Business Pulse: Ancient Chinese secrets can be ordered
|
Over the years, I’ve been blessed with fortunes like, “He who seeks revenge should remember to dig two grave,” and “One old friend is better than two new ones.”
But the other day when reaching for my fortune and cracking open the thin, sugar-flavored cookie, I was greeted with a rather rude awakening. There was no fortune, just a reorder form inside.
Talk about cruel twists of fate. Not getting a fortune is worse than getting cold fries at the drive-thru. The way I figure it, not getting a fortune is about equivalent to tripping as you’re walking across the stage for graduation.
About the only promising thing which came out of this whole no-fortune ordeal is now I at least have a way to order my own fortune cookies. It’s as easy as getting on the Internet and going to www.specialfortunecookie.com.
While I was on the Internet, and since I was cheated at the Chinese restaurant, I took the time to look up a few ancient Chinese proverbs of my own. Included in the words of wisdom were such timeless classics as:
• A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.
• Don’t build a new ship out of old wood.
• You must have crossed the river before you may tell the crocodile he has bad breath.
• To guess is cheap. To guess wrong is expensive.
• Even a hare will bite when it is cornered.
• Don’t lift a stone only to drop it on your own feet.
• You can’t catch a cub without going into the tiger’s den.
That’s enough about fortune cookies because I wanted to make at least brief mention of child killer Andrea Yates, who avoided the death penalty when she was sentenced to at least 40 years in prison Friday. I realize this is usually a happy-go-lucky column, but I just had to comment on one quote from the sentencing hearing.
The quote I’m referring to came from Andrea’s husband, Russell Yates, who has supported his wife from the start and said outrageous things, such as his wife should not have been prosecuted. But the words I’m referring to are when Russell took the stand and said Andrea shouldn’t be put to death because she cared about her children and was otherwise a good mother.
Hmmm. Now that’s a line for a Mother’s Day card.
“Dear Mom,
You help me clean up my toys
You bring me love and joy.
You tidy the house and scrub
You drown me in the bathtub.
For all you do,
Mom I love you.”
What I want to know is how anyone could call Andrea Yates a good mother. She killed her five children, and regardless of what anyone feels about her right to live or die, she is not a good mother. She is the worst mother any child could hope to have.
I apologize for clogging up Business Pulse with such serious matters. So now I’ll shift back to the business news and bring you this week’s column.
April opens hair place in the country
Over the years I’ve written this column, I’ve told you about a number of barbers and hairstylists who have opened for business. Out of all those shops, I can safely say April Billings wins the award for Hair Place Located in the Sticks.
The shop, called April’s Country Scissors and Tanning Salon, is located near the Bratcher’s Crossroads community in Centertown. If you know how to find Billings Family Farm, then you can make it to April’s with no problem. If Billings Family Farm doesn’t ring a bell, you better just call April and ask for directions.
April has herself a cute shop in the middle of wide open countryside. She had her grand opening last week and said about 40 people stopped by for refreshments and to register for prizes like free haircuts and free tanning minutes.
As for whose hair she’ll cut, April takes all comers. She welcomes men, women and children to her shop, and offers such services as coloring, highlights, perms and waxing.
“The great thing about April is she knows to take off just a little bit at a time,” said Kami Smith, who is already a loyal customer. “You can always take more off, but you can’t put it back on.”
April is a master barber who recently completed her schooling from Mr. Wayne in Cookeville. She was able to take all her courses in about a year.
“I went full time and that’s from 9 in the morning till 6 at night,” said April. “You can drag it out for a long time, but I didn’t want to do that.”
One lady in April’s shop said she didn’t want her name to go in the paper because it might hurt the feelings of her regular hairstylist. It seems she hasn’t broken the news yet that she is going to make a change.
And I know exactly the feeling. Since I’ve been doing the Business Pulse column, I’ve gotten a number of free haircut offers but have yet to actually take anyone up on those offers.
The reason is because I just wouldn’t know how to break the news to O.C. Panter, the barber who usually cuts my hair. How could I tell O.C. after all these years I was going to someone different?
And what would happen if I didn’t tell O.C. and he saw me walking around town with a new haircut. O.C. would know he didn’t cut my hair and it would be an uncomfortable situation.
As for April, she said she’s been pleasantly surprised with the amount of business she’s been receiving now that more and more people are hearing about her new business. She opens at 8:30 a.m. Tuesday thru Friday and will stay open as long as she has appointments. On Saturday, she’s open till noon. If you need directions, her phone number is 939-3616.
Big things happening at Northgate Center
The store which used to be home to Heilig-Meyers but has sat vacant for several months is about to get a new tenant. Rent-A-Center, which is currently located at the end of Northgate Center, has a big-time expansion in the works and is planning to take the entire 15,000-square-foot store.
“They’ve had it leased for awhile,” said property owner Harold Martin. “It’s just taken them some time to get everything ready, to get contractors lined up and all that.”
From what I hear, the new store should be opening in the next two to three weeks but I wasn’t able to get much more information than that. When I called out to our local Rent-A-Center, I got a new twist to the normal runaround routine.
Usually, if someone doesn’t want to make a comment, they refer me to home office and I endlessly try to reach someone who refuses to call me back. Rent-A-Center doesn’t bother with that silly game because they tell you they simply don’t have the number for their home office.
To tell you the truth, it was kind of a letdown. As much as I hate being transferred to 17 different people and leaving voice mail messages on dozens of phones, I’ve grown to love the exercise in frustration. And for the people who I can tell have no intentions of calling me back, I take great pleasure in leaving about three voice messages a day on their machine just to be annoying.
Other news from Northgate Center
Harold says he is close to finishing a deal which will bring a large-scale bookstore to Northgate. It would require a 15,000-square-foot building to be constructed in the open area across from Fred’s Discount Store.
“They would have loved the old Heilig-Meyers building, but they took too long and I had already rented it,” said Harold, who indicated he didn’t want to say the name of the bookstore until the deal was finalized.
Harold felt pretty confident a deal would be reached, but said he’s also been talking to a grocery store and a drug store about the property.
“Five, six or seven years ago, things didn’t used to take this long,” said Harold. “Now it’s like some of these big companies have gotten scared. They’ve got to think and think about everything.”
Treasure Chest has moved to Main Street
Linda Holland has moved the Treasure Chest from Chancery Street to the old Amesbury building on Main Street and is hoping her new business can sink its roots in the downtown area.
“I’ve always had a lot of faith in downtown,” said Linda. “I think it will come back. I love it up here. I love the exposure and all the traffic that comes through.”
Linda has one of those unique shops that will help give downtown some flavor of its own. She sells picture frames and does mounting, has silk flowers, homemade jams, candles, and will soon offer bath and body products. Linda also has a variety of gift items she says she will change every few weeks.
“I’ve got about three times as much room as I did,” said Linda. “I’ll be doing some expanding as soon as I get everything situated.”
Morrison Fishing Hut no longer in Morrison
This may sound confusing, but Morrison Fishing Hut is no longer located in Morrison. I realize the name might give the impression it’s located in Morrison, but that’s not the case.
After about three months in Morrison, the store is now located in the spot which used to be Tanner’s for so many years. It was Buck and Evelyn’s for a brief spell and now it’s the proud home of Morrison Fishing Hut.
“We’ve kept the same name and the same people have kept coming in,” said Kathy Hayes, who owns the store with her husband, David. “We like it better here. We’ve got a lot more things and this road stays busy.”
I’m not a fishing expert, but I have caught a fish or two in my day. If you want live bait or a new lure, Morrison Fishing Hut looks like the place to go. They’ve got the new Venom line and name brands like Zoom, Rebel and Bandit.
Store hours are Monday thru Thursday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Friday and Saturday from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Workers attend seminar from Elite Kennels
It’s about that time when summer heat gets you thinking about pet grooming. To further their education in the field, Phyllis Turner, Debbie Burgess and Dana Dunlap of Elite Kennels recently attended a three-day pet styling seminar in Atlanta.
“We feel our participation in the seminars demonstrates our commitment to quality pet care,” said Phyllis. “This will add to our ability to provide the finest service available.”
The pet styling seminar dealt with all types of issues surrounding pet grooming. You can call Phyllis for more information or to make an appointment at 815-3409.
That’s all folks
I’ve received a number of questions about the likelihood of Target moving into Kmart’s current location at Three Star Mall. From what I hear, such a move is not probable, but I’ll try to track down the right home office person to talk to and bring you a report on that.
As for other odds and ends, in the words of Ross Perot, “I’m all ears.” Give me a call at 473-2191 or send me an e-mail at standard@blomand.net.