The new Olive Garden Italian Restaurant has been a huge hit since opening in December. Their new restaurants are designed after a Tuscan-styled farmhouse with the look and feel of an Italian family home. Olive Garden was founded in Orlando, Florida in 1982. Darden Restaurants, Inc. currently owns and operates all 611 Olive Gardens throughout the U.S. and Canada. Darden also owns the Red Lobster, Smokey Bones BBQ and Grill, Bahama Breeze and Seasons 52 restaurant chains.

The new JC Penney store opened Saturday, October 27. Based in Plano, Texas the company operates 1050 stores throughout the U.S. and Puerto Rico. Founded in 1902 by James Cash Penney and his partner, Penney's began as a dry goods store operating under the name The Golden Rule. The store changed its name in 1913 to JC Penney. The original store located in Kemmerer, Wyoming is still in operation today. Penney's carries privale label brands such as St. John's Bay, Worthington and Arizona Jean Company. In 2007 they launched their largest private label to date, the Ambrielle lingerie label.

Kohl's opened their new store Sunday, September 30. Kohl's exclusive lines include Candie's, Chaps by Ralph Lauren for Men, Women and Children, Simply Vera by Vera Wang (launching in Fall 2007), Casa Cristina by award-winning TV personality Cristina Saralegui, cosmetic  brands created by Estee Lauder, Tony Hawk Apparel, and Food Network-branded housewares and cookware. Based in Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin Kohl's currently operates over 834 stores in 46 states.

Cheddars Casual Café opened at The Highlands on Monday, Aug. 13. They began operations with a single restaurant in Austin, Texas in 1978. Their "Wow" the customer concept has definitely caught on as they have since expanded to over 60 restaurants nationwide. Customers rave about the attentive, friendly staff as well as the quality (like "home cooked") and value of the food. Prior to opening, the closest Cheddars locations were in Morgantown, WV (about 80 miles) and Mansfield, Ohio (150 miles). The Highlands Cheddars was packed 'Opening Day' and will most certainly see overflowing patrons for quite some time!

The new Russell Stover Candies and Ice Cream store opened in mid-July. Russell Stover produces over 60% of the boxed-chocolates in the United States under the brand names Russell Stover, Whitman's and Pangburn's. The product they are probably most noted for are their heart-shaped boxes of chocolates sold
around Valentines Day. The company began operations in Denver in 1923 as a family business and remained that way until 1969. Today the company operates over 50 retail stores and services 70,000 wholesale accounts worldwide. Russell Stover has already proven to be a popular store at The Highlands.

Starbucks, Quiznos and Cold Stone Creamery opened just prior to Memorial Day. Starbucks has had temendous growth since their inception in 1971 expanding to over 7500 company-owned and 5600 licensed stores in 39 countries. For the connoissieur who enjoys drip-brewed coffee, expresso and no-expresso hot beverages as well as teas and ice-blended drinks Starbucks will provide a relaxing and enjoyable experience.. Quiznos specializes in toasted submarine sandwiches. The first franchise opened in Boulder, Colorado in 1987. Currently the second-largest sub chain in the U.S. they boast over 5000 stores in the United States, 300 in Canada and 100 more in other countries. Cold Stone Creamery first began operating in Tempe, Arizona in 1988 to serve up the best ice-cream...period! Noted for their ice-cream 'creations' created on a frozen granite stone Cold Stone Creamery has since grown to over 1350 stores.

The new Eat 'N Park restaurant at The Highlands opened in January, 2007. The chain's first restaurant opened on June 6, 1949 in the Pittsburgh suburb of South Hills. They were one of the first in the area to offer a drive-in style restaurant with car hops. Although that has changed over the years they still offer the same geat food at affordable prices. Eat 'N Park currently operates over 75 restaurants in the Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Ohio area. Carry-out orders at The Highlands location are available by calling (304) 547-9500.

The Wal-Mart SuperCenter opened in November, 2006. The new stores have wider aisles making it much
easier to do your shopping. A drive-thru pharmacy is available for convenient prescription pickups.
Wal-Mart offers $4 generic prescriptions on many medications, a great help for those on fixed incomes. Wal-Mart offers very competitive prices on clothing, household goods, electronics and other popular items.