How many times have you passed a long vacant restaurant or retail store and thought you knew the perfect business to open there?

Now’s your chance to share your suggestions.

Please tell us what you’d like to see go into the following empty spaces, and we’ll run the most popular suggestions in the business section of Thursday’s The Free Lance-Star.

Who knows? Maybe some of them will take your recommendations to heart.

FREDERICKSBURG:
• Cards and Cones, 201 William St.
• Location in Gateway Village of the former Vinny’s Italian Grill & Pizza and Cafe Davanzo restaurants

SPOTSYLVANIA:
• Ukrop’s on State Route 3
• Giant Food in Spotsylvania Crossing shopping center

STAFFORD:

• The Town Center at Aquia redevelopment
• The part of the Borders bookstore in Stafford Marketplace that won’t be occupied by Party City

The Mock Turtle, a children’s clothing store in downtown Fredericksburg, has been sold to a customer.

“I decided to buy it because I love the store,” said Kathleen Fortune. “I shop there myself [for gifts and her grandchildren], and I didn’t want to lose it.”

Mona Albertine and Linda Pisenti, longtime owners of Jabberwocky Children’s Books & Toys at 810 Caroline St., opened The Mock Turtle next door in October of 2009.
“We thought downtown needed clothing and it did,” Pisenti said. “We thought it be fun than it was.”

She and Albertine eventually realized that their heart lay in selling children’s books and toys, and that selling children’s wasn’t as interesting or fun as they’d thought.

“We hated for it not to be there so we were really glad that Kathleen was interested,” Pisenti said. “It’s an interesting shop and the stuff is just to die for. We just didn’t want to do it ourselves.”

Fortune has added several new lines to the store, including Petunia Pickle Bottom diaper bags and Daily Tea, which she described as reasonably priced children’s clothing.

Taste Oil Vinegar Spice has opened in a 1,000-square-foot space at 815 Caroline St., the former home of Scentchips.

As the name implies, the new business focuses on extra-virgin olive oils, balsamic vinegars and other culinary products.

This is the second location for George Farrar, a former University of Mary Washington vice president, and his wife, Jan Davis. The other one opened this past fall on Davis Street in downtown Culpeper.

To read my Oct. 21, 2011 article about the original store, click here.

I love shopping at Wegmans, but I’ve yet to hear anyone burst into song over the salad bar.

That, apparently, isn’t stopping students at Algonquin Regional High School  in Northborough, Mass.

When Wegmans opened a store in their town last fall, students in Algonquin’s drama department decided to write the script and songs for “Wegmans . . .The Musical.” That’s a first for the family-owned chain based in the Rochester, N.Y.

To read a blog post about this on syracuse.com, click here.

The Ledo Pizza and Pasta in Cosner’s Corner shopping center has won the Massaponax High School DECA Employer of Year 2011-2012 Award.

It was chosen from among more than 70 nominees, and honored at an awards ceremony held at the high school on May 10.

Five staff members wrote nomination letters stating that they are treated like family, with respect and in a caring manner.

LEDO Pizza has been making its signature square pizza since the first store opened in 1955 in Adelphi, Md. The company recently won “Best Pizza in Washington” in the Best of Washington survey of Washington City Paper readers.

A Spice Rack Chocolates boutique will open in early August next to the Starbucks in Spotsylvania Towne Centre.

Mary Schellhammer, who owns the Spotsylvania County-based gourmet chocolates company, is moving her operation from Five Mile Center into the former Sbarro location in the mall.

Customers will be able to watch her and her staff as they make chocolates, and will be able to buy such things as the Spice Rack Collection, which includes chocolates flavored with fresh lemon and sweet basil, and Fire Antz, which are dark chocolate chipotle peanuts.

There’ll also be a “chocolate bar” where they can order either a milk- or dark-chocolate bar with their choice of two of 40 toppings, and a number of chocolates by other companies that are not currently available in the Fredericksburg area.

For more details, please see my What’s In Store? column in the business section of Friday’s The Free Lance-Star.

White House | Black Market, a national retailer that sells upscale women’s clothing, will open Thursday, May 10, in The Village at Towne Centre at the Spotsylvania Towne Centre.

The company has leased about 4,200 square feet next to Sephora in the open-air section of the Spotsylvania County shopping complex.

White House | Black Market generally opens stores in high-end shopping centers. Its Virginia stores are in Arlington, Charlottesville, Fairfax, McLean, Norfolk, Reston, Richmond and Williamsburg.

A Marlin & Ray’s opens today in the former Ruby Tuesday location in Doc Stone Commons in Stafford County.

The seafood restaurant is a new concept from Ruby Tuesday Inc. Its dinner menu will include such specialties as crab cakes served with mango salsa, Cajun-crusted sea bass and a combo featuring jumbo skewered shrimp and blackened scallops.

For more details, click here to see my What’s In Store? column from April 24.

The Fredericksburg branch of Virginia Credit Union will hold a free document-shredding event from 9 a.m. to noon on May 12.

The branch is located at 2150 Gordon W. Shelton Blvd. near Wegmans in Celebrate Virginia South.

Cintas Shredding, a document destruction company, will shred up to three full grocery bags of paper per person on a first-come, first-served basis.

The credit union will also also collect non-perishable foods for the Fredericksburg Area Food Bank during the event.

Henry’s Farm Inc. in Woodford is expanding the April 27 recall of its soybean sprouts to include Natto Soybean Sprouts because they may be contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes.

Although healthy individuals may suffer only short term symptoms such as high fever, severe headache, stiffness, nausea, abdominal pain and diarrhea, Listeria infection can cause miscarriages and stillbirths among pregnant women. The organism also can cause serious and sometimes fatal infections to individuals with weakened immune systems.

The following products are being recalled by the firm.

1. All clear plastic packages containing 1.5 pounds of Grown in Natural Spring Water Soybean Sprouts. The packages were not coded.

2. All bulk (approximately 10 pound.) plastic bags of Soybean Sprouts. The packages were neither coded nor labeled.

3. All clear plastic packages containing 1 pound
of Grown in Natural Spring Water Natto Soybean Sprouts. The packages were not coded.

These items were distributed to retail stores in Virginia, Maryland and Washington.

The contamination was discovered after sampling by Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services’ Food Safety and Security Program. Subsequent analysis by the Virginia Division of Consolidated Laboratory Services revealed the presence of Listeria monocytogenes in the products. No illness has been reported to date.

Individuals who purchased Soybean Sprouts distributed by Henry’s Farm should return the product to the place of sale for a full refund.

Consumers with questions may contact the company directly at 301/802-2996 or the VDAC’s Food Safety and Security Program at 804/786-3520.