New Drury Inn still in plans, but on hotel hold

The year 2003 was a big one for hotel announcements. But announcements, like life, are subject to change.

That was the case two years ago when St. Louis-based Drury Inns Inc. unveiled plans for a new 180-room hotel at Interstate 55 and Highway 74. Earlier in the year Midamerica Hotels made a splash with word that it was going to raze the 40-year-old Holiday Inn and replace it with a sleek, new Holiday Inn Express.

In the two years since, we've watched as the Holiday Inn came down and the Holiday Inn Express go up. But the seven-acre tract at the southeast corner of I-55 remains vacant, despite an original schedule of opening by the middle of 2005.

But development of a new Drury Inn & Suites are still in their plans, according to Eric Strand, vice president of sales and marketing. But there is no definite time frame for the project, he said.

"We decided that our first priority in the Cape market would be the renovation of the Drury Lodge," Strand wrote to me in an e-mail last week. "With the recent opening of a new hotel in the market and the complete reimaging of the Drury Lodge, we would like to see how the market responds before moving ahead with a new Drury Inn & Suites."

By the way, Strand reports that the feedback from the renovation at Drury Lodge has been positive. "They tell us the hotel truly has a comfortable and classy 'lodge' feel to it," he said.

* Fleet of foot: Heartland On-Site Fleet Service is about two weeks from being up and running in Cape Girardeau, according to owner Bill Choate.

The new business at 2121 Bessie St. will come to your business to perform preventative maintenance for business vehicles. The service includes oil changes, fluid checks, filters, etc. They also will do service repairs on site, Choate said.

"People have to go to one of the oil-change places or pay an employee to take the vehicle there," Choate said. "We come to you."

They even have specially designed software to keep a log of when your vehicle needs to be checked.

* Mall world: Here are a few updates from Westfield West Park. Mall manager Paul Dobbins, fresh from his honeymoon, tells me that a men's clothing store has opened there. First Class, which offers formal wear, opened recently in the former Vanity space, Dobbins said.

Dobbins said the mall also is working on a couple of new stores. Look for an announcement about a Mexican restaurant coming next month to the old Shangrila space.

* The mind's eye: Curtis Suderman has taken up residence in the Jackson Chamber of Commerce building to set up his business, the Mind's Eye. Suderman just moved his family from Fresno, Calif., to relocate the business. He said this area is a better place to raise a family.

Suderman will do architectural illustrations and 3-D animation for clients. Architectural illustrations are what artists have done by hand before a project is actually built.

But Suderman uses computers. He can take a picture of the site and add what a building will look like onto the picture. Three-D animation, I learned after asking, had nothing to do with cartoons. Suderman creates flying logos and character animation for promotional packets.

In other words, he uses his mind's eye to do his job.

* Media rant: Cape Girardeau's nonprint media have pulled a vanishing act on the "Killshot" story. Actually, they never showed up. "Killshot," for those TV watchers and radio listeners who didn't get the info, is the name of a big-budget movie that may partially be shot in Cape Girardeau.

The movie, to be directed by John Madden of "Shakespeare in Love," has the potential to bring in millions to the local community, if filmmakers decide to shoot here.

"We don't care about that," one media rep told me.

Hmmm ...

I guess Hollywood coming to Cape Girardeau -- and the financial impact -- is not as newsworthy as whether a blender works or how to be a professional barbecue judge. Seems my journalism training has been all for naught.

* New antique mall: Antique Centre Mall has opened in Benton, Mo. Herman Schwartz and his wife, Phyllis, sell all sorts of upscale antiques, from old glassware to old furniture. The antique mall has 50 booths and is open every day of the week.

"We've got a little bit of everything," Herman Schwartz said. "Business has already been better to us than we expected this early. We are already way ahead of our expectations."

* Baby, you can wash my car: Steve Lacy has recently bought two car washes in Cape Girardeau and plans to have them opened soon.

Lacy has bought the car washes at 501 Themis St. and 620 Emerald St.

"We want to get them cleaned up more," said Lacy, who lives in Dexter, Mo., and owns a car wash there. "They could use them now, but I don't really have them set up to run yet."

He said the car washes should be up and running in a week.

Quickly

• Steve Pleimann has opened Steve's Auto at 2769 E. Jackson Blvd. Pleimann rents an office from Birk Automotive to deal in wholesale late models cars that are about three to four years old. He basically sells them to dealerships.

* White Castle's tentative opening date is Aug. 22, though it might be later that week.

* Thought of the week: A memorandum is written not to inform the reader, but to protect the writer.

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.