Dogwood reopening in early June

A popular Cape Girardeau entertainment venue, Dogwood Social House, will reopen next month with limited operating hours.

Dogwood Social House, 80 S. Plaza Way, is seen Saturday in Cape Girardeau.JAY WOLZ

Owner Andy Patel told me last week Dogwood will open June 5 for the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic spread into Missouri.

Andy Patel

However, for at least a few weeks, the 35,000- square-foot venue at 80 S. Plaza Way will be open only from 5 p.m. until 1 a.m. Fridays and from 11 a.m. until 1 a.m. Saturdays.

"We're going to see how it goes and what it's like for people coming back under whatever new guidelines are required," Patel said, adding "social distancing" will be in effect and some areas will not be open.

"We're going to do our 6-foot distancing," he said, "and we will remove some chairs. Some games will be turned off, and we will limit the number of people going into the game room."

One of the challenges of reopening Dogwood, Patel told me, is dozens of new employees have had to be hired and trained because many of his former employees, about 60% of whom were college students, have left the area when the Southeast Missouri State University campus closed in March.

Other employees have elected to file for unemployment benefits.

"They don't want to come back to work because they're making more money by staying at home," he said.

"We have some existing staff coming, around 10 to 15, coming back," he estimated, "so we will need to hire another 20 employees to start with for a total of 30 or 35."

Patel and his wife, Anissa, own about 80 franchise restaurants in 18 states, including numerous IHOP, Applebee's and Pizza Hut locations. He is also principal owner of the Cape Catfish Prospect League baseball team and is developing another Dogwood-type entertainment venue along Manchester Road west of St. Louis. That project, he said, is running about two months behind schedule because of the coronavirus outbreak.

As if reopening one restaurant weren't enough of a challenge, Patel told me the task is more complicated for his properties because he has had to deal with each state's reopening schedule. Some states, such as Mississippi, Missouri, Texas and Tennessee, opened sooner than others, including Kentucky and New Mexico.

Many states are currently limiting restaurant seating to 50% capacity to help maintain "social distancing" between customers.

"In the restaurant business, you can't open at only 50% occupancy," Patel said, and explained, "we have to do 80 to 90% capacity to be profitable."

Patel has been in the restaurant business more than 30 years and, at one point, owned nearly 200 franchise restaurants.

"I've been through 9/11, the recession in 2008 and the 1992 economic downturn, so I've been through a lot," he said. "This (the COVID-19 pandemic) is worse. There has never been a challenge like this."

Despite the challenges, Patel is optimistic. "Hopefully, people will come out and support us," he said.

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My Marie, a Caribbean Creole restaurant, plans to relocate to the 2100 block of William Street in the near future.Jay Wolz

Speaking of restaurants, Cape Girardeau's only Caribbean Creole restaurant, My Marie, is moving from West Park Mall to 2146 William St., the former location of Hibachi Super Buffet, which closed last year.

My Marie has been closed since West Park Mall temporarily closed in April due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

A banner hanging in front of the freshly-painted building state My Marie is "Coming Soon." Although an opening date for the new location has not been announced, I understand it could be as early as mid-June.

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One more restaurant note: I've been told work on the new Chili's restaurant on the southeast corner of the intersection of William Street and South Mount Auburn Road has been "delayed a few weeks" because of the company's travel ban during the coronavirus outbreak, but a construction supervisor will be on site soon and work will begin shortly after that.

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Stores continue to reopen at West Park Mall. By this week, about two dozen of the mall's tenants will have reopened and one of the mall's larger stores, Old Navy, could be opening within a few days, according to my sources.

However, there's no word on the status of J.C. Penney, one of the mall's anchor stores since the shopping center opened in 1981. Earlier this month, the company announced it was filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection and would be closing nearly 30% of its 846 locations.

As of Friday, the mall management hadn't heard whether Victoria's Secret, Bath & Body Works or Pink will reopen. Those stores are owed by L Brands, which announced plans last week to permanently close 235 of its 909 Victoria's Secret stores in the United States, three of its 144 U.S. Pink outlets and 50 Bath & Body Works locations.

L Brands reported a 37% drop in sales for the quarter that ended May 2. Nearly all the company's stores have been closed since March 17 due to the coronavirus pandemic.

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Steve Watkins

Cape Girardeau artist, knife maker and entrepreneur Steve Watkins told me last week renovations are almost complete at The Forge, 509 Morgan Oak St., just west of the university's River Campus.

Once the home of several businesses over the years including Cape Feed & Seed Co., an appliance repair company and an architectural supply firm, Watkins acquired the two-level structure last summer and began converting the lower level into a home for his custom knife-making operation, Ironman Forge, and the upper floor into a gathering place for special events and private parties such as wedding rehearsal dinners, corporate retreats, family gatherings and such.

He said the space could be available for rent by sometime next month, although the size of group gatherings could be limited for a while as coronavirus safety precautions remain in effect.

For more information, contact Steve at (704) 207-9559.

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