Monday evening my wife and I visited West Park Mall to give her some exercise since she's 12 weeks pregnant while allowing me to enjoy a 30-minute stroll throughout the place. We both ended our journey sipping some coffee at the Barnes and Noble.

While we were walking about, I noticed a few noteworthy items I'll share with you.

Auto Trim Design, which has a locations in Cape Girardeau, Sikeston, Mo., and Marion, Ill., has opened a satellite location inside the mall through the end of December. According to an employee, business at the store has always been steady during the holidays but picked up around mid-December. The owner decided to go ahead and open a location inside the mall so the auto accessory shop could be one step ahead of the competition.

Steve & Barry's is closing its doors forever inside the mall on Thursday. Look for more information on this story later today and in tomorrow's print edition of the Southeast Missourian.

I have a few other mall-related items I'd love to share now, but need to confirm with my sources before posting. Hopefully that'll be later today or tomorrow. Also, be looking for a story soon on how retailers are faring this holiday season. We have one week less in the shopping season, since Thanksgiving falls on a later date this year.