Kohl's plans to open April 7

smoyers

It's the day we all -- and by we all, I mean my wife -- have been waiting for: Kohl's has announced that it will open its new store on April 7.

Rodney Hall will be the store manager. He had been a store manager in St. Louis and moved here about two weeks ago.

Hall is no stranger to the area -- he opened the Target store here before moving to one of Kohl's 10 St. Louis stores.

Kohl's spokeswoman Lori Sansoucie said a ribbon-cutting ceremony with local dignitaries will be held at 7:45 a.m. and then the store will open at 8 a.m.

Kohl's, which saw February sales up 6.1 percent over last year, is a family-oriented department store offering national brands and is across Shirley Drive from Lowe's home improvement store.

Meanwhile, the other big project -- Sears Grand -- is still on schedule to open in the fall, said spokeswoman Lisa Gibbons, though a specific date has been set yet.

* Mac's moves again: Mac's Smokehouse has closed its Silver Springs Road location and moved to Shawneetown, about 20 miles from Cape Girardeau near the border of Cape Girardeau and Perry counties.

David McAllister, who has moved four times since he first opened in Pocahontas in 1992, said he has bought an 80-year-old bar and opened the new Mac's there last week. It has 115 seats, which was much better than the 44 seats he had at his Cape Girardeau spot.

"I couldn't expand," he said. "It wasn't because business was bad."

In fact, he said they had a 10 percent increase last year in business over 2003.

"We just outgrew the facilities," he said. "It was getting to the point that we had people just standing in line."

The new spot is at 271 Shawneetown Road, two miles from Highway CC.

"I hated to leave Cape," he said. "We left a lot of friends. But I'll still be in Cape a lot with my catering. Plus people can still come up and see us."

* New antique mall downtown: Riverfront Antique Mall is slated to open on April 1 at 19 N. Main St., the former home of Carol's Closet. The owners are Kevin and Debbie Schearf.

Debbie Schearf said there will be two floors of antiques. On the first floor will be "nicer" antiques.

"Then, on another level, the antiques maybe won't be as fancy, but still collectibles," she said.

The mall will feature furniture, glassware, a lot of old prints and pictures, frames and lighting fixtures and more.

"We've been in the antique business several years," Schearf said. "We've had consignment in other stores for years and decided it was time to open our own store."

They will also lease space to other antique dealers.

* Platinum Beauty to open on Broadway: A new hip-hop clothing store will open on April 1 at 439 Broadway. The store will be called Platinum Beauty and is owned by Toni Steele and Tim Butler.

The store will feature clothing, shoes, purses and cologne.

"It's just been a dream of mine, something I wanted to do," said Steele, who lives in Illinois. The clothes will come from wholesalers in Los Angeles, for one.

Steele said they hope to get the back of the building remodeled to add a braid shop.

* Gadzooks closing: Teen clothing chain Gadzooks has told its store personnel at Westfield Shoppingtown West Park that the store here will close in eight to 12 weeks. In February, Gadzooks Inc. announced it had been sold for $33 million to competitor Forever 21. A year ago, Gadzooks filed for bankruptcy after reinventing itself as a female-only chain. Gadzooks has 243 stores in 40 states.

* Krieger's adds enclosed patio: Krieger's owner Mark VanMatre has added a heated, enclosed sports patio that is available year-round. In the cooler months, it is kept warm with a see-through vinyl cover that comes off in the summer. The area, which seats 60, includes four 27-inch televisions and music. VanMatre unveiled it March 1.

Potent quotables

* "Call me crazy, but I want ... people to be accountable for their own actions." -- state Sen. Jason Crowell, on the day the Missouri Senate last night signed off on a measure to overhaul the state's system for handling personal injury lawsuits.

* "This strikes me as an election where a write-in candidate without a criminal history would have a realistic chance of winning." -- Cape Girardeau County Prosecuting Attorney Morley Swingle, in discussing the two candidates vying for a vacant Ward 3 seat on the Cape Girardeau City Council, who both have been prosecuted for felonies in the past 15 years.

* "You build your own identity by not trying to be somebody else and being yourself. If you're in a big circle, you carve out a smaller circle in that space. ... Don't try to compete, and don't get too caught up in it." -- Stedman Graham, Oprah Winfrey's longtime boyfriend, on maintaining his own identity. Graham is scheduled to give two lectures in Cape Girardeau next month.

Scott Moyers is the business editor of 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.