NEW ON THE BUSINESS SCENE: AMERIMART SERVICE STATION, CONVENIENCE STORE OPENS

A new Amerimart service station-convenience store opened near Fruitland.

The 3,000-square-foot, "ground-up" facility on Highway 61 North, replaced a smaller Amerimart store.

"We went from 800 to 3,000 square feet," said Laura Younghouse, president of Midwest Energy Inc., which operates seven Amerimart Stores in Southeast Missouri and the Ye Ole House, a collectibles and gift shop at 120 Broadway in downtown Cape Girardeau.

The Fruitland service station provides Amoco gasoline at four multi-pump facilities. The station also includes a diesel-fueling island for trucks.

This is the first station to feature an Amerimart Fleet Card payment system at the pumps.

The new store is open from 5 a.m. to midnight Sunday through Thursday, and 5 a.m. to 1 a.m. Friday and Saturday.

Laura Heine is manager of the facility, which also provides Piccadilly Circus Pizzas and sub-sandwiches.

Future expansion at Fruitland will include a new car wash later this year.

Midwest Energy features Sinclair gasoline at a station in Dexter, and Citgo gasoline at five stations -- at Cape Girardeau, Benton, Malden, Fredericktown and Jackson.