- "which goes great with porter and stout beers," Tomy said.

Furniture store moved

Macy's has closed its furniture store in the Parham Plaza shopping center near its Regency Square mall store.

The chain moved its furniture, bedding and home accessories departments back to the third floor of the Macy's North store at the mall.

To make room for the furniture gallery, Macy's renovated the third floor and made other changes.

Furniture is where fine china had been. Fine china moved elsewhere on the third floor. The housewares and linen departments have added assortments and displays. The luggage department moved to the first floor.

Macy's furniture-only store opened in April 1998.

Kitchen Classics moving

Kitchen Classics of Virginia is moving.

The kitchen cabinet and design retailer plans to move to Patterson Avenue in Goochland County this year. It has been a tenant in the Tuckahoe Shopping Center on Ridge Road since 1995.

The new building at 12535 Patterson Ave. will have about 14,000 square feet with roughly 4,500 square feet for the showroom. The showroom on Ridge Road has about 1,000 square feet.
Contact Gregory J. Gilligan at (804) 649-6379 or ggilligan@timesdispatch.com.