Family Dollar opening store in Jackson location

A Family Dollar store is coming to Jackson at the site of the former El Torero restaurant, according to Tom Kelsey, commercial broker with Lorimont Place Ltd., who handled the recent real estate transaction. Kelsey recently closed the sale of the property at 711 E. Jackson Blvd., across the street from Brennecke Chevrolet.

The former restaurant building would be razed and a new retail store built.

Family Dollar was founded in 1959 in Charlotte, N.C., and has grown to more than 7,200 stores in 45 states across the U.S.

The company has 50,000 employees with annual sales of $8.5 billion. An opening date has not been announced, but historically the company has these types of stores completed within a few months of land acquisition, Kelsey said. No sales price was disclosed, but the Lorimont website lists the property at $325,000.

* Employees of East Perry Lumber Co. in Frohna, Mo., were honored as Missouri Logger of the Year by the Missouri Department of Conservation on Friday. The award recognizes professionalism and quality work done by top tree harvesting operations in the state. East Perry Lumber was founded by Marvin F. Petzoldt in 1945. The company started as a small portable mill making railroad ties and barn lumber. Today it manufactures about 15 million board feet of lumber annually and has kiln drying capacity of about 650,000 board feet.

* The Cape Girardeau County Board of Realtors recently formed a Government Affairs Committee with chairman Ken Kiefer, Realty Executives; Liz Lockhart, Riverbend Realty; Dave Soto, Soto Property Solutions; Tom M. Meyer, Exit Realty; and Rick Sinclair, Century 21 Ashland. Reviewing and making recommendations on Cape Girardeau's proposed ordinance governing rental properties is one of the committee's first orders of business, Lockhart said. It will also monitor regulations for Rural Development loans. The committee also is considering whether to recommend an endorsement of a candidate for Cape Girardeau County assessor.

* Saint Francis Medical Center has opened Weight Loss Solutions, led by Cape Girardeau native and general surgeon Dr. Ryan Andrew LeGrand. The program offers options in bariatric surgery for people who struggle with ongoing weight problems and are seriously considering a lasting lifestyle change. Weight Loss Solutions offers three weight-loss surgery options. In sleeve gastrectomy, a thin, vertical sleeve of stomach is created and the rest of the stomach is removed. This limits the amount of food one can eat and helps them feel full sooner. Gastric banding reduces the stomach's capacity and restricts the amount of food it can consume, without cutting or stapling. This option helps patients lose weight by making them feel full faster and longer. The Roux-En-Y gastric bypass sews or staples together a small portion of the stomach to make a pouch, roughly the size of an egg, to limit food intake. It also bypasses part of the intestines to reduce calorie absorption. LeGrand received his medical degree from University of Missouri School of Medicine in Columbia, Mo. He completed his general surgery residency at University of Louisville School of Medicine in Louisville, Ky., and his bariatric/minimally invasive surgery fellowship at SSM Weight-Loss Institute at DePaul Health Center in St. Louis.

* Healthier Look magazine wins award: SoutheastHEALTH's Healthier Look magazine took the top spot in its category in the 29th annual national Healthcare Advertising Awards, sponsored by Healthcare Marketing Report. Nearly 4,000 entries were received, making the awards the largest health care advertising awards competition. Southeast's quarterly Healthier Look magazine won the Gold Award in the category of external publications for hospitals with fewer than 299 beds. The magazine, produced by Southeast's Marketing and Corporate Communications departments in association with marketing firm Krames StayWell, took top honors over other award-winning hospital publications from North Carolina, New Hampshire, California, Pennsylvania and New Jersey.

Southeast Missourian business editor Melissa Miller may be contacted at 388-3646 or mmiller@semissourian.com.