MEMO

Cape County Private Ambulance Service Inc. has put two new ambulances into service, replacing two older units.

The custom-ordered ambulance chassis were purchased from Coad Chevrolet in Cape Girardeau and were converted by Osage Conversions of Linn to custom specification provided by CCPA.

The fully-equipped ambulances cost about $68,000 each, and have an expected service life of five years.

Cape County Private Ambulance, founded in 1968, operates six ambulances, a service truck and a disaster-mass casualty response vehicle.

A magnetic-base emergency car lamp, which plugs into the cigarette lighter of vehicles, was among 20 of Missouri's "Most Promising Products" showcased for national sales during a prime-time television broadcast by QVC Inc.

The lamp is one of a number of products manufactured and distributed by Transelectric, a Jackson company founded in Cape Girardeau County more than a quarter-century ago.

The program, a joint effort of the QVC and the Missouri Department of Economic Development, is part of "The Quest for America's Best -- QVC's 50 in 50 Tour," which includes visits to all 50 states over a 50-week period.

The program, which aired May 14, featured 20 Missouri-made products.

QVC Inc. is an electronic retailer, marking a wide variety of products in such categories as home furnishings, fashion and beauty, electronics and fine jewelry.

Phar-Mor Inc., which is operating under bankruptcy court protection, will close 41 stores in 13 states this year.

The move will leave Phar-Mor with 102 "solidly profitable" stores in 19 states, the company said Friday. The remaining stores have annual sales of $1.1 billion.

Included on the closure list is the Paducah, Ky. store, along the perimeter of Kentucky Oaks Mall.

The Paducah store, which opened in 1988 and employs 46 people, will close in midsummer.

Three Phar-Mor stores are scheduled to close in Missouri, at Springfield, Ferguson and St. Peters. One store will close in Illinois, at Belleville.

The Pepsi-Cola Bottling Co., Marion, Ill., is introducing wild cheery Pepsi Cola to the area market.

The new brand, which features Pepsi with a cherry flavor, will be introduced in 12-pack cans, two-liter and 20-ounce plastic bottles, according to Glen Edwards, director of personnel.

High-tech home buyers searching for the next electronic avenue to shop for homes can now view color photos and detailed descriptions of homes listed by Electronics Realty Associates real estate on Internet.

The service was developed by Homes & Land Publishing Corp., launched in January with more than 50,000 listings from real estate companies across the nation.

ERA will update its file of more than 20,000 listings biweekly. The ERA network has more than 2,500 offices, including ERA Cape Realty, 2121 Broadway in Cape Girardeau.