Business Notebook: Yule Log Cabin gets home feel honestly

If there's one thing Joannie Smith knows, it's celebrating Christmas.

Smith, who with her husband Jerry owns The Yule Log Cabin at 7634 Route N in Scott City has been in the Christmas-tree business since 1978 and has had the shop in a cabin for 28 years.

The Yule Log Cabin began as a little building to keep warm while selling trees off the lot behind the present-day site, Smith said. She said selling some wreaths and garland, a few ornaments here and there, was a fun sideline.

But about 15 years into the choose-and-cut tree farm business, the pines grown there were suffering. Rather than go the chemical route to treat them, Smith said, they decided to import Fraser firs from Michigan.

The building that now houses the Yule Log Cabin was the Smiths' home for 20 years. It was remodeled slightly to add room, but the heart of the home is evident.

This year, Smith said, 165 decorated trees are in the cabin and the nearby outbuilding.

That doesn't include Holly, a mannequin wearing a wedding dress decked out in wedding ornaments.

Offerings also include garland, Nativity scenes, tree skirts, wreaths and ornaments -- thousands of ornaments.

"I'm fortunate, in all these years, I've never had a year lower than the year before," Smith said of revenue, adding it has grown steadily.

Social media has been a boon to their business, Smith said. While they advertise, word-of-mouth factors heavily.

Beyond that, persistence plays in.

"Every year, we try to make it better than before," Smith said.

The shop opens Sept. 1 each year, but preparations start much earlier. In fact, "there's not a lot of downtime," Smith said.

She goes to market in Atlanta for eight days each January and orders stock. In April, deliveries begin, and in May, a team of five to six people work several days a week sorting and pricing, making sure all items are in good condition.

Then it's time to decorate.

There's a process, Smith said, moving from one station to another, taking down stock from the year before and replacing it with something different.

She's spurred by what people like. There's a Jimmy Buffett-themed tree this year, and she's thinking of having a Frank Sinatra or Willie Nelson tree next year.

"When I go to market, I try to buy for those ideas," Smith said.

She often draws from multiple sources, too, and tries to put together different merchandise in unexpected ways to grab attention.

"If it doesn't work, just take it out," she said.

Ameren to offer more clean-energy choices

Ameren Missouri's Renewable Choice Program is the first in the state and one of only a handful in the nation designed to help customers to meet their energy needs from clean, renewable wind generation.

"The Renewable Choice Program would give our environmentally minded business and municipal customers a convenient way to receive more of their energy from renewable resources," Ajay Arora, vice president of environmental services and generation resource planning at Ameren, said in a news release.

Under the program, customers could subscribe to purchase up to 100 percent of their average energy usage from renewable resources.

"We know our customers are looking for personalized solutions that allow them more control over their energy use, and this is one of the ways Ameren Missouri is delivering," Mike Mueller, vice president of economic and technology development at Ameren, said in the release.

The Renewable Choice Program is the latest plan building off of Ameren Missouri's recently announced Integrated Resource Plan (IRP), which was developed with the input of a variety of stakeholders.

That plan supports Ameren's goal of transitioning its energy generation to cleaner sources while ensuring reliability and keeping customer rates affordable. The IRP calls for the addition of at least 700 megawatts of wind generation by 2020 and 100 megawatts of solar generation in the next 10 years. Ameren Missouri also has a goal of reducing its carbon emissions by 80 percent by 2050, based on 2005 levels.

Better Business Bureau gives warnings

The Better Business Bureau warns businesses to use caution when dealing with Halcyon Advertising Solutions and David Michael Jaboor, a salesman representing the business.

BBB has received complaints from several business owners throughout rural Missouri and Southern Illinois who said they bought advertising from Jaboor, whose last known address was 2478 Millvalley Drive in Florissant, Missouri. Halcyon Advertising Solutions has an "F" rating with BBB for failing to respond to any of its 11 complaints.

Business licenses

• Reliable Community Bancshares of Perryville, Missouri, applied for a license to operate Reliable Community Title Co. LLC, a title insurance and real-estate closing transactions company, at 1319 N. Mount Auburn Road in Cape Girardeau. Opening date is listed as Dec. 18.
• Carmen Keith applied for a license to operate Choose to Live 360 LLC, a functional-wellness practice selling supplements, at 2502 Tanner Drive, Suite 206, in Cape Girardeau.
• Michael Hester applied for a license to operate On the Bright Side Tattoo, a tattooing and body-piercing shop, at 1036 N. Sprigg St., Unit B, in Cape Girardeau.
• Crystal Masterson applied for a license to operate Crystal Masterson LMT, a massage-therapy business, at 1409 N. Mount Auburn Road, Suite C, in Cape Girardeau.

mniederkorn@semissourian.com

(573) 388-3630

Pertinent address:

7634 State Highway N, Scott City, Mo.