B&N manager leaving -- but not why you think

The first thing Steve Turner wants you to know is that he wasn't shoved. Or pushed. He made the leap his own bad self.

He's leaving his job as manager of the Barnes & Noble bookstore in Cape Girardeau on his own. ClichZ aside, he's doing it to pursue a dream no less.

But we'll get to that in a minute. Turner, 43, saw the ad in the newspaper seeking a new manager for Barnes and Noble and knew what people would think.

"They'd assume that I was asked to leave or wasn't offered the position to manage the new store," he said last week. "I wanted to nip those rumors in the bud."

B&N had offered him the job of managing the new store at the mall. But in May, Turner gave his notice. Instead, he is starting his own film production company, Schrader Turner Films.

He's got years of experience. He's been doing commercials and short films on the side. He's done an industrial video for a company in O'Fallon, Ill., and a commercial for Appleman Podiatry in Cape Girardeau.

This past spring, he did a dramatic short film: "Mere Sentience," a slice-of-life film about a guy struggling to defend his lifestyle as a vegan.

So now he wants to make a movie from his script, "Lawyers, Guns and Money," which is geared to be a commercial film. Turner's got financial backers and has between $500,000 and $1 million, enough to get a "name" actor, he said.

Turner plans to make the movie here.

"There's no reason it can't be done here," he said.

In the meantime, though, Turner is wrapping up things at Barnes & Noble. A new manager will be announced around the second week of August, he said. Turner's last day will be the day before Thanksgiving.

Turner isn't second-guessing his decision.

"Not yet," he said. "I'm very busy. There's no time to sit around and fret."

* My Daddy's about to move: I'm trying to remember if I've ever had My Daddy's Cheesecake. You know what? I don't think I have. Pretty sad for a Cape boy.

I'll have to rectify that when they open in their new building.

Owner Wes Kinsey offers an update:

"We're making some pretty decent headway these days," he said. "We are planning on starting our move around Aug. 1 and we will keep the Route W store as long as we possibly can during move."

Still, he said, there will be a week or two where My Daddy's will be shut down completely.

"That depends on how smooth or awkward the move is," he said. "I'd like to be open out there around the last of August -- maybe between the 28th and Sept. 1."

The new store is at 265 S. Broadview St.

* New payday loan: Check Into Cash Inc., one of the country's largest payday advance companies, has opened a new center at 2118 William St. Check Into Cash, headquartered in Cleveland, Tenn., has more than 1,200 center locations in 31 states.

Frank Kramer, senior vice president of operations, said the new Missouri center is part of a growing network of Check Into Cash centers across the United States.

"Our industry is driven by the escalating cost of insufficient fund fees at banks and retail outlets," Kramer said.

Here's how it works: For a flat fee, they cash a customer's personal check and hold it until their next payday.

* Decor Center open: The new building at the corner of Broadview and Cape Center has been named the Decor Center and houses Ultimate Flooring and the House of Color.

The 10,400-square-foot building opened in May, which means I should have reported this before now. Anyway, Darrin Johnson is owner of Ultimate Flooring and Terry Lambert owns the House of Color.

The business sells paint, wallpaper, floor covering, blinds, home-decor prints and little tables and "stuff like that," Johnson said. "It's a great location."

* Helping hands: Helping Hands Nanny & Childcare Service has opened and is owned by Patty Turner and April Birk, who both are teachers at Deer Creek Christian Academy.

Turner tells me that the agency was formed after months of research of other nanny and sitter services in the United States.

"Our service is a new idea and concept because many families have been using that young sitter down the street or taking recommendations from a sitter from a friend of co-worker," Turner said. "We feel that the time has come to step in and offer something better."

The agency screens nannies and sitters, running them through a criminal background check, personal reference checks and past work-related experience. They also do a personal interview with each nanny or sitter to make sure they have the qualifications, Turner said.

Services include full- and part-time nannies, occasional sitters, mother's helpers, etc.

* Congrats to Rose Bed Inn: You can't say Eldon Natier and James Coley didn't have vision. Five years ago, they bought a bed and breakfast called the Rose Bed Inn on South Sprigg Street. That was before the new Bill Emerson Memorial Bridge went up.

Eldon Natier and his business partner, James Coley, bought a bed and breakfast called The Rose Bed Inn on South Sprigg Street before the new bridge went up. Since then, they've bought all five houses on the 600 block of Sprigg Street and have added a wedding chapel, a three-bedroom extended-stay home and created several ventures there.

Now, they're celebrating five years in business.

"We've beaten all of the stats," Coley said. "They say if you can get past the fourth year, you can do this the rest of your life."

Many small businesses are closed long before they get to their fifth year, so Rose Bed is to be congratulated.

* Wilson & Chastain parting ways: As of Aug. 1, the Wilson & Chastain law firm is going to called Stephen C. Wilson & Associates, LC. Elizabeth Chastain is leaving to spend time with her family.

Wilson will be hiring another lawyer sometime in the future, he said.

"It's a future draft choice yet to be named," Wilson joked. "It will be one or more attorneys."

Chastain said she's been a practicing lawyer for 10 years. She has a 16-year-old and a 3-year-old. But she's not leaving the profession for good.

"Absolutely not," she said. "I love the practice of law. I am not retiring."

* More on Talbots: A news release landed on my desk last week offering a few more details on Talbots, such as when it will open. The 3,520-square-foot Talbots store will open at Park West Centre on South Mount Auburn Road on Aug. 4. Doors will officially open at 9:30 a.m.

Scott Moyers is the business editor of the Southeast Missourian. Send your comments, business news, information or questions to "Biz Buzz," 301 Broadway, Cape Girardeau, Mo., 63702-0699, or e-mail them to smoyers@semissourian.com or call (573) 335-6611, extension 137.