BusinessDecember 27, 2022
Notable business stories in 2022
The year 2022 was a active one for the Southeast Missouri business community. Ten stories from the past calendar year, not arranged in any order of perceived importance, received considerable reader comment and are noted in brief: Arch Nemesis LLC in May sold all 18 of its McDonald's restaurant locations in Southeast Missouri...
The year 2022 was a active one for the Southeast Missouri business community.
Ten stories from the past calendar year, not arranged in any order of perceived importance, received considerable reader comment and are noted in brief:
Area McDonald's restaurants sold
Arch Nemesis LLC in May sold all 18 of its McDonald's restaurant locations in Southeast Missouri.
The family-owned corporation launched its first store in 1968 at 1925 Broadway in Cape Girardeau. Over the years, two more Cape Girardeau stores were added, plus three in Poplar Bluff, Missouri, and one each in Jackson, Marble Hill, Miner, Advance, Benton, Charleston, Piedmont, Doniphan, Van Buren, Malden, Dexter and Sikeston, Missouri.
The new owners are Andi Hilburn-Vaini of West Plains, Missouri, and Brad Short of Anna, Illinois.
"The transition has been seamless," Arch Nemesis spokesman Jeff Brune said at the time, noting the buyers held over all previous owner Shannon Davis's management and executive teams.
Chick-fil-A expansion in Cape Girardeau
The Chick-fil-A restaurant at 3333 Gordonville Road in Cape Girardeau, near Saint Francis Medical Center, announced in October it would expand its operation after acquisition from Drury Southwest of an adjacent parcel, formerly occupied by an AT&T store.
Brian House, owner/operator, said a new dual lane pathway, capable of holding 80 cars, will be able to queue up to the drive-through once exterior alterations are completed.
Downtown luxury condos with a river view coming to Cape
Mike Peters, owner of SEMO Development Co. and a Jackson High School graduate, revealed plans in February to build seven high-end, luxury finished condos, each with a private elevator, from 280-300 N. Main St., to be called River's Edge Townhomes Phase I.
Peters plans to construct an 11-unit development, to be called River's Edge II, at 212 N. Main St., a bit closer to the downtown shopping district, right next to the Johnson, Schneider & Farrell law firm building.
Scout Hall opens
Scout Hall, at 430 Broadway in Cape Girardeau, opened in the fall, featuring three restaurants, retail space, six luxury apartments and an entertainment venue, blocks from the Mississippi River and next door to Courtyard by Marriott.
Street-level spaces feature Brickwood Boutique, Italian street food eatery Speck, made-to-order sushi bar Omakase and sports diner Kenny's Flippin Burgers.
The transformed structure was formerly known as the Rialto Building.
Cape's comedy club takes a break
Laughing Gas Comedy Club, 2160 William St., Suite 400, in Cape Girardeau, citing staffing issues and slow sales, announced a hiatus of operations effective in August.
Owner Jeff Johnson told the Southeast Missourian he canceled upcoming bookings and refunded future ticket money.
The venue was built out in 2018 as a club and staged a debut show in May 2019.
When COVID-19 struck in March 2020, the club didn't operate again until October 2021.
New Chester bridge plans
Missouri Department of Transportation's Southeast Region office announced in August four firms have been "prequalified" to develop design-build proposals to replace World War II-era Chester Bridge.
The continuing truss span, connecting Perryville, Missouri, to Chester, Illinois, over the Mississippi River, is safe, said MoDOT, but is in poor condition.
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Carrying 7,000 vehicles per day, with two 11-foot lanes, the Missouri-Illinois link has allowed motorists to pass between the two states over the Mississippi River along Highway 51 for 80 years.
MoDOT expects to select the winning design-build team by March with construction to begin "as early as spring 2023," the agency said in a news release.
A replacement bridge should be ready for traffic in 2026.
Cape Girardeau sells remaining portion of Business Park
The City of Cape Girardeau has officially sold the remaining portion of the Greater Business Park — located near the interchange of Interstate 55 with East Main Street and LaSalle Avenue — to Touchdown Development Group LLC.
The sale is for a total of $2.7 million, with more than $1.8 million upfront and the remaining $850,000 in loan payments from the city to be paid out annually over the next three years.
The city purchased the 247-acre parcel of land in 2012 for $6 million from the Southeast Missouri University Foundation.
Altogether, the city had sold just 44 acres in a decade, with the most recent purchase of 12 acres in 2017 by Drury Development Corp.
City manager Kenneth Haskin did not provide any new comments on the sale to Touchdown, referring to those he made earlier when it was announced the city was working to sell the land.
"After a thorough cost-benefit review, it has been determined that this is in the city's best interest," Haskin said in a release at the time. "The park is way too expensive for the city to develop on its own. Selling the property to a private developer makes good business sense."
New area code for Southeast Missouri
Less than three weeks after the Missouri Public Service Commission announced the supply of available telephone numbers in the 573 area code was being exhausted, the state agency announced in May a new area code — 235 — will "overlay" the current one at an unspecified future date.
"The 573 area code is not going away and customers who have that code will not lose or have to change their telephone number," PSC chairman Ryan Silvey said in a statement. "An overlay is a more efficient and less disruptive way to alleviate the exhaustion of available numbers by simply assigning the new area code, 235, to new numbers."
Area code 573, boasting the largest geographic area in the state, was created in 1996 and covers all Southeast Missouri while extending north of Hannibal and west of Jefferson City.
Among communities included in the current 573 are Cape Girardeau, Sikeston, Poplar Bluff, Caruthersville, Rolla, Columbia, Mexico, Camdenton, Waynesville and Farmington.
Casino groundbreakings — Cape and Caruthersville
Century Casino Cape Girardeau held a groundbreaking in late May for a new $26 million downtown hotel now projected to be completed in early 2024.
The hotel will have six stories instead of the eight originally projected and will have a maximum of 69 rooms instead of 75, said Lyle Randolph, who has led the Cape Girardeau casino since 2013.
In December, Century Casino Caruthersville announced its new land-based $59.1 million casino and 38-room hotel development in the Missouri Bootheel in Pemiscot County.
Cape Chamber hires Kansan as new president/CEO
Robert "Rob" Gilligan took up his duties in April as the new president and chief executive officer of Cape Girardeau Area Chamber of Commerce.
Gilligan came to Southeast Missouri after serving as the No. 2 executive for the Emporia, Kansas, Area Chamber of Commerce.
He succeeded John Mehner, who retired in December 2021 after serving in the post 28 years.
Mehner began working in a new role in March as assistant vice president of the Office of Economic and Workforce Development at Southeast Missouri State University. He resigned the post in December.
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