Simply Swirled frozen yogurt shop to open soon

Simply Swirled, a self-serve frozen yogurt shop, will open soon in Cape Girardeau.

The store will be at 236 S. Mount Auburn Road, directly below McAlister's Deli in the Lormont Place complex.

Customers will be able to choose their flavors and then choose from dozens of toppings, such as fresh fruit, cookies, candy, nuts and granola. There will be 10 flavors offered at all times, with flavors changing often, plus the option to swirl two flavors together. Cost will be determined by the weight of the yogurt. Customers will pay by the ounce.

Simply Swirled will include indoor and patio seating outdoors as well as a "gathering room" for group meetings or parties.

The business, owned by Angela Schlitt, Lori Laramore and Allyson Leckie, is set to open by the end of August. Construction on the inside of the shop will begin soon. Learn more at simplyswirled.com.

* The former Delta Express Trucking building on the Interstate 55 East Outer Road will be the new location of Volvo Rents. The national equipment rental company, a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Volvo Group, operates more than 70 rental stores in North America, said Tom Kelsey, broker and president of Lorimont Place Ltd. Commercial Real Estate. Each of its North American rental centers offers equipment for the construction, commercial and industrial markets, as well as an extensive line of Volvo compact excavators, compactors, wheel loaders, backhoe loaders, compaction equipment, and skid steer loaders. The new Cape Girardeau operation, at 2520 E. Outer Road, will have 10,700 square-feet of space to house a showroom, operation office, parts and service shop area. The company will have nearly 7 acres of yard area to display and store their various lines of equipment. The company is in the process of remodeling the building and property to suit their operations needs. Kelsey said the high traffic and visibility location along with convenient access to the Southeast Missouri region was very important in their location decision. Volvo has five other locations in Missouri, St. Louis, two Springfield stores, Hollister and Kansas City. Preparations are currently on-going to have the local store open within a few weeks. Gerald Wachter will serve as the branch manager. Kelsey said he was uncertain the exact number of jobs that would be created by the facility opening but estimated several.

* If you don't have any savings, you're not alone, a new study by Bankrate.com finds. While the general rule of thumb is to have an emergency fund that will cover at least six months of expenses, only 25 percent of Americans have that amount saved, according to research by Bankrate.com. About 49 percent of Americans don't have enough money saved to cover three months of expenses, slightly worse than the 46 percent of Americans who reported having less than three months worth of savings in 2011. A total of 28 percent don't have any cushion whatsoever, up from 24 percent last year, according to the report, which was based on a survey of 1,000 adults.

* The Occupational Safety and Health Administration has released a free application for mobile devices that enables workers and supervisors to monitor the heat index at their work sites. The app displays a risk level for workers based on the heat index, as well as reminders about protective measures that should be taken at that risk level. It is available for Android-based platforms and the iPhone. The app can be downloaded in both English and Spanish by visiting s.dol.gov/RI.

Southeast Missourian business editor Melissa Miller may be contacted at 388-3646 or mmiller@semissourian.com.