STRICTLY BUSINESS: MARCHI TO GET NATIONAL AWARD FOR ACTIONS AFTER STORM

Dennis Marchi has added another honor to his long list of community and professional distinctions.

Marchi, manager of Schnucks Food & Drug in Cape Girardeau, is one of four national winners in a Food Marketing Institute (FMI) Store Manager Customer Service contest.

The contest was open to all in-store managers in the food, mass merchandise and convenience store industries. FMI member companies operate approximately 21,000 retail food stores, with combined annual sales topping $300 billion.

"That's a lot of managers," said Marie McGeehan, a Schnucks spokesperson who announced Marchi's latest honor.

Marchi was nominated for the initial 2001 contest in 1999 for his actions following a severe storm.

On May 15, 1999, the Cape Girardeau area received 6.64 inches of rain in 24 hours. That downpour plus a night of severe weather dumped a total of 10 inches of rain, in some areas creating flash flooding and power outages.

Seventy-five homes were destroyed, another 800 damaged. Four hundred and twenty-five businesses were damaged. Many Cape Girardeans were without electricity for days.

Marchi offered residents the use of Schnucks' freezers for their frozen foods, while waiting for power to be restored. Hundreds of residents took up the offer.

All three Schnucks freezers bakery, ice cream and the store freezer were filled to capacity. The freezers were so full that store associates could barely close the doors.

Marchi also brought in dry ice from St. Louis, in the event the local store lost its power. The store's power held, and Marchi gave the dry ice to residents to help keep their perishables cool.

The grand prizewinners receive a free trip to the FMI Show May 6-8 at Chicago, where they will be recognized during an FMI special awards banquet May 7, almost a week after the local Schnucks store dedicates its 12,000-square-foot expansion.

The expansion, announced last August, makes the Schnucks supercenter the largest grocery operation in Southeast Missouri. A special ribbon-cutting and re-dedication of the store will be held at 5 p.m. Tuesday.

Customer service and community awards are familiar to Marchi, who has been manager of the local Schnucks store more than 16 years. He has received numerous honors, including his own company's prestigious Edward J. Schnuck Community Service Award.

He is also a recipient of the Cape Girardeau Chamber of Commerce's Rush H. Limbaugh Award. The Limbaugh award, established in 1989, recognizes a business person who has expended an exceptional effort for the community over time.

Marchi has been involved in Area Wide United Way, serving as a co-chairman for its golf tournament. He has served as chairman of the Salvation Army Tree of Lights; co-chairman of the March of Dimes Auction; has worked with the YELL program and Coats for Kids; and served on the board of directors for St. Francis Medical Center, among other activities.

Marchi has mentioned more than once that he is "proud to call Cape Girardeau home. I have had chances to return to St. Louis but turned them down because, to me, Cape Girardeau is home."

Eating, building, real estate

Eating places: Denny's Diner joined the list of Cape Girardeau restaurants today. Denny's, at 161 West Drive in the building which formerly housed Shoney's, is noted for its around-the-clock breakfast fare, but it also offers lunch, dinner and late-night meals. The new diner, which opened at 6 a.m. today, will be open 24 hours a day.

Willie Jak's, located in downtown Cape Girardeau, started its food menu last week, featuring burgers, chicken, peel-and-eat shrimp, wings and other appetizers.

John and Jerrianne Wyman have added a sit-down dining menu to their Europa's Gourmet Market, 20 N. Spanish in downtown Cape Girardeau.

And the word on the street is that Lone Star Steakhouse may be coming to the Cape Girardeau market.

Building permits: The city's inspection services has issued more than 100 permits this year, in the amount of about $25 million.

The largest permit issued was the $17.5 million permit for the new Cape Central High School. But included in the totals are 18 new-home permits for more than $2.6 million.

Unemployment: Missouri's unemployment rate dropped three-tenths of a percent, to 3.9 percent in March. Total employment grew by more than 3,000 jobs during the month.

The unemployment rate in Cape Girardeau County was 3.4 percent, where 36,165 workers form the work force of 37,456 had jobs, leaving 1,288 unemployed.

Commercial real estate: The former Edward's Sportswear building, one of Cape Girardeau's largest industrial properties, has been leased.

Tom Kelsey, broker with Lorimont Place Ltd., who was involved in the transaction, said the 104,825-square-foot structure at 334 Broadview has been acquired from the Edwards family on a long-term lease, with an eventual purchase arrangement by Russel Gadberry, who also owns Steel Structure, a commercial construction company

Kelsey says plans included sub-dividing the building into smaller segments for lease storage and warehousing sections. The building once housed Ralph Edward's Sportswear, an apparel manufacturing company. It was later used by Tri-Con Industries for automobile seat manufacturing, until that company moved to Mexico six years ago.

B. Ray Owen is a staff writer for the Southeast Missourian.