DQ -- minus Fresco -- coming to Jackson

Ed Radetic now wants to treat the people of Jackson right.

Radetic, who owns the Cape Girardeau Dairy Queen/Fresco on North Sprigg Street, is now opening a Dairy Queen in Jackson around Labor Day at 2800 E. Jackson Blvd.

But this one -- in my opinion, unfortunately -- won't include the Fresco concept that Radetic and co-owner Jeff Unterreiner came up with for the Cape Girardeau restaurant.

For those of you who haven't been there, Fresco is an upscale eatery that co-exists with the Dairy Queen on Sprigg Street, offering gourmet pizza, sandwiches and good coffee.

"Dairy Queen prefers we keep them as two separate concepts," Radetic said Sunday. "They made the exception for one to see how it went, but they're not convinced. That doesn't foreclose the possibility of getting an additional free-standing Fresco in Jackson."

The Jackson Dairy Queen will start with 50 employees. Radetic said that Jackson is a good spot for a new Dairy Queen.

"Jackson is expanding and growing in the direction of East Jackson Boulevard," he said.

* New furniture showplace: Hutson's Fine Furniture in Cape Girardeau has opened its new Broyhill Furniture showplace.

Chris Hutson tells me that for 20 years, Hutson's has had the designation of Broyhill Gallery. Now, they've been upgraded to the next level, which is a showplace.

That is a larger gallery, which also allows them to have better features for customers, he said, such as special pricing. The gallery has been enlarged for 3,000 square feet, he said.

"While we were doing that, we went ahead and did the whole rest of the store," Hutson said. "Our La-Z-Boy gallery has now been updated with new signage and colors that La-Z-Boy uses. We've expanded our leather furniture and painted every single wall. We've really done a lot of in-store changes."

* Alternative farmers market up and running: I visited the Cape Girardeau farmers market for a story last week and in the process discovered that we also have an alternative farmers market. It has started for the season and is held at Arena Park every Wednesday starting at 8 a.m.

This year's season will last until Aug. 31. The market has a base of Missouri farmers who grow and market their own vegetables and fruits.

* SEMO Port: In the next issue of "Business Today," I wrote a column about the recent happenings at the SEMO Port. Here's a snippet:

For the first time since it was formed in 1975, the Southeast Missouri Regional Port Authority set a new high-water mark with more than 1 million in tonnage passing through the port, whether by river, rail or truck.

The actual figure for 2004 was 1,001,556 in tonnage, which is up from 2003's total of 818,212 tons. It's been increasingly getting busier at the port in Scott City. In 1990, tonnage was 28,000, which had increased by 1996 to 164,872.

The port represents a big part of the local business scene, though Overbey admits few people know exactly what the port is or does.

"People sort of have a vague idea that it has barges," he said. "But most people are not too familiar."

If you want to find out more about the port, pick up "Business Today."

* Rumblings: There's talk on the street that a certain well-known law firm in Cape Girardeau is looking to buy a high-value building that currently houses a bank. Cryptic? I'll find out more and let you know next week.

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