STRICTLY BUSINESS: JUST 34 DAYS LEFT TO SHOP BEFORE CHRISTMAS

The Thanksgiving turkey isn't even stuffed yet, but already merchants are ready to pull the wish-bone and make a collective wish shoppers this year will be stuffed with the holiday shopping spirit.

The Christmas countdown is on again -- today is 34 days and ticking.

Traffic at stores is already increasing, and this weekend you can expect one of the heaviest shopping weekends of the year.

The Christmas holidays -- Nov. 25 to Dec. 24 -- often accounts for half, or more, of a company's annual profit.

Spending should be up said one poll, conducted by MasterCard. Following a poll of 1,000 shoppers, the MasterCard survey found that consumers plan to spend an average of $486. That figure is up $63 from last year.

Merchants get the benefit this year of an extra selling day between Thanksgiving and Christmas.

Harry Rediger, manager of the J.C. Penney Co. Inc. at West Park Mall said the Christmas season is always good at the Cape Girardeau store, and he is expecting more of the same.

"We're expecting a record on top of a record," said Rediger, whose company experienced record sales during the 1993 holiday period.

"We've bought for it. Our store is full and ready to go, consumers are in a good mood, we haven't had a flood this year, agriculture has been good, employment is good. Everything is in place for a great holiday selling season," he added.

Penney's, like other stores in the mall, will be closed Thanksgiving Day, but all mall merchants are ready for the day after, which is traditionally a big traffic day.

At least two big retailers -- Wal-Mart and Kmart -- will be open Thanksgiving Day.

"This marks the third year of opening on Thanksgiving," said Kmart manager Jerry Zikmund, who is looking for big things during the holiday season.

"October was good, November has been extremely good, and we're looking for a record holiday season," he said.

Kevin Ward, inventory director at Wal-Mart, is just as optimistic.

"Sales in November have been great," he said. "The the past week has been the best so far. We think sales will continue to be good throughout the holiday season."

Sears in Town Plaza Shopping Center is anticipating "better than normal" sales.

"We've stocked up big," said Sears manager Paul Hawkins.

Sears will be closed Thanksgiving Day.

A big downtown event is expected to attract thousands of people there Sunday. The second annual Christmas Parade of Lights will be held Sunday at 5 p.m.

The parade, sponsored by the Downtown Merchants Association and Fox 23 KBSI-TV, will start at Capaha Park and proceed down Broadway, right on Main Street and finish at the pavilion across from Hutson Furniture Co.

"We had about 6,000 people down here to watch this parade last year," said co-chairman Dennis "Doc" Cain.

The toy aisle is expecting sales to grow this year.

The nation's toy sales topped $17.5 billion in 1993, with "licensed toys" accounting for a big chunk of sales.

Among toys expected to be popular this year are the licensed toys from Lion King, Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, G.I.Joe, X-Men and the always popular Barbie doll and accessories.

New on the business scene

Walgreens Co. will open its Cape Girardeau operation later this month.

"We're looking at a Nov. 30 opening," said John Pagano, manager of the new 13,000-square-foot store at the intersection of Independence and Kingshighway. "We started stocking shelves this week."

The new structure includes a double drive-through window for pharmacy pickup.

Walgreens, the largest drugstore chain in the United States in terms of sales, has a total of 2,000 stores in 30 states and Puerto Rico. Among retailers, Walgreens ranks 17th in annual average total return to investors. Earnings during the past year were more than $280 million.

Walgreens, founded in 1902 by Charles Walgreen, offers a variety of products -- pharmacy, cosmetics, camera and photo service, magazines, toys and more. The company carries more than 16,000 items in its inventory.

Al Daniel Jorndt is president of the company, headquartered at Deerfield, Ill.

The new store, which will employ between 25 and 30 people, will be open daily.

Store hours are Monday through Saturday from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. and Sunday from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m.

Pharmacy hours are Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 10 p.m. and Saturday from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Sunday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.

A new McDonald's Restaurant will open Tuesday at 3419 William in Cape Girardeau.

A special flag-raising ceremony will be held at 10:30 a.m., with a ribbon-cutting ceremony at 10:45.

The restaurant will be the third McDonald's in Cape Girardeau. Others are at 1925 Broadway and inside Wal-Mart at 3439 William.

Jerry Davis, a Cape Girardeau businessman, owns McDonald's operations here, at Jackson, Sikeston and Charleston.

A new retail business will open early next year in a building that stretches a full block, between Main and Spanish, in downtown Cape Girardeau.

Betty Moore of Poplar Bluff has purchased the former J.C. Penney Co. Inc. building at 5 N. Main St., and will open it as a trade center in a mall setting.

"It will be a flea market," said Moore, who operates the Poplar Bluff Trade Center in a 50,000-square-foot former Kmart building. "We'll have all types of goods -- tools, jewelry, clothing, furniture and some antiques."

The downtown Cape Girardeau building, which includes 26,000 square feet (13,000 on each of two levels), most recently housed Heartland Emporium, an antique mall.

Prior to the antique mall, the building housed Rivertown Center Mini-Mall.

"I'm excited about the prospects in the downtown area of Cape Girardeau," Moore said. "I already have a number of dealers ready to move in, and hope to be ready to open in January."

Moore has been involved in the flea market business a number of years.

Pre Miere Clothing Co. opened recently in downtown Cape Girardeau.

The new women's clothing store at 19 N. Main offers junior, missy and women's casual and dress clothing.

The new business is owned and operated by Gay St. Mary and Susie Westrich, both of Scott City. St. Mary previously served as manager of a women's fashion store.

Store hours are Monday through Saturday from 9:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.

Picture Video opened in Cape Girardeau recently.

The new business, owned by Melissa Ware of Cape Girardeau, provides a video record of old photographs.

Ware said, "We bring the old photos to life for viewing on a television screen."

Additional information is available by calling 335-7949.

Shoney's Inc., headquartered in Louisville, Ky., has purchased four Shoney's Restaurants previously operated by DeJoys Inc., headquartered in Cape Girardeau.

The restaurants are at 161 West St., Cape Girardeau; 2260 N. Westwood, Poplar Bluff; 2317 E. Malone, Sikeston; and 1160 E. Main, Carbondale, Ill.

Shoney's operates and franchises a chain of 1,865 restaurants in 36 states and Canada.

Boat notes

Players International riverboat gambling casino averaged almost 4,000 visitors a day in October.

The Illinois Gaming Board's monthly riverboat casino report said the Metropolis-based facility had 115,302 visitors in October for an average of 3,934 a day.

Metropolis received $436,061 in revenues from Players, and the state received $1,077,580.

The state received a total of $15.8 million in October as its share of revenues from its nine riverboat casinos.

East St. Louis Casino Queen and Joliet Empress continue to rank Nos. 1 and 2 in attracting visitors. A total of 348,358 visitors boarded the Casino Queen, for an average of 12,267 a day, and 250,239 visited the Empress for an average of 9,245 per day.

The Alton Belle attracted 223,765 visitors, for an average of 7,544 per day.

Statewide, 1.9 million visitors boarded the nine riverboat casinos in October.

The importance of slot machines to the gambling riverboats is reflected in the earnings report of the nine Illinois boats. In October, 68.6 percent of gross gambling receipts came from slots, with 32.4 from table games -- craps, blackjack, roulette. Over the past year, 64.2 percent of gross receipts from the gambling operations came from slots, with 35.8 percent on table games.

In Illinois, riverboats provide a total of 427 facilities for table games, and a total of 6,775 slot machines, ranging from those taking tokens to $100 tokens.

Blackjack provides more than 50 percent (about 57 percent) of table game receipts, with craps providing about 30 percent.

According to Illinois Gaming Commission reports, Casino Queen reported top slot payouts in the state during the month in $5 slots, with a 96.5 percent payback. The Queen's quarter slots paid out 92.81 percent, while the $1 slots paid 95.15 percent. The Alton Belle topped the list in dollar payouts, at 95.34 and was second in quarters, at 92.19 and $5 slots, at 95.51.

Metropolis payouts were just under 91 percent for $1, about 92 percent on $5 slots and 89.4 on quarter machines.