Fiddle-dee-dee - New Cape B&B to feature southern flair

Talking to Susan Steel last week, she sounded as harried as Scarlett O'Hara getting ready for her first day of finishing school.

That's because Steel -- a Texas native who is no stranger to southern tradition herself -- has been busy all year getting ready to open the Southern Heritage Bed and Breakfast. She hopes to have everything ready enough to open this week.

If it is, it will have been an impressive feat. In just over six months, she's taken the nearly 100-year-old historic home at the corner of Independence and Lorimier and given it a makeover.

Steel stripped down the windows to the wood, removing the seven layers of lead-based paint. She's also stripped the fireplaces and the 48 steps in the brick home, most recently owned by Andy Juden and his wife. She's pulled up all the carpet, revealing a wonderful wood floor.

She's also converted two the home's 10 rooms into suites, one which will have a Caribbean theme. There will also be a few modern conveniences. There will be a private balcony, a refrigerator as well as access to a sauna, tanning bed and in-ground pool.

And she's done it all by herself in a short period of time.

"It sort of had a '60s look," she said. "I've been trying to get that ugly '60s look out and get it back to where it needs to be, which is as close to what it originally looked like as possible. The whole thing is going to have a more southern look."

Steel's not done. She plans to keep working on other rooms to get them in shape for visitors.

Steel is used to running historic houses as B&Bs. For the past several years, she's owned the Anderson House in Commerce, Mo., a building that was built in 1844. But that business didn't have enough room, so she was losing business, much of which comes from St. Louis, Kansas City and outstate.

"I told my husband to go up and buy me another house and don't come home until you do," she joked.

She sounded so much like a feisty southern gal, I'm surprised she didn't name the new bed and breakfast "Tara."

So long, Joey

Those of you who enjoy driving across the bridge to eat at Joey's, the popular East Cape Girardeau, Ill., restaurant known for its home cooking and delicious pie, will be saddened to learn that the restaurant closed about 10 days ago.

Joey Browning, the owner and namesake, said that he closed because after 17 years he's looking to do something different. Browning started out as a busboy and then worked his way up.

"I'd been at this a long time," Browning said. "It just felt like time to do something else."

But there's good news. Browning said he's close to closing on the sale of the business to another party. He said his understanding is that the new owners, whom he would not name, plan to reopen the restaurant in August.

"I think they plan to keep things pretty much the same," Browning said.

For our sake, let's hope they do.

Answer me

Answer Direct is a new Cape Girardeau business with a connection to a long-existing one.

Answer Direct's owner, Marsha Ridenour, said the answering service went into operation July 3. Ridenour has been a manager for 13 years at Bootheel Area Rapid Transportation. Answer Direct was started because BART -- which provides rides to the St. Louis airport in those nice vans we see on Interstate 55 -- needed an answering service that could do more than just take and deliver messages.

"What we needed was a company that could do some dispatching and take some reservations," Ridenour said.

So they trained some people and started Answer Direct, which will be operated out of BART's offices at 2900 Kage. They offer round-the-clock answering services for any type of company, including doctors, veterinarians, cleaning businesses, etc. They have seven operators.

"We're able to handle any type of business," Ridenour said. "Any kind of trucking, anything that requires dispatching. We're going to be equipped to do that."

New Strickland office

Strickland Engineering of Jackson, Mo., has relocated to its new office on the Courthouse Square in uptown Jackson. Strickland has moved into the building it built -- the Strickland Building at 112 W. Main St. They're planning an open house July 25 with a ribbon-cutting ceremony at 11 a.m.

Strickland Engineering provides civil, mechanical, plumbing, electrical consulting engineering and land surveying services.

This marks the last tenant in the building Strickland renovated, which previously had been the old Sander Hardware store. They have five other tenants that already have moved in: the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Web Tools, R&K Excavation, Direct Line Marketing and SEMO Options.

The three-level building is 11,600 square feet.

The company was started in 1979 by Tom Strickland, and later on his sons, Mark and Brian, joined the company.

"It's been a goal of mine," Tom Strickland said, "as a business man to have my own building. It's kind of a dream come true as far as the way the business has grown and expanded."

Quickly

When Best Buy opens Sept. 27, it's address will be 4 S. Silver Springs. Come on, guys. That store's on William.

The new Buffalo Wild Wings at the Town Plaza has moved it opening date up to August.

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.