Old Trail Town Center Grand Opening

by Jim Duncan on July 20, 2009

Did you go? What do you/did you think?

  • John

    nope.
    who cares !!!

  • jess mauzy

    NO. nOT SURE HOW i FEEL ABOUT IT. i SAW ON THE LOCAL NEWS THIS MORNING THAT ONE OF THE BENEFITS OF THESE SHOPS IS THAT YOU CAN NOW WALK OR RIDE YOUR BIKE TO THEM, (oops, sorry about the all caps) but if you live in most parts of Crozet, there are no bike paths or sidewalks leading the Old Trail Village. So again, the amenity seems to only be aimed at those few houses in OT. I REALLY want to feel like the OT shops and Village amenities are a benefit to all of Crozet, but I just don’t get the sense that Old Trail cares about Old Crozet.

  • Crozet Mama

    I thought it was weird to have a grand opening when most of the place is still under construction. All the merchants I talked to said they’d be opening in August, except ACAC – they gave a vague “fall” answer (which I would guess means December). I wouldn’t characterize the event as either “grand” or an “opening.” It was a nice PR event, though.

    And like the previous commenter, I’ll be excited if and when the sidewalk along Jarman’s Gap Rd gets built, connecting real Crozet with Old Trail.

  • Ginger

    I was a little disappointed by the other comments I read about the shops at Old Trail. The development has brought locally owned merchants to Crozet that benefit all Crozet residents in that you do not need to make the 40+ minute round trip into Charlottesville for the services and products now offered here. As far as biking or walking to the shops, Old Trail has many trails and sidewalks that it has put in for the entire community’s use. The County is not going to let Old Trail put sidewalks and trails elsewhere throughout Crozet – that’s not an option for the development to pursue so I don’t think that Old Trail should be criticized for sidewalk connection to downtown. That is something that I would imagine could be considered in the Crozet Master plan if deemed important. I see people bike all over Charlottesville to businesses that are not in their own neighborhoods.
    I also think that it is important for people in Crozet to visit and patronize these merchants as they chose to open their businesses in our community with our whole community in mind. I can guarantee that there isn’t a business plan in the Village Center that only projects revenue from Old Trail residents.
    As far as timing of the Grand Opening, I am sure that all of the businesses would have liked to be open. Unless you deal with a combination of the power company, water authority, County admin and all of the subcontractors that work for the aformentioned services on a regular basis, you have no idea how many delays can be created and are totally beyond your control. By sticking with the date I think they created a nice event for a Saturday morning and gave residents something to look forward to.
    I think this is a great enhancement for Crozet and wish all of our new businesses much success. I also ask that those of you who don’t quite see it this way please visit this merchants and talk to them about what they envision bringing to our community, enjoy the short ride to and from, and reconsider what Old Trail brings to our community. Afterall, as long as I’ve been here, I’ve never been able to walk or ride from where I live to any of the businesses downtown that I frequent – however I greatly appreciate their proximity.

  • Stephani

    Went and loved it. Merchants that weren’t open yet had samples (can’t wait for the Italian place…yum). I totally agree with Ginger, I can’t bike to Crozet Pizza…but still manage to get there!

  • Amy

    Tried to go to Old Trail Coffee but they closed early on their opening day. Tried to go Sunday but their credit card machines were down from their internet problems. OH and I got that information from signs, never saw a real person behind the counter, no one ever came out from the back. Not the greatest first impression. With Mudhouse opening & soon Greenhouse, you’d better have your stuff together to win people over.

  • emma

    I had a totally different experience at Trailside Coffee and was helped by a couple of people. I even got a free drink due to not being able to use credit card but that was the service providers problem. What can they do? S&^% happens. I was just happy they opened . I LOVED my smoothie and my friends kids were so excited to get Chaps ice cream!
    I really hope people open their minds to Old Trail in general and realize crozet is much larger than just downtown. . Development is coming, we need to be thankful it is being done right.

  • john

    i’m all for development when it’s on my way. OT is not on my way anywhere, it’s out of the way and only convinent for OT residents. There’s not a business there that i don’t need that i can’t get in downtown. i can’t remember the last that i needed a Segway ??

  • http://www.seg-ville.com Don

    First, our family owns and operates two businesses whose storefronts are opening in OTVC, so I have a financial interest in the success of the center, along with my fellow merchants. That being said, meeting and chatting with hundreds of our neighbors last Saturday (neighbors meaning folks from all over Crozet – we don’t live in Old Trail – as well as from Afton, Batesville, and a couple from ‘over by Ivy’), I was really pleased to get so much POSITIVE feedback from them! They liked the fact that we were opening a gift shop (Zestivities!) here, as well as the Segway shop. I was really surprised at how many folks said that they had heard about us from friends.

    By the way, don’t blame US nor the developers of OT for Jarman’s Gap not having bike lanes and sidewalks! That’s been talked about/planned for what, ten years?!? I thought that this was the kind of project that they wanted for that stimulus$$$, preplanned and ready to go??? Some folks in C-ville that control those things seem to have forgotten about it/us. All I keep hearing is about the Parkway fifteen miles away. I’ve traveled JG every school day for years, and now daily in the summer, too. Every week I have to slow or stop because of pedestrians and bicyclists that are on the asphalt, because they have no other place to walk/ride. Lately it looks like the county’s answer to their safety is to hand out more speeding tickets, rather than to add lanes and sidewalks. I hope that nobody gets hurt before that eventually (maybe) gets built. THAT is something that we all should be talking about!

    I’m just grateful that with the growth, the overwhelming majority of the new businesses are locally owned and independent. I’d REALLY hate to see Crozet go along the lines of what happened in Waynesboro out by I-64 with KFC, Taco Bell, Home Depot, Lowes, etc. You might as well be in Anywhere, USA. The uniqueness of our area is making quite an impression on folks. Many of our Segway tour guests are from out of town (as far away as Maryland, North Carolina, and many from NoVA). They are surprised to learn that within minutes of exit 107 we have 3 breweries, half a dozen wineries, golf, polo, Segway rides, fishing, great B&B’s, and a couple dozen outstanding restaurants. They are starting to take ‘day-cations’ here, and they are telling their friends because they LIKE dealing with independent and unique businesses. They are visiting, leaving their money, and going home to tell their other friends about the great time that they had! King Family Vineyards’ polo is drawing record crowds each weekend, and many of those folks are visiting other businesses before they go home, spending money with our neighbors. While the rest of the country is losing jobs, Crozet is adding them, and that’s thanks in part to OTVC, and those of us that are taking the leap of faith to invest in our businesses both there and throughout Crozet. To quote our friends at Ottos, Keep It Local!

    Don Rich
    Seg-Ville & Zestivities!

  • Crozet Mama

    I made an earlier comment about the need for sidewalks on JG. I did not mean that to insult the merchants at OT whatsoever. I live just about equidistant from OTVC and Downtown Crozet. But only OTVC is accessible to me by foot/bike/stroller, because of the sidewalks in OT. So yes, even though it is great that someday there will be restaurants and retail within walking distance, I also think that it is kind of a bummer that the JG sidewalk which has supposedly been in the works forever and a day, doesn’t appear to be coming to fruition. I’d love to be able to walk to the PO and the hardware store and the library and all the downtown restaurants, too.

    And I stand by my statement that is it weird to have a grand opening event when most merchants aren’t open. My lack of enthusiasm for a non-opening should not be construed as a lack of enthusiasm for an actual opening.

  • http://www.realcrozetva.com Jim Duncan

    I think that when the time comes that Crozet has and can support a Starbucks rather than the three great and local coffee shops, it may be time for me to move.

  • Allie

    I thought it was fun and I was really excited that Trailside is open and that others are almost. I agree it would have been nice to have more business open for the “grand” opening, but considering these spaces were supposed to be done in January, I don’t think they could wait any longer to have an event!

    I actually agree with Ginger and Don, and I was born and raised in “old Crozet.” I’m happy that there are more local businesses opening in Crozet and more places for Crozetians to work in Crozet. The whole, “Old Trail, Virginia,” thing aside, which I suppose is more OT’s real estate’s phrasing than the shopping center’s, I think that OT cares about Crozet.

    I wrote all over my master plan survey to PLEASE make sidewalks happen on JG. I think that would just be fantastic.

  • Don

    CM, I didn’t mean to infer that you blamed anybody out here for the lack of sidewalks in JG, and I apologize if what I said came off like that. I’m just frustrated that so darn much attention is getting put on C-ville’s HUGE parkway project, and our little but important project is getting lost in its wake. When you get right down to it, the parkway is a matter of convenience. Jarman’s Gap is a matter of safety! I wish that more folks saw it the way that we all seem to!

    Okay, confession time. Most of the blame for more of us not being open by the Grand Opening rests with me. The OT folks asked us if we thought that we would be open by then, and I said SURE! I grossly underestimated the task that was ahead of me (plus I added 450 extra feet of store in the process), and as much as I would like to blame the county (though there were a few issues THERE as well), I simply haven’t gotten the job done as quickly as I would have liked. And now it’s back to hammering and painting, so that we can get open soon. Hope that y’all will come see us when we finally DO get the doors open!

    Don Rich
    Seg-Ville & Zestivities

  • http://aorec.com Marilynn Hopkin

    I just returned to Indian Shores,Florida where I manage a vacation condo rental office on the Gulf of Mexico and it is interesting to read all your comments.I,ve been trying to find out more about the biking/hiking trail plans for the “Crozet Tunnel”.I spent 8 days with my mother-in-law who lives in the Highlands at Mechums River.We were celebrating her 92nd b’day.She bought pre-construction so I have spent a lot of time in Crozet and love it as she does.It is nice that Harris-Teeter and other businesses have located in Crozet so residents like her do not have to drive all the way to C’ville or Waynesboro for all their shopping needs.At the same time,she & her neighbors are concerned about losing the flavor of small town Crozet that most of them moved there for.I have lived and worked on or near the beach in a small town just south of Clearwater for 28 years.We have reached buildout here and residents and visitors cannot view the beautiful blue waters of the Gulf of Mexico because every inch of beach is taken up by overpriced luxury condos that sit empty for most of the year.Our area has definitely lost the charm of a small family-friendly town it had and once that is gone,nothing can bring it back.I would hate to see that happen to Crozet.Good Luck and if there is any info on the trail plans,I would appreciate hearing about them.Thanks,Marilynn

  • es8m

    Crozet is what it is. Need a sidewalk, a trail, a bike path, thats why Urban area’s were created. Coffee shops ??? You were forced to live here?

    Old Trail actually has nothing in common with Crozet. It sits in a field
    trying to steal an identity.

    Once Crozet is destroyed where will you go then…

  • Ginger

    We had a wonderful morning sitting outside at Trailside Coffee. The coffee was excellent and the view was something to behold. Thanks to Marcia for creating such a great place to sit and enjoy the mountains. And thanks for the GF food!

  • John

    Ginger… wait till they build stuff across the street, then your view will be another building…

  • Concerned

    John

    Are you suggesting the land should not be built on.

    Why are you negative on Old Trail?

  • connie

    Old Trail needs to be bush-hogged…it looks terrible.

  • Justin Beights

    Let me know which areas need to be addressed. I certainly don’t want Old Trail to look horrible.

  • http://www.realcrozetva.com Jim Duncan

    Connie –

    I was through there yesterday and the day before and I thought it looked fine … where are you talking about?

    Justin – Thanks for stopping by.

  • emma

    the person named ‘john’ is only for development when it is (and I quote (see 7/20 comment)) “when it is on my way”. Apparently he is only concerned with himself and what is convienent for his daily life…. which is funny because it seems to be his big problem regarding Old Trail.
    Stop being so negative and smile. If it is not on your way then why are you thinking about it and writing comments that just put other peoples experiences down?? I hope you have a great day, I really do!

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