From the Business Desk ...: Post-Dispatch changes delivery options for area subscribers

The 2020s will be a decade of transition for printed newspapers.

Southeast Missourian publisher Jon K. Rust has written an insightful column about the newspaper industry's future that appeared in last Thursday's edition. In it, he cited several reasons why more and more newspapers are transitioning away from printed formats in favor of digital platforms. If you haven't read it, it's well worth a read and can be found here.

I learned last week the St. Louis Post-Dispatch has made a business decision shortly after Christmas to no longer deliver a printed version of its daily newspaper in the Cape Girardeau area. The carrier the Post had employed to deliver the paper in this area recently quit doing so and there were reportedly no prospects for a replacement carrier. Digital subscriptions to the newspaper -- including a replica version of the printed pages -- are available to Post-Dispatch subscribers.

Art Wallhausen of Cape Girardeau has been a producer or consumer of newspapers most of his life. He was an editor of the Enterprise-Courier newspaper in his hometown of Charleston, Missouri, and worked many years at Southeast Missouri State University, first as coordinator of the university's News Services office and later as the associate to the president.

Art was a long-time Post-Dispatch subscriber and made me aware of the delivery discontinuation here.

"This is apparently the end of an era for journalism in Missouri," he told me in an email shortly after he learned of the Post's decision.

"I remember when I grew up in Charleston in the 1940s and 1950s, there were still Frisco passenger trains between St. Louis and Memphis that carried mail," Art recalled. "The St. Louis newspapers (three of them) put copies of their first editions on the late night train that arrived in Sikeston about 3 a.m. A truck driver from Charleston met the train each night and brought the mail back to the post office in Charleston. The papers were in P.O. Box 269 by the time my father arrived at his office in our newspaper at 8 a.m., and in many other boxes in town."

For Art and other Post-Dispatch subscribers in Southeast Missouri, those days are long gone.

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Have you made any New Year's resolutions? If you have, there's a good chance one of them was to exercise more in 2020.

If gym memberships are any indication, it appears quite a few people in this area have resolved to work out more often. Managers of several area fitness facilities have told me anywhere between a third to half of their annual membership sales happen during the first few months of the year as people try to shape up, slim down and, in general, lead a healthier lifestyle.

Of course, making a resolution is one thing. Sticking with it is quite another.

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Are you wondering what's going to happen to the vacant lot at the intersection of Independence and North Sprigg streets in Cape Girardeau? So am I.

I checked with City Hall, and as of last week, no plans had been submitted for any development of the lot at 2 N. Sprigg St.

According to our files, the lot was empty until about 100 years ago when a business called Young's Store opened at that address. The property was acquired by A.E. Birk in 1946 and was the location of A.E. Birk & Sons Plumbing & Heating until 1993.

The building was torn down a few weeks ago, presumably in preparation for new development. When I know what's happening there, I'll report it here.

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Loyal readers of the Missourian's weekly business section have noticed by now my personal business insights, which have traditionally led off the Business Notebook column, are now under a separate heading and bear my byline. Think of it as my weekly business column.

Meanwhile, the Business Notebook will continue to be filled with a variety of business briefs of local and area interest such as people on the move, awards and recognitions, business openings and relocations and other news about this region's businesses and industries.

If you have something you'd like to submit for inclusion in the Business Notebook, email it to business@semissourian.com.

Do you crave business news? Check out B Magazine, and the B Magazine email newsletter. Check it out at www.semissourian.com/newsletters to find out more.