It’s not wise to imitate them Duke boys
I guess I should begin by apologizing to my Business Pulse readers for my behavior over the weekend. It seems in the hours after watching the new “Dukes of Hazzard” movie, I let my emotions get the best of me.
I hopped in my Blazer and figured the best way to work the adrenaline out of my system was to trigger a massive car chase with our law enforcement officers. And since the Duke boys never get caught, I figured I wouldn’t either, so long as I spray painted an “01” on the side of the Blazer.
As for Sheriff Jackie Matheny, I’m sorry he crashed his patrol car into a river trying to catch me. I managed to jump the river and emerged without a scratch despite the fact I wasn’t wearing a seatbelt.
I was eventually apprehended and tossed in jail, but I escaped by stealing the keys to the cell door from a deputy when he wasn’t looking. Then I hid out at a place where the law would never look — my own farm.
And in case you’re wondering, there is a picture from the whole ugly incident. I’ve included it on page 6-C for those who want to flip over and look. (And in light of the notorious “duct tape incident” about three years ago where some folks took me seriously, I should specify my “Dukes of Hazzard” story is only a joke. I have, sadly, never jumped anything in my Blazer.)
As for Business Pulse foolishness that actually happened, there’s the story of Knoxville prosecutors who tried to play hardball with local parents with highly truant children. And I think that’s an appropriate stance. If the kids aren’t coming to school, the parents should be held responsible.
So Knoxville prosecutors ordered 582 parents to attend a specially called meeting to explain the severity of not having their children in school. But in a twist you had to see coming, over 240 failed to attend the meeting.
As for other news, it’s a fairly common sentiment to hate taxes. However, I don’t think many of us hate taxes as much as a Serbian man who stormed the tax office in Belgrade, which is the capital of Yugoslavia.
The man, identified as Nebojsa Miladinovic in police reports, burst into the tax office and tried to set the tax chief on fire over a controversy surrounding his $2,794 tax bill. The tax chief escaped, although the building did catch fire.
It was noted Miladinovic was a hard worker who never caused trouble. He even put money in the parking meter outside the tax office before his rampage.
And in continuing the anti-tax theme, an Australian family went so far to avoid paying taxes that the family “removed” its property from Austrailia. The family even drafted its own Declaration of Independence and declared their farm was its own kingdom. Anyone wishing to cross the so-called “border” from Australia to their property required a passport. As a side note, the family was convicted of tax fraud and ordered by a Melbourne judge to pay back taxes.
Outdoor Shop to leave Northgate Shopping Center
The Outdoor Shop has decided to leave the friendly confines of Northgate Shopping Center and venture to the bold new frontier of Sparta Street.
Outdoor Shop manager Emily Panter says the business is moving to the former Superior Office Supply building, which is directly across from Best Western, which used to be Holiday Inn Express. And yes I realize all these moves can be confusing. The opening date at the new store is set for Sept. 1.
Emily tells me Outdoor Shop will be scaling down just a bit and concentrating on its best-selling merchandise. That includes a new line of fishing gear, all types of sports equipment and uniforms, and screen printing.
“This is a new start for us and we’re looking forward to it,” said Deborah Myers, who bought the business from Mike Webb around four years ago if memory serves me correctly. “It’s a clean building and a newer building and we’re going to concentrate on our hot sellers.”
Emily indicating they are going to stop carrying hunting supplies which haven’t sold well. She and Deborah are pleased to be moving to the high-traffic location on Sparta Street.
As for Northgate Shopping Center, owner Harold Martin told me Friday that he just found out about Outdoor Shop leaving. He said he hasn’t had time to recruit a new tenant for the 11,000-square-foot store.
“We’ll probably have to cut the building in two like we did when Roses left,” said Harold. “We cut that into three parts.”
Harold said he doesn’t anticipate too much trouble renting the space to another tenant, or two.
“It seems like everybody wants to be close to Wal-Mart,” he said.
Walgreen’s is now 100 percent official
I’ve been telling you for years that Walgreen’s is coming to Plaza Shopping Center in the corner spot formerly occupied by the Texaco station. Turns out, all those times I mentioned Walgreen’s coming, it was really just a guess.
Fortunately, my predication came true and I can now tell you it’s 100 percent official that Walgreen’s will be coming to McMinnville on the busiest corner in town.
Walgreen’s has purchased the land from shopping center owner Tom Duggin. It’s not only the Texaco property that was purchased, but also the former Tast-T-O property and the property currently occupied by the Goodwill trailer. Walgreen’s has almost purchased land all the way back to the Chinese restaurant. It’s a total of 1.6 acres.
As for when construction will start, well it’s already begun.
“They’ve started taking the roof off Tast-T-O,” said Tom. “They’re gung-ho about this. But they tell me it will take around six months for construction and then they still have to turn the building over to Walgreen’s so they can add their fixtures and things like that. They won’t be open for Christmas.”
This means the race is officially on and it’s time to place our bets. Which drugstore will open first: Walgreen’s or Eckerd?
Old Dodge dealership stirs serious interest
I talked to auctioneer Dwight O’Neal on Friday and he told me there has been some substantial interest in the 6.2 acres of land on New Smithville Highway that used to be home to McMinnville Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep.
“There has been some strong interest from some strong franchises,” said Dwight, who is handling the Aug. 18 auction. “These aren’t just companies in Warren County, but in all of Middle Tennessee. We intend to find a new owner on that day.”
For all the folks like me hoping a Dodge dealer might return to McMinnville, Dwight says that is highly unlikely.
“If one dealer doesn’t survive at a location, it doesn’t generally get a lot of interest from other dealers, and for obvious reasons,” said Dwight.
There will be separate auctions for the equipment and the property. Dwight said the building will be open at 9 a.m. Aug. 18 for any type of inspection that needs to be done. The auction will begin at noon.
Dwight tossed out some names of companies who are interested and I think it’s safe to say a quality business is about to find itself a new home in a great location on New Smithville Highway. As for the companies which are interested, well you’ll just have to wait until next week’s Business Pulse. I can’t tell everything I know.
Dialysis center coming next to Birthing Tree
Since it was announced in Friday’s edition, it’s hardly late-breaking news that a dialysis center is coming next to the Birthing Tree. But in Friday’s article I talked mainly about the Birthing Tree and not much about the dialysis center, which will begin being constructed the middle of this month.
Dr. R.P. Sabo says he will start seeing local patients beginning this week at a temporary office at suite 7 of 1550 Sparta Street. It’s expected to take four months for his new dialysis center to be constructed.
It will be a state-of-the-art facility with 16 dialysis stations and Dr. Sabo says he will operate around the clock if necessary to meet the needs of local patients.
“Residents who suffer from kidney failure are some of the sickest people in our community,” said Dr. Sabo. “They don’t need other troubles like having to travel out of town to get the treatment they need.”
The dialysis center will be a 6,000-square-foot clinic that is expected to employ about 12 people by the end of the year.
And when talking about things that are odd, strange and curious, Harold Martin gave me some interesting information when I was talking to him about the Outdoor Shop. He said he just recently leased his office space next to U.S. Auto Sales on Sparta Street. The space, which was formerly the offices of Dr. Woodlee, Dr. Chastain and Dr. Jamieson, is located about 100 yards from the Birthing Tree.
And that office space will also be turned into a dialysis center. Now what are the odds of that? There will be two new dialysis centers, both 6,000 square feet, within throwing distance of one another. Go figure.
Filter service with a smile
Warren County native Ken Beckwith is back in town and he’s opening a second location to his business called Friendly Filter Service. Ken has been making filters for commercial businesses for 10 years in Huntsville, Ala., and now wants local residents to breathe better air and save money.
“By having your filters changed on a timely basis, my services won’t cost you a thing,” said Ken, who indicated heating and air conditioning units that operate with dirty air filters result in much higher energy bills.
To illustrate his point, Ken tracked down the air filters here at the Standard office. And they were filthy.
“Look here,” said Ken pointing to a filter overcome with dust. “Now I bet somewhere in this building is a whole box of those filters, but nobody has replaced that one. It’s just something that doesn’t get done.”
Being a very filter-oriented company, the Standard is now using Ken’s services. And he went to work immediately. He got out a ladder and climbed on the roof and talked in excited tones about how he was going to make all sorts of great filters for this building.
To top it off, Ken has even furnished filters for NASA, which is located in Huntsville. However, Ken wants to make it clear he has nothing to do with that pesky foam which keeps flying off and hitting the space shuttle.
If you want to reach Ken, the best way is through his cell phone at (256) 651-8233. His local phone number is 473-8227.
Radio personalities change stations
It was about six months ago I wrote a story about Dibrell resident Richard Wilkinson landing a radio show on Nashville station WTN. Now Richard and his broadcast partner, Rob Clutter of Manchester, have moved their show to The Zone, 104.5 FM.
The show, called Under the Roof, was broadcast for the first time yesterday on its new station. It’s permanent time slot is from 6 to 8 a.m. every Saturday.
“I just wanted to get the word out since so many people have told me they listen to the show,” said Richard, who owns local construction company L&C Custom Homes with his wife, Kim. “This is a better time slot for us so maybe we’ll have even more people call in.”
Richard said despite his previous time slot from 5 to 7 a.m. on Sunday morning, the show still managed between 20 and 30 calls a week.
“We answer general home construction questions,” said Rich. “We talk anything house from footers to fireplaces, from sheetrock to shingles.”
That’s all folks
That was one column packed with information. But, greedy man that I am, I still want more. Give me a call with your business news and I’ll publish it in the paper. The number is 473-2191.