BUSINESS PULSE: Cockroach only start of woman’s troubles
I search all corners of the world in an effort to dig up amusing stories and this week’s Business Pulse is no different. I found a gem on the Associated Press wire service recently about a 32-year-old Jerusalem woman.
According to reports, the woman found a cockroach and was apparently holding it close to her face to examine it. Why a person would want to hold a cockroach close to their face is unknown to me.
Also for reasons unknown, the cockroach fell into the woman’s mouth. And if that’s not enough, she accidentally swallowed it! Talk about your unfortunate turn of events.
But wait, there’s more. The woman still felt the cockroach stuck in her throat (I guess it was moving around and stuff) so she tried desperately to dig it out with a fork. I think at that point I would have grabbed a tall glass of water and said, “Down the hatch.”
So this woman is digging around in her throat with a fork when – you guessed it — she swallows the fork. If there is a bright side to this story it’s that the woman then stopped sticking items down her throat and reported to Poria Hospital in nearby Tiberias, Israel. It was there Dr. Nikola Adid removed both items.
As for other off-the-wall news, how about the bonehead decision by the state of Florida to allow high school students to take physical education courses over the Internet. Now I realize taking classes by computer is becoming a growing trend, but a PE class? C’mon people.
State education officials are defending the decision, instead of the alternative which would be to admit they made a mistake. I say if a student is too lazy to actually attend the class, there is nothing which would make me believe that student would actually exercise.
It’s not surprising that 614 students have already signed up to take the Internet class. I’m confident all of them will do jumping jacks in their living room.
And here’s one final nugget, and one more reason to shake your head when it comes to our legal system.
AT&T recently reached a $350 million settlement with customers it had overcharged on telephone leases. But before you chalk one up for the little guy, hold your horses.
By settlement rules, AT&T’s customers were scheduled to get back $15 to $20 each. Granted it’s not much, but at least it’s something. The lawyers who worked the case get to divide $84 million. You decide who is the real winner in this case.
New family is running Gondola
Jimmy and Lisa Zavogiannis have handed over control of Gondola restaurant to another Greek family. Michael Grigoriadis, his wife, Eve, and his daughter, Maria, are now running the restaurant which has been a Plaza Shopping Center mainstay for the past 13 years.
Michael has 20 years experience in the restaurant business. Most recently he operated an Italian restaurant in Atlanta before moving here about a month ago.
“I meet Jimmy about seven or eight years ago through Greek weddings and Greek festivals,” said Michael, who said Greek weddings are sizable gatherings just like that movie “My Big, Fat Greek Wedding” suggests.
Michael just reopened the restaurant Monday and says business has been a little slow. His plans are to keep the current Gondola menu for now to discover what sells well. From there, he will modify the menu to add some of his personal great-tasting recipes to compliment Gondola’s traditional favorites.
“I’m going to try to improve the service and the food quality,” said Michael. “I can’t worry about what happened with Gondola in the past. The point is what happens from now on. I’d like people to come in to try our food and give us a chance.”
There had been some recent horror stories about the service at Gondola and I can attest to a few of those stories myself. Gondola had always been a top-quality restaurant when Jimmy and Lisa were calling the shots, but problems arose when the couple had to take time away.
Jimmy has been busy moving his Dimitri’s restaurant to the South Pittsburgh area and it has been prospering there. Lisa now has a promising law career which takes priority over the restaurant business. That meant no one was there at Gondola.
“We couldn’t oversee things properly,” admits Lisa. “You can’t let your employees run the restaurant. That doesn’t work.”
Lisa has been back to Gondola since Michael took over and says it’s like old times.
“The food was good and the atmosphere was good,” said Lisa. “It was like when Jim and I were there running it.”
At last, Lowe’s deal is finalized
It took months and months longer than expected, but it’s finally a done deal for Lowe’s and Cumberland Plaza.
Terry Smith, our register of deeds, tells me the deal was finalized last Thursday with Lowe’s buying a portion of Cumberland Plaza for $2.5 million. Lowe’s now owns the shopping center from the former CVS Pharmacy building on down to the old Wal-Mart building.
Edens and Avant retains ownership of the former Food Lion building, the Dollar General building and the two buildings which contain Taco Bell and Rafael’s.
We’ve known for some time that Lowe’s was coming, but I did finally shake out a little information from Lowe’s officials now that the deal is done. Demolition work is scheduled to begin at the end of October and the Lowe’s people are saying they believe a new store can be slapped together and open for business in April of 2004. That seems like an awfully quick turnaround to me, but that’s what they’re saying.
What is Lowe’s bringing with it?
The main question that’s been on my mind is what stores will be locating in Cumberland Plaza along with Lowe’s? Lowe’s officials tell me they aren’t working any deals with other companies saying, “Typically Lowe’s brings Lowe’s. The other stores come around us.”
In this case, those “other stores” will be locating in the old Food Lion building which is being remodeled to accommodate seven businesses. Two of those stores will be China Wok and Holland’s Jewelry, which are already in the shopping center. The construction foreman told me Friday that a lease has been signed for another of the seven stores, but he couldn’t remember the company. Gee, thanks for the help.
Of the seven spaces, two are roughly 3,200 square feet and the remaining five are about 1,500 square feet.
I’d heard rumor that Hobby Lobby, which has stores in Murfreesboro and Cookeville, was interested in locating in McMinnville. However, when I called the Hobby Lobby home office in Oklahoma, I was told the store currently has no interest in locating here. So much for Hobby Lobby.
When I hear of other stores which will be locating in Cumberland Plaza, I’ll let you know.
Polliwog’s is opening on Sparta Street
Several folks have called me and expressed interest as to what restaurant is going into the old Gillentine’s building on Sparta Street. I have the answer. That new restaurant is Polliwog’s Family Restaurant which is scheduled to open this Wednesday.
Charles Stewart is the owner and this will be the third Polliwog’s he has opened in the last nine months. Charles opened a Polliwog’s in Sparta in November and just opened one in Spencer about two months ago.
“I hope quality, quantity and affordability will work,” said Charles, who indicated Polliwog’s will give you a whole bunch of good food at a great price. “Our burgers and our hamburger steaks are awfully good.”
Polliwog’s will employ about 25 people, including Patsy Holt who is the manager. Most of us know Patsy from just a few doors down. She operated Patsy’s Dairy Chef on Sparta Street for many years before medical reasons forced her to take some time off.
“We’ve had a lot of calls and a lot of people stopping by,” said Patsy. “I’m happy for the interest and it helps that a lot of people know Charles.”
I hope Polliwog’s can develop a successful business because that spot hasn’t been kind to restaurants as of late. Doug Gillentine operated his restaurant there for 15 years and did pretty well for himself so that’s proof it can be done.
The stay was short-lived for The Spinning Wheel and Daddio’s, two restaurants which weren’t open at that location for much more than a month each. The positive part of that for Polliwog’s is both those restaurant owners did fairly extensive renovation work to the building so it’s in pretty good shape right now.
That’s all folks
If you didn’t learn anything from this week’s column at least remember this: Don’t hold cockroaches too close to your mouth.
As for next week’s column, give me a call if you want to be included. The phone number is 473-2191 and the e-mail address is [email protected].