Business Notebook: Nearly Perfect Shoes closing Jackson store

Nearly Perfect Shoes, a shoe store with four Southeast Missouri locations, will consolidate to three with the closing of its Jackson store on April 30.

Robert Petch, a member of the ownership group for Nearly Perfect Shoes, said Jackson has been a good market for the store since it opened there in the early 1990s, but he sees more opportunity in growing the Cape Girardeau location.

The Cape Girardeau store, at 209 S. Kingshighway, is making its women's department front and center, Petch said, and will add merchandise to the men's and children's sections with the closing of the Jackson location. The Jackson store is at 1985 E. Jackson Blvd.

"We have two locations less than eight miles apart," Petch said, "and the potential for better market growth in Cape can't be ignored. More people are gravitating toward that area for shopping."

Nearly Perfect Shoes stores in Dexter, Missouri, and Poplar Bluff, Missouri, will remain open.

AT&T touts $35M investment in region

The addition of wired and wireless networks for homes and businesses in the Cape Girardeau and Jackson area since 2012 has cost AT&T over $35 million, the company stated in a news release.

Upgrades and expansions to networks have included new cell sites, more network capacity and new wireless high-speed Internet connections.

Most recently, the company expanded 4G LTE coverage to seven cell sites along Interstate 55, added a cell site in downtown Cape Girardeau and increased capacity for 14 cell sites in Cape Girardeau, Jackson, Scott City and Lambert, according to the release.

Affordable Care Act cited in lowering costs

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services announced in a news release last week Affordable Care Act-prompted increases in government marketplace coverage and Medicaid expansion reduced hospital uncompensated care costs by about $7.4 billion in 2014, compared to costs if coverage had not been expanded.

Medicaid expansion in states where it has been allowed account for an estimated $5 billion of that reduction, according to the release.

Missouri is not among the states that have expanded Medicaid.

Area hospitals earn stroke designations

Saint Francis Medical Center and SoutheastHEALTH last week received Level II Stroke Center designation from the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services.

The designation recognizes the hospitals' participation in a state-developed quick response system that involves 911 and ambulance services, leading to better chances of surviving and recovering from a stroke.

The hospitals were among 43 designated in the state as various-level stroke centers by the department of health and senior services. The designation, which is valid for five years, is voluntary and requires hospitals to apply and undergo a review.

Stroke is a leading cause of death, according to news releases, and both hospitals treat several hundred patients each year for stroke or transient ischemic attack, a warning sign for a future stroke.

Five Below store set to open April 17

Retail store Five Below, which offers novelty items, accessories, candy, sporting goods, games and other various merchandise for $5 or less, will open at 10 a.m. April 17, according to signs posted at the store.

Work began on an expansion to a Drury Development-owned building on Siemers Drive in Cape Girardeau last summer to house the store and create retail space for other prospective businesses.

Five Below is a national chain with about 300 stores.

Glass art studio expands its offerings

Glass Art by MSM, a Cape Girardeau County business that offers stained-glass fabrication, restoration and repair, recently bought new equipment from a Ste. Genevieve, Missouri, stained-glass business and is expanding.

Dick and Judy McClard own the business, and Belinda Schearf is an associate. The fabricators have worked on stained glass at many local churches and Southeast Missouri State University buildings.

In addition to offering classes through the university's continuing education programs, the business is holding classes at an in-home studio where participants can create their own art by cutting and shaping stained glass. More information is available by calling 382-2101.

The business also plans a ribbon-cutting ceremony.

Delmonicos to mark 30 years in business

Delmonicos, a Jackson steakhouse, will celebrate 30 years in business in May.

David and Janet Ackman established the restaurant in 1985, naming it after a place seen in the television show "Gunsmoke."

The Ackmans' son, Blake Ackman, now runs the restaurant, which offers hand-selected, hand-cut 100 percent Angus beef steaks, an all-you-can-eat hot-food buffet, dessert bar with ice cream, two large banquet rooms and the regular dining room.

It is at 2951 Old Orchard Road in Jackson.

eragan@semissourian.com

388-3632