Makeover at bed and breakfast

The Bellevue Bed and Breakfast is getting a makeover, thanks to new owners Brian Langlois, his wife Linda Dolan and his aunt, Pat Delks, who have moved to Cape Girardeau from Cape Coral, Fla., after a nationwide search for just the right place.

Part of the makeover, Langlois said, will be an all-vegetarian menu for breakfast. Even if you are the type who can't get going without a few strips of bacon, you won't miss it, Langlois promised. "Most people don't eat a lot of meat for breakfast," Langlois noted. "The meals will be very hearty, very elegant and very well presented."

The hammering and sawing have the inn, at 312 Bellevue St., in an uproar, but Langlois said it will be finished and open for business by Aug. 10. "We're totally renovating it," he said.

Langlois and Dolan will occupy one room and Delks will take the carriage house apartment, so the B&B will have three sleeping rooms upstairs and a large master bedroom downstairs, Langlois said.

The partners settled on Cape Girardeau after looking extensively for a business to run that will give them an opportunity to settle into a comfortable lifestyle, he said.

"We've done a lot of different things before," he said. "We've been consultants and writers and wanted a totally different lifestyle for ourselves."

Cape Girardeau has a strong sense of community, Langlois said, and that is one of the attractive features. Another draw for the move from Florida is that they were bored by the sameness of the weather. "We like the idea of having four seasons, and we think this is a pretty nice area. We like being by the river."

Langlois said their first trip to Cape Girardeau was in October to look over the property, with negotiations for the final purchase beginning after a second visit in April. Cape Girardeau is a good change of pace, he said.

The partners bought the Bellevue unfurnished from former owner Marsha Toll and hope that the antique furnishings with just enough new accents will keep people coming back. "People want something that is different from a hotel when they come to a bed and breakfast," he said. "They want an intimate feel that feels like home. It is going to have an old feel, but it is going to be very comfortable."

• No changes at local Spartech plants: The abrupt resignation of George A. Abd as CEO and president of Spartech Corp. won't mean any changes for the approximately 200 employees of the company's manufacturing facilities in Cape Girardeau, interim CEO and chief financial officer Randy Martin said.

Spartech operates a compounding facility at 4753 Nash Road, and a sheet plastics facility at 2500 Spartech Drive. "They both have strong management teams, and they will continue to do well down there," Martin said from his office in St. Louis.

Abd announced his departure was for unnamed personal reasons. The announcement was accompanied by an updated earnings report that decreased the expected profit for the 2007 fiscal year to $1.45 to $1.50 a share, compared to previous estimates of $1.55 to $1.62 a share. Weakness in the transportation and construction sectors are causing part of the decline, along with continued weakness of the U.S. dollar against the Canadian dollar, the company said.

Spartech is an intermediate stage manufacturer, providing plastic products for packaging, the automotive and aerospace industries, roofing materials and shower surrounds.

The company's stock fell 18 percent last Monday following the announcement of Abd's resignation and the lowered earnings forecast but regained some of that loss by the end of the week, settling at $23.14 a share Friday at the close of trading.

During Abd's tenure, Spartech said, the company has increased its annual revenue to $1.47 billion from $1.275 billion, reduced its debt to $285 million from $464 million and posted seven consecutive quarters of earnings growth.

The search for a replacement will take four to six months spearheaded by a national search firm, Martin said.

n Applebee's merger: In case you hadn't heard, IHOP Corp., best known for its blue-roofed pancake restaurants, said last week it has agreed to buy the bar-and-grill chain Applebee's International Inc. for about $1.9 billion in cash.

The deal, subject to shareholder and regulatory approval, also includes announced plans to sell the approximately one-quarter of Applebee's restaurants owned by the parent company to franchisees.

That change includes the Cape Girardeau restaurant, which is a company-owned outlet, said Lemi Williams, restaurant manager. "As of now nothing has changed and they have kind of informed us with just enough to know nothing is changing in the immediate future. We are one of the larger stores, so if anything changed we would be one of the last places for anything to change."

Williams, who is also a real estate broker, said one of his dreams is to open his own restaurant. So this could be his big chance.

• New restaurant seeking a home: One of the partners in the planned Beef'O'Brady's restaurant franchise in Cape Girardeau said he needs a location for the new restaurant. Robert M. MacGillivray of Sikeston, Mo., and Lee Hillman of Cape Girardeau are partnering in the new venture under the corporate name of Hill-Mac Inc., formed April 10. Beef'O'Brady's is a "family sports pub," McGillivray said. The ambience and competitive pricing will provide the support to make the restaurant a success, McGillivray said. There's no set timetable for opening the restaurant, but he said he hopes to be in business by Christmastime. He promised to keep in touch so I can provide updates for when and where the eatery will be ready for business.

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