ROUNDUP: City Dogs Grocery to open Fountain Square store

Locally-owned pet supply shop City Dogs Grocery, 884 Massachusetts Ave., will open a second shop early next year at 1028 Virginia Ave. in Fountain Square. 

City Dogs owner Christi Rider is planning to open by late February in a 1,200-square-foot space formerly occupied by the Days Gone By antique mall. The Fountain Square store will replace City Dogs’ Broad Ripple location at 6055 N. College Ave., which closed Oct. 31.

Rider, a former pediatric nurse, purchased City Dogs from founders Susan and Dennis Smith in January 2017. She said she decided to close the Broad Ripple store because it was not growing, and because the location did not attract the pedestrian traffic it needed to succeed.

Rider said she’s been eyeing Fountain Square since buying the business two years ago. “It’s got the great walkability that Mass Ave has; the Cultural Trail; a great neighborhood feel.”

City Dogs sells food, toys and supplies for dogs and cats. It also carries dog-friendly baked goods from Nutty Mutt Bakery in Greenfield.

In other news this week:

— Online car seller Carvana is opening its Indianapolis “car vending machine” today at 8130 Summit Hill Drive. The seven-story tower, which holds 24 cars, is located just southwest of the Interstate 69 and East 82nd Street interchange and is visible from I-69.

IBJ first reported on this project in August.

The structure serves as a delivery center for customers who want to pick up their purchased vehicles in person rather than having them delivered. Carvana entered the Indianapolis market in 2016, and the car vending machine here is the company’s 15th nationwide. As of Sept. 30, the company was operating in 78 markets.

— Vispring, a luxury mattress company based in England, opened a retail store in Indianapolis, at 1760 East 86th St., late last month. The local store, along with one in New York City, are Vispring’s first two U.S. outlets, said Annie Knapp, manager of the Indianapolis store. Vispring has sold its products through a limited number of U.S. retailers, Knapp said, but hasn't had its own stores.

Knapp also manages The Clean Bedroom, which sells organic bedding and mattresses next door to Vispring at 1776 E. 86th St.

Vispring is known for high-quality and high-priced mattresses. An entry-level king-size mattress retails for about $5,800, Knapp said, with the matching box spring adding another $4,650. Mattress prices go as high as $100,000, Knapp said, though in Indianapolis “we don’t have that one. We have one that goes up to about $50,000.”

— Texas Roadhouse opened its first Carmel location this week, at 14758 Greyhound Plaza. The restaurant chain has eight other Indianapolis-area locations, including three in Indianapolis and one each in Anderson, Avon, Columbus, Fishers and Greenwood.

— The discount grocery chain Aldi is opening its newest local store today at 10584 Workout Way in Carmel. Aldi has more than 1,800 U.S. stores in 35 states. The company is spending $3.4 billion to expand to 2,500 U.S. stores by the end of 2022.

— Dunkin’ Donuts is opening its newest local store, at 9800 N. Michigan Road, at 5 a.m. Friday.

— Jimmy John’s has opened its first store in Danville, at 671 E. Main St. The owner is Scott Quinn.