Copying the original - Kwik Kopy sold to Cape Printing

When Richard and Jane Daume decided to sell Kwik Kopy printing after 18 years in business, they didn't want to sell it to just anybody. So they sold it to a competitor.

Richard and Jane, who are about to retire to Phoenix, sold Kwik Kopy to Ted and Jason Coalter, the father-and-son owners of the smaller but just-as-scrappy Cape Girardeau Printing Co. The deal closed a week or so ago, and the signs have already been changed.

"One of the satisfying things is, instead of having to close the doors, we have a buyer who wants to take the business and grow it," Jane told me last week. "We like that."

Cape Girardeau Printing is looking to have a more dominant presence in the market place. The Coalters took over the business Jan. 3 and have moved from their current offices to Kwik Kopy's office at 112 S. Broadview. The merged businesses will now be known as Cape Girardeau Printing. They will have the same employees and the same phone number.

Ted Coalter, who also owns Heartland Insurance, is the president, and his son is the general manager.

"We were friendly competitors and it was through that friendship that I heard they were looking to sell," Ted Coalter said. "We saw it as an opportunity. They have a newer building and their equipment is newer. We needed a lot of what they had to continue growing. We feel like we're primed to keep accelerating."

Jason, 23, said he already knows the responsibility of taking over such a respected business.

"They knew we cared about our business and ran it much the same way as they did," he said. "That's why this has all been so smooth. This will take the business to a whole new level."

He said their digital capabilities will be better and they will have a larger staff to work with their clients (10), and turnaround time will be faster. The Coalters plan to turn their old building at 207 S. Sprigg into office space and lease it out.

But right now, they're looking to the future.

"This is the only business in Cape we would have been interested in acquiring," Jason said. "They have the same level of service and commitment. Now we're ready to roll."

Beard's closed

For the past 44 years, local fishers and hunters could stop in at Beard's Sports Shop at 811 Broadway to pick up the latest lure, get that new deer rifle or even buy a bow and arrows, if that was their preference.

Just as often, though, they were just as likely to stop in and chat with Bill Beard, who started the shop because he loved hunting and fishing at least as much as Hemingway. Or later they would do the same with his son, Dan, who worked there for all but the first six years and then took over the business when his dad died a few years back.

Now the doors of the town's oldest hunting and fishing shops have closed. And it's not for reasons that I'd hoped -- that Dan had done it long enough, had reeled in a boatload of money and was now ready to spend all of his time waiting patiently in either a tree stand or along a shoreline.

It was nothing so peaceful. Beard's answer was as sobering as it was heart-breaking.

"Business got just so bad," said Beard, 56. "It might have been the competition, the mail-order houses or whatever. I don't really know. But it wasn't worth it anymore."

Over the past few years, business just kept getting worse and worse. Beard traces the biggest blow to the renovation of Broadway, which kept customers away for more than a year.

"Seems like ever since then, things got worse," he said. "Up to then, you could make a living. Not now."

Beard said he'll miss meeting the customers that come in and the friends that he's made. It was especially hard to close the store that meant so much to his dad. Now, he's looking for work, probably something in sales.

"It's not easy," he said, "but what else can you do?"

Not much, except commiserate and note that building won't stay empty long. Another business, Cherokee Trails, is moving into the building soon.

Antiques, Texas-style

Charlie Bertrand has moved back to the area after 19 years in Texas and is planning to open Sprigg Street Mercantile, an antique shop, at 26 N. Spanish, the space that used to be home of Cape Janitorial Supply.

"I've been in antiques 20 years," said Bertrand, who recently retired as superintendent of schools in Jacksonville, Texas. "We're hoping it will give people another reason to come downtown."

Bertrand said he is hoping to open March 1. He will be renting booths to people who want to sell antiques in his shop.

Go, Red Racer, go

When Christopher Josephs was a student at Southeast Missouri State University, he hated waiting on the shuttle.

"It took its time, and we'd all just sit there waiting," said the 22-year-old Scott City resident. "I remember thinking, 'It'd be worth a dollar or two just to get a ride quicker.'"

He's turning that idea into his business -- Red Racer Taxi Service will be a campus-only one-cab company starting soon. Students wanting to get a ride anywhere on campus can hop in and pay a buck. If you want to go a few blocks from campus, it's $2.

"I think it will be a good service for the students," he said.

Quickly

It's too early to talk about it (which I love doing), but two new auto dealerships are going in on Siemers across from Wieser Honda. There's been some talk about which ones they are -- and I've heard rumors -- but an official announcement is probably about a month away. More on that as I get it.

Those who have walked past the old Grace's Cafe at 117 Themis have seen a sign that announces Corner Cafe is coming in February. They hadn't filed a business license by late last week

The old Grace's Cafe on Themis Street is going to open again in February as a cafe and Dippin' Dots. More later, but you heard it here first.

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