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The fast cars are gone from the intersection of West Wendover Avenue and Interstate 40.

Not from the road, mind you. Just from the former site of Foreign Cars Italia at the heavily traveled intersection.

In its place is West Wendover Shoppes, one of the newest — and one of the last — strips of retail space within a mile radius of the highway interchange.

SunCom Wireless, the first store in the 18,000-square-foot building, opened in May. New shops are scheduled to open after the holidays, including Bruegger's Bakery and Cafe in January. The center's drive-through will be filled with the Greensboro debut of Charlotte-based Dilworth Coffeehouse.

The brew will begin to flow sometime in the first quarter of 2008.

Sofa Express no more

Sofa Express and More! filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy Thursday and will close its 41 stores, including the location at 4217 W. Wendover Ave. in Greensboro.

In a statement on the closings, CEO Woolard Harris pointed to housing uncertainty, high fuel prices and low sales as the reasons for the store's demise.

"Given the challenges currently faced by the entire home furnishings industry, you've got to be nearly perfect to survive," Harris said.

No firm time line has been set for the store's closing, said Janet Smith, an executive assistant at the company. Store employees were notified of the pending closings Monday.

For now, stores are selling furniture off the floor, but the company will work with a liquidation company in the future, Smith said.

Fair trade for Fido

Fifteen percent of all purchases made from 6 to 8 p.m. Friday at Ten Thousand Villages will be donated to the Animal Rescue and Foster Program, an organization that takes care of homeless animals.

The store, at 1564-A Highwoods Blvd. in Jefferson Village Shopping Center on New Garden Road in Greensboro, sells fair trade goods made by international artisans.

Fido, meet Fluffy

It's a popular meet-up place for your human kids, and on Tuesday, your furry ones are invited to hang out at the mall, too. Four Seasons Town Centre will host Pet Night from

6 to 9 p.m. Tuesday.

The mall has hosted the

get-together for about three years.

"It's actually a very cute event," said Nicole Steele, marketing manager at Four Seasons.

"People treat their animals like a member of the family."

Home decor store moving

The Heart of Living Home Gallery is moving to 320 S. Elm St. in downtown Greensboro. The new store will open in the latter part of January and will celebrate its grand opening Feb. 1.

The three-year-old gallery, at 5588-A Garden Village Way, will be closed from Dec. 23 through mid-January.

New digs for BB&T

BB&T marked the grand opening of its new bank,

3318 W. Friendly Ave. at Friendly Center, on Thursday.

The day was unseasonably cold, but Mother Nature wasn't responsible for the sprinkling of snow outside the bank. That was courtesy of the snow machines hooked up to the bank's roof for the event.

The bank's branch around the corner, at 625 Green Valley Road, has closed.

Do you have a retail news or shopping tip for Savvy Shopper? Contact Lanita Withers at 373-7071 or lwithers@news-record.com