If all food could be like cotton candy
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When I get to thinking about cotton candy, I wish all food would simply dissolve in your mouth the way cotton candy does. There would be no more of that pesky chewing, no more food getting stuck between your teeth.
Just think of all the lazy man’s devices that have been created over the years. My personal favorite is the remote control, which just edges the riding lawnmower. Someone needs to invent a synthetic substance to apply to food so it becomes like cotton candy. Then all the old-timers could say, ‘Back in my day, we had to chew our food ‘
As for interesting odds and ends, I have time for just one before I have to get down to business so to speak. In the spirit of youth league sports, this tidbit comes to us from the great city of Alexandria, Va., which is just outside our nation’s capital.
In this fine city, high-ranking Army officer Bryan Hilferty also serves as a volunteer Little League umpire. In order to better umpire the games, Hilferty asked for a copy of the rulebook, a seemingly innocent request.
However Hilferty, who has access to top-secret information with his job at the Pentagon, had his request denied. He was told the league only distributes rulebook information on a need-to-know basis so as not to invite litigation. And the league determined Hilferty didn’t need to know any more than he does to perform his duties efficiently.
My two comments are this: I love military officials getting a taste of their own medicine. And I hate that a youth league is so concerned about a lawsuit that it is apprehensive about distributing a simple rulebook.
For CiCi’s Pizza, the news is the worst
After making it nearly one complete year in McMinnville, CiCi’s Pizza closed its doors Sunday night. The move was reminiscent of the way Shoney’s closed its doors in 2005.
CiCi’s employees were told there was a mandatory meeting last Sunday at 9 p.m. That’s when the news was leveled to the 17 employees that the restaurant was closing ‘ effective immediately.
‘It was pretty much a surprise to all of us,’ said manager Josh Hobbs, who admitted he did see some warning signs. ‘I started to think something was up when it came time to order food and they told me not to order much on the truck. Then we had some Japanese guys walking around the store taking pictures and asking questions about square footage. That seemed really odd. Then they posted the mandatory meeting for Sunday night and we never have one of those.’
On a strictly personal note, I hate to see CiCi’s leave. With two small children, the Clark family frequently visited CiCi’s for the pizza and games.
One of the questions the CiCi’s employee at the register always asked me is ‘Are you familiar with our buffet’? To which I would always answer, ‘Yes, I’m on a first-name basis with your buffet.’
Kidding aside, the restaurant was a huge financial loss for owners John McElroy and Bill Nelson, who own two other CiCi’s in North Georgia. John was gracious enough to call me Thursday and talk to me about the store closing, which few folks who are going out of business will do.
‘The bottom line is we were losing more money than we could afford to lose,’ said John. ‘We hung in as long as we could and tried just about anything we could to make it work. I wish this story had a better ending.’
What makes matters worse is John and Bill can’t just walk away. They signed a 10-year lease which means they are actively looking for someone else to rent the spot. When asked about the Japanese people, John said that is one possibility that’s being explored.
Even with the nine years left on the lease, John said they will lose less money by being closed than by staying open.
‘The three hardest parts of this are No. 1, the financial aspect,’ said John. ‘No. 2 is the number of employees that have been with us since the beginning, and No. 3 is it’s tough to deal with the regular customers who frequented us.’
Pish-La-Ki has a new owner
Allow me, if I may, to flash back years ago to the days when Pish-La-Ki was a thriving restaurant and concert venue. Folks like George Jones, Toby Keith, Aaron Tippin, and Credence Clearwater Revival played shows at the once-popular mountaintop destination.
In recent years, Pish-La-Ki has been a hotbed of inactivity. The restaurant has been closed for years, and the last meaning concert there (CCR) took place in September 2002.
Well all that might change since the Pish-La-Ki property, all 75 acres of it, is now in the hands of Murphy, N.C., residents George and Ruby Dixson, who are the new owners.
‘We’re still formulating our plans,’ Ruby told me by phone last week. ‘I don’t think we’ll do a big restaurant but we’ll probably do some concerts and things like that.’
Ruby described Pish-La-Ki as a beautiful place and a good business opportunity. She said her son, Ben Dixson, lives in McMinnville and he will be spearheading the revitalization efforts.
‘We’re trying to figure out what will work best,’ said Ruby. ‘Every time I go out there I think this place has so many possibilities. We hope to do something to make it profitable.’
Billy Medley sells the old Hillis Market
When it comes to business news, Billy Medley is constantly on the go. If you recall, it was six months ago when he bought the longtime location of Hillis Market on Nashville Highway and turned it into Medley’s One Stop Market.
A short time later, he sold Medley’s Diner, located about a mile down the road. Now Billy is leaving Centertown altogether after officially selling Medley’s One Stop Market to Mike Sheth on Friday.
‘I’m like Hank Snow, I like to move on,’ said Billy. ‘But I’ll be back. I don’t know if it will be in McMinnville or Morrison or where it will be. I’ve got to find the right place and when I do I’ll be back and I’ll have food. Our food is where the money is.’
Billy says he spent a good deal of money fixing up Hillis Market and he says he believes Mike Sheth will continue that effort. If Mike’s name sounds familiar it’s because he owns the Best Western and The Smoke Shop, both on Sparta Street.
Hibbett Sports finds new home, temporarily
Folks have been clamoring for a new anchor store at Three Star Mall where Kmart used to be. I’m pleased to report that Hibbett Sports is now filling a portion of that spot, at least for the next six weeks or so.
As I mentioned in a Business Pulse column several weeks ago, Hibbett’s is expanding its current location on the other end of the mall by JCPenney and Goody’s. It’s taking the space that was formerly Fantastic Sams to provide McMinnville customers with an even bigger, better store.
While that expansion work takes place, Hibbett’s is now open in the old Kmart spot. The hardest thing was transporting all the merchandise, which store employees did Thursday in preparation for Friday’s opening.
It’s only temporary and it’s only taking a fraction of the available space, but it’s still refreshing to see activity at that spot in the mall. Instead of a dark, lifeless store, the lights are on and people are shopping.
As for a possible long-term tenant, mall officials are whispering that Roses is still interested. Yes, it’s the same Roses that’s been interested for the past 18 months. Considering my history involving this deal, I refuse to speculate on anything about it.
That’s all folks
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