Business Pulse: Need money? Sell your vital organs
The economy is less than robust and I realize times are tough. Still it’s difficult for me to believe people would sell their bodily organs to raise a few extra bucks.
But that’s exactly what’s happening according to a story I was reading the other day which said there has now become a substantial black market for human organs.
Need a few extra bucks? Maybe one of your kidneys could bring $10,000. Fallen behind on your car payments? Just sell a lung for $15,000.
From what I can tell, this sounds like the pawn shop industry has taken an evil turn for the worst. I can understand pawning the TV to scrape up enough money to make ends meets, but I’m not so convinced selling organs is an acceptable alternative.
Apparently that’s not stopping an estimated 45,000 to 65,000 people world wide who are believed to take part in underground organ transplants each year. It probably won’t be long before eBay gets a piece of the action.
Speaking of kidneys, I was sent an e-mail earlier this week entitled “What Gender Is It?” The e-mail was good for a few laughs so I’m passing it along.
What Gender Is It?
• KIDNEYS – female, because they always go to the bathroom in pairs.
• ZIPLOC BAGS – male, because they hold everything in, but you can always see right through them.
• SWISS ARMY KNIFE – male, because even though it appears useful for a wide variety of work, it spends most of its time just opening bottles.
• SHOE – male, because it is usually unpolished, with its tongue hanging out.
• TIRE – male, because it goes bald and often is over inflated.
• HAMMER – male, because it hasn’t evolved much over the last 5,000 years, but it’s handy to have around.
• REMOTE CONTROL – female ? Ha! You thought I’d say male. But consider it gives a man pleasure, he’d be lost without it, and while he doesn’t always know the right buttons to push, he keeps trying.
That’s enough fun and games. Now to find out what’s happening in the business world with this week’s Business Pulse.
Get ready to race at new go-kart track
Go-kart enthusiasts, get ready to start your engines. Beginning in April, you won’t have to travel out of town to race.
That’s because Tony Talbert is in the process of building a dirt kart track that’s one-tenth of a mile long. The track is located behind Tony’s house on Old Smithville Highway and it’s already been a spot for some fierce competition.
“We’re going to give it a try and see what happens. If it doesn’t work out, at least we’ll have a great place where we can race,” said Tony motioning to his son, Lee “Little Man” Talbert, who is already a tough customer behind the wheel.
Tony frequently races in Manchester and remembers the days when huge crowds used to flock to the kart races when they were still held in Spencer. Tony will operate his track under World Kart Association rules and was quick to point out there will be several money races.
“If there’s $500 up for grabs, boys will drive from North Carolina and Kentucky to race,” said Tony. “On a regular night, people will probably come from a seven or eight county area.”
Some folks don’t shy away from spending $5,000 on their kart, but Tony realizes most people are not so hard core. That’s why he plans to have 11 classes with two classes set up just for kids.
His track is currently in place and Tony and his friends haven’t shied away from testing it out. But Tony’s work is far from over as he plans to install a guard rail completely around the track and finish his irrigation system for watering the track. He will also have lights and a grandstand by the time he is ready to open.
“My main point is to get people who might want to spend $150 for a kart and give them a place to run,” said Tony. “You don’t have to spend a fortune to come out and have fun.”
Tony said he will most likely have kart rentals for anyone who wants to race before buying their own kart. He plans to charge $8 for admission and $15 to enter a race with the race entry fee going to the purse.
It sounds like a pretty ambitious – and exciting – undertaking. I’m anxious to see how it turns out in April.
Daddio’s opens surprisingly quick
It seems like only last week I told you about a new restaurant coming to town called Daddio’s. OK, so it was only last week. I just never thought Daddio’s would get ready and be open for business so quickly.
But that’s exactly what owner Wayne King did. He whipped his crew into shape and opened Daddio’s Thursday.
“Opening on Thursday was by design,” said Wayne. “We knew Thursday would be a little slower and we wanted to take it easy.”
By the time I stopped in for lunch Friday, the Daddio’s staff had things well under control. They say they’re still a little shaky, but are constantly working out kinks and discovering better ways to do things.
The restaurant, which is Cajun-themed, is located on Sparta Street in the long-time home of Gillentine’s and brief home of The Spinning Wheel.
Wayne and his wife lived down in New Orleans for 35 years before moving to Warren County in 1996. He says living in Louisiana is where he found most of his Cajun recipes.
“The food I have on the menu are all things I like,” said Wayne. “The idea was to start something different, to offer something you can’t get everywhere else. You can go out and get a meat and three everywhere.”
Wayne said in New Orleans, the standard Monday lunch special was red beans and rice, which was served at virtually every restaurant in town. He’s got that on the menu along with Cajun gumbo, a mean Bratwurst sandwich, and a variety of blackened fish, chicken and shrimp. The Daddio’s chicken also earned rave reviews.
So why the name Daddio’s? “I wanted something with a little attitude,” said Wayne, who will now have his hands full with two jobs. In addition to Daddio’s, he’s also an engineer who works out of Atlanta.
For more information, stop by the restaurant or you can call 507-5006.
Then there’s the bad news
The good news about Daddio’s opening is offset by the bad news about The Cookie Shop closing at Three Star Mall. As it turns out, I didn’t have far to go to track down that story since Daddio’s owner Wayne King used to own the Cookie Shop. Wayne’s assistant manager at Daddio’s, Anita Powers, used to be the manager at The Cookie Shop.
I had a few minutes to chat with Anita and asked her about The Cookie Shop going out of business. I figured the recent closing of Kmart had much to do with the decision, but she said The Cookie Shop’s problems extended further back than that.
“When the game room left, that’s when it started to hurt,” said Anita. “And when Kmart left, that’s when it really hurt. There’s just not as much traffic at the mall as there used to be.”
I never really thought about the game room’s departure hurting mall traffic in general, but I can definitely see where it would hurt The Cookie Shop. I figure the game room catered to a younger crowd — most likely a cookie-eating crowd – and once that crowd moved elsewhere it dipped into the proverbial cookie jar and hurt The Cookie Shop’s sales.
Die-hard optimist that I am, I believe it won’t be long before the mall lands a new, exciting anchor and traffic begins to increase.
What’s happening at the bowling alley?
Some of you may have noticed there’s construction taking place at the office space above the bowling alley. Some of you may have even wondered, “What business is going to move in above the bowling alley?”
The answer to that question is nothing is going in that office space – yet. Building owners and brothers Doug and Mike Patrick are renovating the facility in hopes of finding a tenant or tenants.
“People see all the work going on and think something is already going in there,” said Doug. “That’s not the case. We decided to bite the bullet and go ahead and put a whole new front on the building. Our goal is to find a tenant or tenants and give them a first-class place to go.”
The last business to operate upstairs was the bowling alley itself. However that was moved downstairs several years ago leaving the upstairs, with its 15,000 square feet, vacant.
Doug says by the time renovation work is complete, they will have invested close to $35,000 in the building.
“We hope to find one tenant to take the whole upstairs,” said Doug. “That would be a slam dunk. If not, it can be subdivided.”
Anyone interested in the property can call Doug or Mike at (615) 896-2174.
That’s all folks
If you’ve got business news, or want more information about putting your human organs on the black market, give me a call at 473-2191. My e-mail address is [email protected].