Mall loses one store, announces future openings

During Tuesday's Tour of Missouri I was assigned to hang out for a few hours at the parking lot in front of the old Steve and Barry's location at West Park Mall. I had a little time to kill before the shuttles began transporting passengers downtown, so I strolled through the mall to see if there were any changes.

PurseNality has closed while JNP Sports was sold to Kicks, said Susan Godorov, spokesperson for Centro Property Group, which owns West Park Mall. Those two stores then merged into a new store called the Sporting Edge. The store sells sporting goods such as soccer cleats, clothing and St. Louis Cardinals apparel.

Little Lambs Children's Sale, its third sale of the season, will be Oct. 13 to 17. As with its previous sales, this one will take place in the former Steve and Barry's location.

All-brite Solutions is scheduled to open a location soon. The company sells bathroom and kitchen fixtures.

Several seasonal stores will open during the holiday season. Those include Calendar Club, Hickory Farms, Kitchen Collection, Glass Gallery and Rudolph & Me.

Godorov told me mall management has completed capital projects including a sidewalk update and recently purchased an electric golf cart for the property.

* Hotel impact: Last week's Tour of Missouri stop in Cape Girardeau didn't lead to as much business as some merchants had hoped for downtown. However, the hotel business was a different story.

Drury Hotels, a main sponsor of the tour, has been filling up most of its rooms along the route. Spokeswoman Alison Casler said that Tuesday was an especially good night for their hotels in the area, with most of their rooms booked.

Meanwhile, Dan Drury of Midamerica Hotels Corp. reported that its two hotels in Cape Girardeau also fared well. Drury told me the biggest boost was at the Victorian Inn & Suites, though the Holiday Inn Express also was nearly full.

* Saint Francis named a top place to work: Modern Healthcare magazine has named Saint Francis Medical Center as one of the Best Places to Work in Healthcare. It is one of three Missouri health care organizations to make the 2009 list. The honor is based on information collected from the Cape Girardeau hospital, including a survey detailing company policies, practices, benefits and demographics. Employees were asked an in-depth set of questions that resulted in an analysis in eight core areas: leadership and planning, culture and communications, role satisfaction, working environment, relationship with supervisor, training and development, pay and benefits, and overall satisfaction.

* Moving and delivery business opens: Bob Luttrell has decided to get back into the delivery business. A former owner of Snappy Delivery years ago, Luttrell has opened Luttrell Moving and Delivery. Located at 909 Enterprise St. in Cape Girardeau, the moving and delivery business is open from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday and from 8 a.m. to noon Saturday. The phone number is 334-9090.

* Dinner theater coming to Jackson: The Cape Girardeau and Jackson chambers of commerce will celebrate the opening of Jackson's newest dinner theater with ajoint ribbon cutting at 1:30 p.m. today.

The Twilight Dinner Theatre, 3589 Highway 25, will feature buffet-style meals with live entertainment Friday and Saturday nights including live music and a dance floor, murder mysteries, comedians, magicians, plays and musical shows. Sunday afternoons will feature children's shows and gospel performances. The owners hope to be open by Sept. 19, or possibly sooner.

Former Ashley Furniture managers Tom Bertrand and Dylan Daigger recently left that business to pursue their dream of opening the dinner theater.

"I've always wanted to do this and felt I could bring something that mostly bigger cities have right here to this area," Bertrand said. "Our focus will be family entertainment."

Among the special events planned are a comedic magician Oct. 9 to 11 and a Halloween festival Oct. 23 to 24 and 28 to 31. Reservations are required for the Friday and Saturday evening shows and can be made by calling 204-3545.

The facility has a full commercial kitchen and can accommodate at least 100 guests for its banquet rentals.

* World Finance ribbon cutting: The Jackson Chamber of Commerce will hold a ribbon cutting for World Finance Corp. at 8:30 a.m. Friday. The business, which opened Aug. 10, handles personal installment loans from $160 to $4,000 and provides a year-round tax service. The phone number is 243-1002. Hours are 8:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday and Friday and 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Tuesday through Thursday. Scott Batchelor is the branch manager.

* Other ribbon cuttings: In addition to the dinner theater, the Cape Girardeau Chamber of Commerce has scheduled two other ribbon cuttings this week. Bloomin' Balloons, Flowers & Eventful Gardens, which relocated April 6 to 28 N. Pacific St., will have a ribbon cutting at 11:30 a.m. Thursday. The following day, Hanger Prosthetics & Orthotics, 3065 William St., Suite 205, will celebrate its remodeled location with a ribbon cutting at 2:30 pm. The business recently added an extra 1,200 square feet for more patient rooms, lab expansion and storage space.

Southeast Missouri business reporter Brian Blackwell may be reached at 388-3628 or bblackwell@semissourian.com.<I>