What will become of Howard's? Speculation abounds

Howard’s Athletics Goods is planning a January move. Terry Slattery of Howard’s said he plans to move from the current location at 900 Broadway in Cape Girardeau to 835 Broadway, where Garden Gallery is at the moment. The two businesses will share space, with Howard’s occupying the front part while Garden Gallery will be in the back of the building.

Slattery has already ordered new sporting equipment and is having a sale to get rid of his current merchandise.

"It’s time to move to a newer location and nicer building," Slattery said. "It was close to this one and convenient for our customers."

A rumor has been circulating for quite some time that Southeast Missouri State University plans to one day turn the property into parking or another entrance into campus. My colleague Brad Hollerbach has been fascinated with this topic for a while and discussed this issue in one of his recent blogs. You should check out his entry from Friday for an enlightening discussion on the matter.

Southeast spokeswoman Ann Hayes e-mailed me this comment: "The Southeast Missouri University Foundation continues to evaluate various property acquisitions consistent with the expected needs of the University based on programmatic growth and student enrollment. Commenting on specific properties would be speculative at this time."

Clearly, anything at this point would be like guessing how much snow and ice we’ll have today. But it should be interesting to see what happens in the end with this and other vacant and nearby properties.

• Car wash under construction on East Jackson Boulevard: Travelers through Jackson may have noticed the construction of a building at 2030 E. Jackson Blvd. A building permit revealed that a new car wash is being built. I was unable to obtain additional information but will include it in an upcoming column.
• Tattoo parlor scheduled to open today: Hitman Tattoo has opened at 733 Broadway in Cape Girardeau. Jackson native and owner John Hitt has been tattooing for 14 years, including eight years in Cape Girardeau. It will be open noon to 9 p.m. Monday through Thursday and noon to 11 p.m. Friday and Saturday. The business can be reached at 332-0402.
• Karate school relocates: Tracy’s Kenpo Karate Self Defense School has recently moved to a new location at 284 Christine St. in Cape Girardeau.

Owner and head instructor Dr. Roger Arpin said the new location offers more space for the growing enrollment in the school’s self defense training programs. Tracy’s offers private, personal training for children in how to deal with bullying at school, as well as practical street self defense for adults. Each student’s personal, one-on-one training is supplemented by free, separate youth and adult group training classes. Training for sport tournament competitions is also included.

Arpin is a seventh-degree black belt and a member of the International Kenpo Hall of Fame. The Cape Girardeau school has been in  operation for the last 16 years, but the Tracy’s International Studio System of Self Defense has been operating for more than 40 years with more than 1,000 schools worldwide.

For more information, call 334-3927 or stop by the new location between 1 and 8 p.m. Monday through Friday to set up a studio interview with Arpin and look around.

• Saint Francis partners with physicians group: Saint Francis Medical Center has formed a partnership with Cape Girardeau Physician Associates, a practice staffed with 12 skilled primary-care physicians.

The practice is Saint Francis’ first primary care partnership affiliated with the medical center.

"We are pleased to establish this partnership and look forward to the resources that Saint Francis can offer to our practice and our patients," said one of the 12 physicians, Sarah A. Aydt. "We are primary-care physicians who want to spend more time on the issues of our patients rather than the business of managing a medical practice.

"This partnership with Saint Francis will allow us to do that," she said. "By participating in Saint Francis systems and processes, our office practice will flow better and we can concentrate on excellent patient care. The true beneficiaries of this partnership will be our patients."

The practice provides care for children and adults in four specialties: family practice, internal medicine, pediatrics and rheumatology.

Physician offices are in the Healing Arts Center at Saint Francis, 3250 Gordonville Road, Suite 301 in Cape Girardeau.

• Office supply company opens location in Cape Gir­ardeau: Interstate Document Solutions has opened an office at 1078 Wolverine Lane in Cape Girardeau. The company has Canon offices in Jonesboro, Ark., as well. Founded in 1969, the company carries Canon black and white and color copiers, fax machines, printers and other office supplies.
• Gourmet dog food business expands: Miss Autumn’s Barkery, 1105 Saddlebrooke Ridge in Jackson, recently announced that the company’s line of organic pet food and treats will be available through RFG Distributing Inc., a national pet products distributor. RFG operates a warehouse facility in Crystal, Minn., and Des Moines, Iowa. The arrangement will grant RFG Distributing the ability to distribute Miss Autumn’s Barkery’s line of products nationwide.

This family-owned, third-generation business has been serving the pet industry for more than 40 years.

Miss Autumn’s Barkery offers all-natural and organic treats for both large and small dogs.

• Oh Christmas tree, oh Christmas tree: Picking out that perfect tree seems to be as much of a tradition for families as watching "A Christmas Story" on Dec. 25 — which runs pretty much all day on one television station — in today’s society. Last Monday an article ran in the business section about how Christmas tree sales are faring in the region. I reported on a wide variety of merchants who sell the trees, from community clubs to tree farms.

Joannie Smith, who with her husband Jerry operates both River Ridge Winery and the Yule Log Cabin in Commerce, Mo., told me they have been in the Christmas tree business since 1979. They shifted their focus in the mid-1990s to Fraser firs "because of their beauty, scent and durability."

Their Yule Log Cabin has more than 45 decorated Christmas trees.

If anyone else is a Christmas tree merchant, post a response to this column on the website. I’d also love to hear anyone’s Christmas tree stories.

Business reporter Brian Blackwell can be contacted at 388-3628 or bblackwell@semissourian.com.