For those of you who notice such things, the picture to your left is different today.

For 15 years the face that has greeted you Monday mornings has been Greg Gilligan's.

But today, and I hope for at least the next 15 years, the picture you see is mine.

Because we are going to spend so much time together, allow me to introduce myself. My name is Louis Llovio. You can call me Louis, Louie or Lou.

I've been at The Times-Dispatch for about six months. Before that I covered retail, advertising, tourism and sports business in Baltimore at The (Maryland) Daily Record.

Because this space is so important to both of us, I ask for your help. If you hear of something happening or know of an interesting store you think your neighbors would like to know about, let me know.

With that said, here we go with the first column.

I hope you enjoy the ride.

RoomStore World opens

RoomStore World opened on West Broad Street near Gaskins Road last week.

At nearly 80,000 square feet, it's about twice the size of most of the Goochland County-based furniture company's stores.

It could be a future concept for the company, which grew from Heilig-Meyers Co.

Housed in what was formerly a Bloom Bros. Furniture store, RoomStore World carries the chain's moderately priced coordinated stock, in which collections fully furnish a room, as well as specialty pieces made in Latin American and India. It also has an expanded children's section and a contemporary furniture area with pieces that seem like they belong at fashionable boutiques.

The World designation comes from the stores' size.

The chain opened a 120,000-square-foot World store in Houston in November.

RoomStore has 60 regular-size stores across nine states, including one off Midlothian Turnpike.

"We're going to see how this works out," said Curtis Kimbrell, chief executive. The chain will evaluate how sales perform at the stores before determining whether to open more.

Kimbrell said an advantage of a store in western Henrico is that management can test concepts and see results firsthand.

The chain opened its first store in Houston because it was able to convert a distribution center in a high-traffic area, said Jonathan K. Page, local area manager for RoomStore.

The Richmond-area site was chosen because of its proximity to headquarters and because the building was available. Bloom Bros. closed the store last year after four years in the space.

To let customers know the new store is different from its regular, smaller RoomStores, this one has a furnished, glassed-in room towering 100 feet above Broad that was added on to the building, as well as floor-to-ceiling windows that face the busy thoroughfare.

"This is something completely different than anything you've seen," Page said.

I challenge you to find another furniture store where you are greeted by chest-high carved wooden giraffes and zebras.

"It's good that we can do something like this in our backyard," said Page, who started with Heilig-Meyers in the mid-1980s. "I'm glad we can show people in Richmond what we are doing and where we are going as a company."

Soles4Souls

The Richmond Braves and Saxon Shoes are asking for shoe donations through Aug. 7.

Shoes will go to Soles4Souls, a charity that distributes shoes to people who can't afford them. It handed out footwear after Hurricane Katrina and the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami and to people living in poverty here.

For every pair donated, the Richmond Braves will give out one ticket to the Aug. 7 game against the Durham Bulls.

Donations can be dropped off at The Diamond or at Saxon Shoes in Short Pump.
Contact Louis Llovio at (804) 649-6348 or LLLovio@timesdispatch.com.