Rhodes 101, retail complex planned at intersection

A deal that moved almost 12 acres on the southwest corner of Bloomfield and Mount Auburn roads in Cape Girardeau from Earl Norman to Jim and Jeff Maurer was the opening play in a plan for retail and office development of the property.

Jim Maurer and Paul Dirnberger are the principal partners in Rhodes 101 Stop convenience stores. Jeff Maurer is Jim Maurer's son. The price was not disclosed in the news release announcing the sale from Tom Kelsey, president of Lorimont Place Ltd., but the firm has listed 9.77 acres along Interstate 55 and Highway 74 interchange for $2.9 million.

Owned under the name Mayson Investments LLC, an investor group headed by the Maurers, the property will be the site for one of the first redesigned Rhodes 101 convenience stores as well as a complex of other stores, restaurants and offices, Jeff Maurer said.

"It will be a traditional development similar to what Mid America [Hotels] did on William and Mount Auburn," Maurer said. "That is the broad concept, a traditional development with some larger multistory buildings."

And while "we are very close on a couple of projects," Maurer said, none are ready to be announced.

Norman pieced the tract together over many years, said a news release from Kelsey announcing the sale. The most recent acquisition was the corner lot with two acres, with "significant site work completed in 2007."

The new-concept Rhodes 101 store will seek to exploit growth in the demand for ready-to-go food and beverages, Maurer said. The building plan is growing again, with more cooler space to accommodate the expanding alternative offerings that include energy drinks, flavored and fortified waters and branded coffee beverages.

"We are probably about 70 percent finished" with the redesign, Maurer said.

Along with a larger building, the elevations will change, Maurer said. "Our whole point is that we want to have anything people are going to eat or drink on the go," he said.

The Maurers are also investors in Regents Parc, a 40,000-square-foot office and retail building that is now completed on North Kingshighway. Maurer said he's landed the firs two tenants for the building, with Banterra Bank, based in Marion, Ill., with 28 branches and $823 million in deposits. The Cape Girardeau location will be the bank's first full-service Missouri bank; it previously had a loan-generation office here and has one in Dexter, Mo., as well.

The other tenant that has signed a lease, Maurer said, is Saffron, the Pan-Asian restaurant owned by Su Hill currently housed in Crossroads shopping center. The new location will offer more convenient take-out service in a slightly smaller setting, he said.

• Keg Shop returns: If you've driven past the corner of Independence Street and Sheridan Drive lately, you might have noticed that the old Wink's Keg Shop property is being spruced up. Well, it is returning as the Keg Shop minus the Wink's, said Charlotte Meador, who will manage the store for Larry Carlson.

The Keg Shop was a popular spot for Cape Girardeau Central High School students to buy a sandwich at lunchtime before the high school moved to its new quarters. It also prided itself on having the best variety of draft beer and an extensive selection of liquor and wines, Meador said.

But because the building has been closed for a few years, it requires quite a bit of work to reopen, she said. A new sign is in place, the awning protecting the gas pumps has been repainted and workers are repairing the roof, she said.

The store will have gas, other convenience store items and, as in the past, an extensive selections of wine, liquor and beer, Meador said. Current plans call for the Keg Shop to be open within 60 days, she said.

• Withers Broadcasting growth: The broadcasting empire of Cape Girardeau native Russ Withers and family grew recently when he purchased six Southern Illinois radio stations from Clear Channel Communications. Withers, chairman of the Radio Board of Directors of the National Association of Broadcasters, will operate the stations, located in West Frankfort, Murphysboro, Johnston City and Herrin, under Withers Broadcasting of Southern Illinois LLC, he said.

Withers picked up the stations from a shrinking Clear Channel, which has shed 400 of 1,200 stations, Withers said.

Withers began his radio career in 1955 at KGMO-AM 1550, now KAPE-AM, as an announcer. He purchased the station, his first, in 1970. Now, along with his daughter's company called Dana Communications, the family now controls 35 broadcast stations concentrated in Missouri and Illinois.

"When I was 10 years old, I sat on a hillside out on what is now Route K but was then Gordonville Road, and decided I wanted to be in radio," Withers said. "I am doing what I set out to do when I was 10. And when I set out in radio, I thought it would be good to own some stations."

• Bakery closing: Wille's Bakery, a Cape Girardeau business with a 125-year lineage, closed its 1215 Broadway location at noon Saturday. But that wasn't the last chance for lovers of Danish yum-yums or angel food cake to indulge themselves, owner Ralph Wille said. He's scouting for locations and hopes to be back in business in two to six months.

The Southeast Missouri State University Foundation is buying the bakery property along with a vacant building at 1209 Broadway and the office building housing Kerber, Eck and Braeckel LLP at 1221 Broadway for an undisclosed sum. The location is across from the site of a new dormitory. "The university is in the process right now of examining the best uses of those properties," said Ann Hayes, spokeswoman for the university. "In some form at least some of that will be used for additional parking."

Wille has been on Broadway for five years. He's had one other location in Cape Girardeau and two in Jackson. He's working the business his father purchased in 1970 that was originally known as Wagner's Bakery, founded in 1883.

While moving is never easy, Wille said he's looking forward to a new location that could prove to be more luctrative than his current spot. "I need to go further west. I could do better in a better location."

While he's not ready to retire -- "the bank says I have to work," he said -- he also knows that his business may not outlive him. He has two daughters, he said, but neither works in the business and standalone bakeries aren't the essential business they once were.

"We are a dying breed, that is for sure," he said. "We are disappearing."

The office building housing Kerber, Eck and Braeckel LLP at 1221 Broadway was owned by Grantor Properties, the children of Ron Unterreiner. Unterreiner said the family approached the university about selling out and closed the deal about a week ago. He said he expects the university will make use of the offices.

From the news releases:

• Charter Communications announced it will be offering "downstream speeds" of up to 16 megabits per second for Internet customers in Cape Girardeau. I couldn't find a listing or price on their Web site, www.charter.com, but the standard price listed for their 5 mbps service was $54.99 per month. Steve Trippe, vice president and general manager for Charter in Missouri, said the new service will allow downloading of a song in as little as 2.5 seconds.
• Maid-Rite, chain of franchise restaurants serving "loose meat" sandwiches based in Des Moines, Iowa, announced it is looking for a franchisee in Cape Girardeau. The size of Cape Girardeau, with students and a successful manufacturing and retail community, should be a good fit, said Bradley Burt, Maid-Rite president and chief executive officer, in a statement issued last week. So, if you've got $175,00 to $250,000 to invest, this may be for you.
• RE/MAX Realty Experts is relocating from 97 N. Kingshighway to 2851 Professional Court, Suite A, said Tom Kelsey of Lorimont Place Ltd. Kelsey represented the building owners in the transaction that moved a rival real estate firm to new quarters.
• Northeast Diesel Service in Jackson has changed to Miles Diesel Service Inc., with Jim and Vicky Miles taking over from Bill Holley, who is retiring after 20 yearsin the Jackson area. Jim Miles has been with the company 12 years and has been manager for seven, while Vicky Miles has been working there for three years.
• April 20 through 26 will be administrative professionals week in Missouri, according to Patty Eck, administrative affairs support specialist with the provost's office at Southeast Missouri State. Eck sent me a note about it and a picture of the proclamation-signing ceremony she organized with Gov. Matt Blunt's office.

Rudi Keller is the business editor for the Southeast Missourian. Contact him at rkeller@semissourian.com or call 335-6611, extension 126.