WAL-MART AND MCDONALD'S JOINING FORCES

McDonald's Corp. and Wal-Mart Stores Inc. have formed a quasi-partnership.

Wal-Mart, the retail giant of general merchandise, and McDonald's, the king of fast foods, have been experimenting with joining forces since January. So far, they like what they have seen.

It all started in Visalia, Calif., an agricultural center in the heart of that state's Central Valley, where a McDonald's opened inside a Wal-Mart store. Since then, the alliance has been expanded to include more than 25 stores, most recently with a cluster in the St. Louis area.

Such an agreement has not been discussed for Cape Girardeau, said Wal-Mart officials. "I have not been contacted concerning such an alliance," said Terry Godwin, manager of the Wal-Mart Supercenter here.

"The alliance is experimental at this stage," said a spokesman from Wal-Mart headquarters in Bentonville, Ark. "There are no immediate plans for specific future sites."

However, industry experts say it would be no surprise to see the relationship blossom rapidly because it comes as a growing number of retailers and fast-food chains link up.

A number of fast-food operations, including McDonald's, have found success in mall settings. Other combinations such as Kmart and Little Caesar's Pizza, Bradlees and Pizza Hut, and Caldor's and Nathan's Famous Hot Dogs have teamed up successfully.

The Wal-Mart and McDonald's alliance offers the restaurateur both a semi-captive audience and new places to sell its products. The benefit to the retailer is turning over space to a nationally known restaurant chain can produce a jump in revenues per square foot of store space.

"The agreement is sort of a partnership," said Don Shinkle, a Wal-Mart official.

For companies the size of McDonald's, with more than 9,000 restaurants in the U.S. and 13,500 worldwide, and Wal-Mart, which has nearly 2,000 general merchandise stores and 310 warehouse discount stores, the scale of the joint ventures to date is barely a blip on the corporate radar.

The key to "co-branding," as the practice is called, is whether there is enough traffic to cover the restaurant's costs. Restaurant experts say it has a very good chance of working in stores that attract great numbers of people like Wal-Mart.

Food service inside mass retail establishments has a long history: remember the luncheon counters at Woolworth's.

Margaret Edmundson and Gerri Stone have announced a change in ownership at Professional Fashion Uniform, 46 Plaza Way. Edmundson has sold her interest in the business to Stone.

"Margaret will continue to assist in the operation on a part-time basis," said Stone.

Edmundson and Stone have operated the business 12 years.

Rob Cashon has returned to the Cape Girardeau area after spending the past seven years on the West Coast.

"I have worked in the Christophe Beauty Salon in Beverly Hills seven years," said Cashon, who is leasing salon space at Hair Biz, 312 Independence, calling his operation "Robert Cashon For Hair."

The Christophe salon was in the headlines this summer when the salon owner, Christophe, gave President Bill Clinton a $200 Hollywood haircut aboard the president's plane.

Cashon, a native of Cape Girardeau, says he relocated here to be around family and friends."

"I'll be introducing some new and innovative ideas to this area," he said.

Cashon, a graduate of Stage One The Hair School in Cape Girardeau, has also attended Vidal Sassoon Academy in Santa Monica, Calif., and the Pivot Point Academy at Chicago.

He will be available by appointment from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Tuesdays through Saturdays.

"The problem of dead-beat parents not paying child support is ever increasing in our society," said Brian A. Turner, who recently opened a new service business in Cape Girardeau designed to seek out what he calls "dead-beat" parents who won't pay their child support.

For instance, a Florida man owing more than $7,000 in Illinois child-support payments found that distance did not relieve him of his long-standing obligation to his family.

The Illinois Department of Public Aid's Child Support Enforcement Division represented the family in court and obtained a lien against the father's property, preventing him from selling it until he anteed up the amount owed to his four children in Illinois. An additional 9 percent interest was collected for the children, bringing the total obtained to $12,205.

Every year, parents who have not paid court-ordered child support may find their tax refunds intercepted. A spokesman for the Department of Public Aid said, "Parents must realize that if they don't contribute financially to the care of their children, they cannot expect a refund check from the government, especially if the government is paying to support their children through welfare."

More than 50 percent of court-ordered child-support cases become delinquent at some point, and in more than 25 percent of the cases payments have never been made," said Turner. This means that many children are on welfare, said Turner, who owns and operates Thor Child Support Collections and wants to remedy part of those problems.

"We're a private company that acts on behalf of custodial parents to collect their rightful money," said Turner. "We're a licensed affiliate of Child Support Collection Agency of America."

Using proven techniques, Turner says CSAA locates absent parents across the country and collects child support due as well as making sure the absent parents get on a regular payment program of current child-support obligations.

Thor charges a small processing fee and a percentage of whatever money it collects. "This makes the process affordable for the custodial parent," said Thursday.

Additional details are available by calling Turner at 334-1330.

So you're a big winner in the lottery.

Will you keep your job?

Go to part-time status?

Take a new job?

Quit work?

A recent Gallup Poll reveals some interesting statistics.

27 percent of those polled say they would continue to work at their regular job.

27 percent would take their winnings and start a business.

22 percent say they would revert to part-time status in the same job.

20 percent say they would never work again.

Four percent say they would work full time, but in a different job and career.