Business Notebook: News on BG's Deli, food bank and a note about cherries in shakes

Raise your hand if you've ever eaten a potato skin. Chances are you have and the odds are pretty good sometime over the last 39 years you've tried the potato skins at BG's Olde Tyme Deli on the corner of William Street and South Plaza Way. BG's has announced new ownership and is planning to celebrate several upgrades to the business you'll find in this week's Business Notebook.

Also in today's column are details about a medical practice location, news about several hirings and promotions, ribbon cuttings and groundbreakings, and even information about the dollars a fast-food restaurant says it can save by not adding cherries to its milk shakes.

BG's Olde Tyme Deli making upgrades under new ownership

BG's Olde Tyme Deli & Saloon, 205 South Plaza Way, is under new ownership and is planning a reopening celebration during the weekend of June 1 and 2.

The restaurant, known for its deli sandwiches, potato skins and other menu items, is now operated by co-owner and general manager Lani Steimle with John Eric Klein as a consulting partner.

According to a news release from the restaurant, several upgrades are taking place at the eatery, which opened in 1980. For instance, the entire facility is now nonsmoking, there is an upgraded salad bar, the interior is being remodeled with new flooring, paint, tables and booths, a signature drink menu is now available along with new lunch, dinner and kids menus (as well as "limited time offer" menus and "summer hot dog specials"), student discounts, a new customer loyalty rewards program and new televisions in the lounge area featuring all sports channels.

A ribbon cutting to commemorate the upgrades and new ownership will take place June 1 followed by happy hour specials in the lounge and dinner specials in the dining area. There will also be several giveaways, including tickets to the opening home game of the Cape Catfish baseball team.

Dr. Jung moves practice

Cape Girardeau otolaryngologist Dr. Christopher Jung has relocated his practice, Southeast Missouri Sinus and Laser Center, from 150 S. Mount Auburn Road to 1353 N. Mount Auburn Road, Suite B, in Cape Girardeau. The new 2,000 square foot, one-level location was occupied for many years by Dr. Byron Glenn. Dr. Jung specializes in allergy, laser and sinus treatments. Family nurse practitioner Sarah Doty is also associated with the practice.

Tom Kelsey, broker with Lorimont Commercial Real Estate, handled the relocation transaction.

People on the Move

Ross Freeman

• Ross Freeman has joined the Cape Girardeau law office of Spencer Fane LLP as an associate attorney.

The Cape Girardeau native and a graduate of Cape Girardeau Central High School and Southeast Missouri State University is the fourth attorney in the Spencer Fane branch here. His practice focuses on general commercial litigation and business law. Before entering private practice, he served as a law clerk for Judge Stephen N. Limbaugh in the U.S. District Court of the Eastern District of Missouri.

Freeman earned his law degree from the University of Missouri, where he graduated cum laude and was initiated into the Order of the Coif, a designation for those graduating in the top 10% of a law school class. He is licensed to practice in Missouri and Illinois as well as the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri. He is a member of the Cape Girardeau Area Chamber of Commerce and provides pro bono legal services for a local educational not-for-profit organization that works with at-risk youth.

Lisa Church

• The Southeast Missouri Food Bank, headquartered in Sikeston, has announced the addition of two staff members who will be involved in development, communications and service delivery.

Lisa Church has joined the organization as chief advancement officer, a position that became open when Joey Keys was named the food bank's chief executive officer earlier this year. Church's role is to promote the mission, programs and services of the food bank through development, fundraising and donor relations. Originally from Scott County, Church has spent much of her career in Sedalia, Missouri. She has served as executive director of communications and the foundation at Bothwell Regional Health Center, as public relations director at an advertising agency and as managing editor of The Sedalia Democrat newspaper. She earned her undergraduate degree in journalism from the University of Missouri-Columbia.

Justin Mann

Justin Mann has joined the food bank as digital media and Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) outreach specialist. In that role, he will use social media channels to communicate the organization's services and programs to clients, donors and the general public. A native of Wayne County, Mann has spent most of his career in Cape Girardeau where he was an on-air radio personality for 100.7 KGMO, Mix 96.5 and Real Rock 99.3. He has a degree in multimedia journalism from Southeast Missouri State University, where he also worked as a reporter for the Southeast Arrow.

Nikki Perkins

Grace Riley

• Several new graduates of the teacher-education program at Southeast Missouri State University's campus in Sikeston, Missouri, will be teaching at various school districts in the region when the 2019-2020 school year begins. Each of them received a Bachelor of Science in education and majored in early childhood education. They are:

Nikki Perkins of Charleston, Missouri, and Grace Riley of New Madrid, Missouri, both of whom will have classroom assignments at New Madrid Elementary. Perkins will be a prekindergarten teacher while Riley will teach fourth graders.

Callie Fansler of Sikeston has been hired to teach fifth-grade math at the Sikeston 5th & 6th Grade Center.

Anna Kern of Benton, Missouri, is also joining the Sikeston School District and will be a third-grade teacher there.

Libby Sutton

Libby Sutton from East Prairie, Missouri, has accepted a position as a kindergarten teacher at R.A. Doyle Elementary there.

Courtney Potts

Courtney Potts of Dexter, Missouri, will be a first-grade teacher at Southeast Elementary in Dexter.

Ribbon cuttings & groundbreakings

Callie Fansler

• The City of Jackson and the Jackson Area Chamber of Commerce will hold a ribbon cutting at 1 p.m. Wednesday at the intersection of East Main Street and Oak Hill Road to mark the completion of street and right-of-way improvements there. The $510,000 project included street realignment, grading, stormwater controls, sidewalks, striping, lighting pavement and installation of traffic and pedestrian signals.
• A groundbreaking ceremony is scheduled for 9:30 a.m. today at 3003 South Old Orchard Road in Jackson, the site of a new Best Western Plus hotel, which is expected to open in the summer of 2020.
• The Cape Girardeau Area Chamber of Commerce will conduct a ribbon cutting at 4:30 p.m. Thursday to mark the relocation of Ritter Real Estate to 139 N. Main St.

Business licenses

Anna Kern

• Tony Cain of Bertrand, Missouri, has applied for a license to operate U.S. Tae Kwan Do Academy LLC, doing business as Cape Martial Arts, at 766 S. Kingshighway in Cape Girardeau. The business is expected to open May 31.
• Marie Magdala Louis Jeune and her husband, Michelas Louis Jeune, have applied for a license to operate My Marie Restaurant at Suite 155 of West Park Mall, 3049 William St. in Cape Girardeau. The restaurant's projected opening date is June 14.

Did You Know?

Indianapolis-based Steak 'n Shake, which has 400 company-owned restaurants, reported an operating loss of almost $19 million in the first quarter of 2019. The company believes it can save $1 million annually by eliminating cherries that have adorned the chain's signature milkshakes for more than 80 years.

Got a Person on the Move at your business? Submit online at www.semissourian.com/forms/peopleonthemove.

jwolz@semissourian.com

(573) 388-3630