Esicar's is busy closing down

Esicar's Old Hickory Smokehouse has been busy since announcing plans in June to shut down, and its last day will be Saturday.

There's no ham left, Blake Esicar said, and the last 85 slabs of bacon will go on sale when the doors open Wednesday at 7:30 a.m. Don't expect those to last long, he said, because customers have been lining up each Wednesday since he started limiting the bacon output.

"They just want everything and they want it now," Esicar said as he sliced meat and served customers Friday. "The last three months have been like Christmas. But it is winding down."

Esicar announced in late June his intention to close the 73-year-old family business. The company, which specialized in smoked country hams, bacon and sausages, needed to close or get started on the annual rush of mail orders for Christmas, he said.

While he spoke, Marilyn Zeller came in asking for ham salad, but left disappointed. Esicar's doesn't have any hams left to make the salad.

"It was my favorite thing," Zeller said. "The ham salad was divine."

As word spread of the closing, Esicar said he's heard from a lot of old customers. Some tried to place their Christmas orders early, but he couldn't supply the hams.

As for the memorabilia of decades in business -- pig-themed art, a display board with envelopes from customers, including one addressed simply "Bacon, Cape Girardeau, Mo." -- Esicar isn't sure. He's thought about donating it to an area museum. "A lot of it, I don't have a clue what I am going to do with it."

While he's ready for a change at age 56, part of his reason for closing the business is the crush of regulations. He must keep meticulous records for federal meat inspectors, despite making his products in a traditional way that the family has used for generations.

One regular customer was stocking up Friday, perhaps for the last time. Tom Cramer purchased garlic salami, bratwurst, Italian link sausages, smoked cheese and smoked links. But he couldn't get any bacon. "I haven't found a bacon that is as good as I like," he said.

There have been a few inquiries from people interested in buying the business, and even if Esicar sells the building, he won't allow anyone to use the family's name.

"After [Saturday] at noon, when the door is closed there will be no more Esicar's," he said.

• SEMO Video to move: Lea Lewis, owner of SEMO Video at 501 Broadway, will be moving her video store about two blocks west and opening a lingerie store in the same location at 629 Broadway.

The new business, which will be called Pretty Woman Lingerie, "will specialize in all sizes from small to plus," Lewis told me when I stopped by the new store.

I had been curious to see what was going in that location, because the windows were all papered over with copies of our fine newspaper, and the window had hand-painted lettering announcing "Coming Soon" and a picture of swimsuit models.

When I saw the door was open and construction was underway, I stopped to get the details.

The new store will offer a variety of brand names and styles, Lewis said. She said among the brands to be offered will be Shirley of Hollywood, Foreplay Lingerie and the line of rhinestone-studded offerings from Desire Fashions.

The store will have an extensive collection of plus-size fashions, Lewis said, which she sees as an area that is lacking in the inventories of other merchants with similar goods.

Along with lingerie, the store will offer "club wear" and "exotic shoes and boots," Lewis said.

SEMO Video will have a separate entrance in the back of the building, Lewis said.

To promote the store, Lewis plans an advertising mural on the west wall of the building.

The projected opening date is the second week of October.

• Second-hand store: The old Mr. Ed's Trading Post, next door to Lewis's new business, will have new tenants as well by mid-October. Janene Dean and Linda Bangert, who for three years have been selling from a building at Miles Trading Post in East Cape Girardeau, will open a second-hand store to be called L&J's Second Time Around Shop at 625 Broadway.

Bangert said the partners are working on renovations at Mr. Ed's, and plan a grand opening celebration Oct. 15.

"We will have a few antiques, a lot of collectibles, a lot of decorative glassware and furniture," Bangert said. "Just a lot of flea market items, but better than flea market. We do pride ourselves on having quality merchandise."

• HealthPoint expansion opening: Southeast Missouri Hospital will celebrate the grand opening of the HealthPoint Fitness Center expansion on Saturday and Sunday, opening the doors from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. each day for the public to view the changes at the health club at 2126 Independence St.

The 13,260-square-foot expansion includes a second swimming pool, additional exercise studios and other amenities.

As I was researching the feature story for Business Today that also appeared last Monday on this page, I discovered the Southeast Missourian had never printed the amount of money Southeast Hospital spent either on the original renovation to create HealthPoint or the expansion. I stopped by the Cape Girardeau city office that issues building permits, and here's the figures: The expansion to open this week cost $3.1 million, the addition of a therapy pool and exterior remodeling cost $600,000 and the original renovation of the 61,539-square-foot former Albertsons grocery cost $5.7 million, bringing Southeast's total investment to $9.4 million.

• Banks merge: First State Banchares Inc. of Farmington, Mo., which operates branch banks -- including two in Cape Girardeau and one in Perryville, Mo. -- under the name First State Community Bank, announced it had acquired Progress Bancshares Inc. of Sullivan, Mo.

The merger makes First State Bancshares the second largest bank headquartered in Southeast Missouri, chief executive officer Greg Allen said. Montgomery Bank is the tops, he said, due in large part to that bank's entry into the St. Louis market. Allen said his bank will continue to focus on banking in smaller communities. "Cape is the largest market for us," he said.

Founded in 1954 with a capital of $3 million, First State Bancshares now has assets totaling $900 million, Allen said.

Rudi Keller is the business editor of the Southeast Missourian. Contact him at 335-6611, extension 126