Danville businesses love Valentine's Day

Heart-shaped cookies and cakes have been crowding Hall’s Pastry Shop in Danville as employees fill and deliver orders for Valentine’s Day.

“Oh, yes, it’s a very busy time,” said owner Michael Hall.

Half of the shop’s weekend sales are Valentine’s Day-related while Tuesday will be three to four times busier than the average day, Hall said. Staff will go in at 4 a.m., and only for that day, will dip strawberries in chocolate for sale.

As everything in the shop is homemade, Hall believes customers like giving something different or more personal than the traditional store treats. Businesses and local doctors’ offices will also order cookies to give to clients. On Friday, the shop was finishing an order of 2,000 heart-shaped cookies.

Joe & Mimma’s Italian Restaurant, celebrating 35 years in business this month, will be packed Tuesday as the restaurant amplifies its romantic atmosphere with candles and rose petals on the tablecloths. The food incorporates hearts as much as possible, like using sauce to draw a heart.

Owner Mimma Brooks said Valentine’s Day can be at least two to four times busier than the average day.

Specifically for Tuesday, the restaurant will offer a chocolate pyramid-shaped dessert. With dishes like filet mignon and seafood in champagne sauce, the majority of Joe & Mimma’s customers reserve a table.

“Most people think of it as a romantic place,” Brooks said.

Many couples in Danville also go to the movies on Valentine’s Day, and the Danville Stadium Cinemas on Riverside Drive expects more than twice as many people Tuesday than the typical weekday, said general manager Logan Koontz.

The local theater expects a busier crowd this Valentine’s Day than last year’s, as attendance has been up overall this year because of a better crop of movies, Koontz said. That streak should continue into Presidents’ Day weekend.

The theater is showing a sneak preview of “This Means War,” a romantic action comedy with Reese Witherspoon, on Tuesday at 7:15 p.m. It opens widely on Friday. Of course, the Danville theater will offer three showings starting at 5:15 p.m. of “The Vow,” a romance starring Channing Tatum and Rachel McAdams.

Owner Lee Ann Neddo of The Gourmet Frog, a new business that opened Oct. 30 downtown, hopes its first Valentine’s Day will bring more sales. It’s offering made-to-order gift baskets with candies like chocolate-covered Oreos from Nancy’s Candy Co. in Meadows of Dan.

Neddo believes wine and beer will be a popular choice for celebrating couples.

Food Lion in Danville started displaying roses, stuffed animals and bakery items early as many couples will chose to celebrate Valentine’s over the weekend, said spokesman Benny Smith. Food Lion also expects couples cooking a special meal to shop its seafood and steaks, which can be shaped into hearts on request since they are freshly cut.