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Bizz Buzz By Joe Walker jwalker@paducahsun.com |
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News nuggets and coffee shop chatter from Paducah and the area.
Chick-fil-A anticipates opening a restaurant sometime in July between BB&T and Kohl’s in Olivet Church Crossing commercial center at the corner of Hinkleville and Olivet Church roads, just west of Kentucky Oaks Mall, spokeswoman Brenda Green said. The Atlanta-based eatery’s site plans have received planning and zoning approval and are pending engineering approval, said Steve Ervin, city planning director. Plans call for a 144-seat, 4,275-square-foot building at 5193 Hinkleville Road with 55 parking spaces. GRW Engineers of Lexington is developing the project. ••• I-24 Antique Mall is expected to open during by mid-March in the former Ponderosa steak house building at 2125 E. Fifth St. (U.S. 45) in the southern outskirts of Metropolis, Ill. Owner Charlie Eichorn said he is adding booths to the building and is signing up dealers for roughly $1 per square foot, plus a 10 percent sales commission. Eichorn, owner of Charlie’s Party Hut, bought the Ponderosa building at auction several years ago. He converted it into The Buggy Bar-B-Que Grill and General Store, which closed in December 2007. Last year, Eichorn briefly ran I-24 Auction Co. in the building. Antique Mall hours: 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday-Saturday; noon-5 p.m. Sunday. Information: 618-524-5588 or 618-645-0155. ••• Comcast is launching phone service in the Paducah area in March as part of re-branding its TV, Internet, and telephone services as Xfinity. Comcast Digital Voice residential phone service has digital-quality sound with unlimited direct-dial local and domestic long-distance calling (including Canada, Alaska, Hawaii and Puerto Rico), Web access to voice mail, enhanced voice mail, e-911 service and 12 calling features, said Tim Hagan, general manager for Comcast of Central Kentucky. A similar package is targeted for businesses. Customers can retain their phone numbers and do unlimited direct-dial local and domestic long-distance calling for an introductory rate of as little as $33 per month, Hagan said. He said international rates are very competitive. According to the Comcast Web site, the promotional offer ends March 31, is limited to new residential customers with Comcast Unlimited service and requires subscription to either Comcast cable or Internet service at regular rates. Regular rates, currently ranging from $39.95 to $44.95, apply after the six-month promotional period. The company will follow up with SmartPlay Bundles, including Internet and digital cable and phone service, Hagan said. Comcast said it will retain its corporate name but emphasize Xfinity in advertising and on service trucks and uniforms. Comcast unveiled the brand in ads during the Winter Olympics, in its home base of Philadelphia and 10 other markets. Cable-franchise areas like Paducah will then see the changes. Information: www.comcast.com/comcastdigitalvoice The team won the contract based on design, function and cost. A&K President Ken Hunt said crews finished the $15.3 million project on time with no change orders except for minor additions that the National Guard requested. Construction followed the military Sustainable Project Rating Tool approach, requiring regional, recycled, rapidly renewable materials, as well as optimized energy performance, superior indoor air quality and significantly less carbon footprint than traditional buildings of similar size and use. The 80,000-square-foot complex combines National Guard, Army Reserve and Civil Air Patrol personnel. It has clerical, training and maintenance space plus several acres of outside paved storage area for equipment. Hunt said the government saved $5.3 million by avoiding Homeland Security improvements required if the old Guard and Reserve centers had not merged into the new building. “A&K and its team of designers and construction personnel did a wonderful job of creating a building that is not only functional and energy-efficient, but one that also breaks the mold of traditional centers of its kind,” said Lt. Col. Steven King, construction facility management officer for the Kentucky National Guard adjutant general. ••• St. Louis Bread Co. will open a Panera Bread cafe this summer near the corner of the Pear Tree Hotel across from Kentucky Oaks Mall. Panera will accept construction bids for the 4,300-square-foot building, which will cost up to $1 million and will have a bakery, wireless Internet and drive-through service. It is expected to open between June and September. “We’re very excited to be in Paducah and felt that there was a good fit between Panera and the people of Paducah,” said Donald Hutcheson, Panera regional director. He said the cafe will employ about 50, plus three bakers to make bread and pastries through the night. •••
Roger D. Ford and Onna Lee Ford, owners of Ford RV Refrigeration in Benton, have written a 241-page manual to help consumers trouble-shoot problems with their recreational vehicle refrigerators. Published Jan. 15 through Xlibris, “Average Joe’s RV Refrigerator: Troubleshooting & Repair Guide,” deals with basic problems of any RV refrigerator, they said. It guides people through repairs and informs them whether their service technicians are qualified to analyze and fix problems cost-efficiently. Prices: $9.99 for e-book, $19.99 for paperback and $29.99 for hardback. Information: www.Xlibris.com; 888-795-4274, ext. 7876; or fax, 610-915-0294. ••• Roughly 20 Paducah Sam’s Club employees were casualties of their parent firm’s decision to cut about 11,200 Sam’s in-store demonstration jobs nationwide. Wal-Mart said on its Web site in January that the cuts applied to all Sam’s Club locations in the U.S. About 18 demonstration program workers and two new business membership recruiters were affected at each club. Both the Web site and an automated media message at Wal-Mart headquarters said no other specific club information would be available. Attempts to reach Wal-Mart Kentucky spokesman Jason Wetzel were unsuccessful. The Sam’s Club on James-Sanders Boulevard near Kentucky Oaks Mall is among 600 stores affected. About 10,000 workers, mostly part-timers, lost jobs, along with 1,200 employees who recruit new members. Wal-Mart said the cuts, accounting for about 10 percent of Sam’s employment, occurred as the company shifted demonstrations to Rogers, Ark.-based Shopper Events. The marketing firm already works with Sam’s, which underperforms Wal-Mart stores and wants to boost revenue with improved sampling in electronics, personal wellness products, food items and other areas. ••• The cement-manufacturing LaFarge plant at Joppa, Ill., is working at full steam again after some rebound in the cement-using market — meaning that laid-off workers are back on the job. LaFarge spokesman Lou DeRose said six of 20 workers who were laid off in September were recalled around the first of December, then the remainder were brought back recently when the company was ready to put both its kilns back on line. When the cement market to the south, feeding construction around the Mississippi River basin, went soft, the company reduced production by idling one of its two kilns. Destination businesses in the Lake Barkley area in and around Lyon County have more representation with the Lake Barkley Tourist Commission now maintaining a Facebook page on the Internet. Find the organization’s page at www.facebook.com/lakebarkleytc. ••• The Better Business Bureau serving Louisville, southern Indiana, and western Kentucky advises using caution to avoid being scammed when text messaging to donate to Haitian relief efforts. The BBB suggests (1) confirming the number directly with the source; (2) being aware that text donations are not immediate but can take 30-90 days; (3) reviewing the fine print; and (4) researching the charity. Information: BBB Wise Giving Alliance at www.bbb.org/us/haiti-earthquake-relief/. Journal Editor Joe Walker wrote this column.Got a tip for Biz Buzz? Call Joe Walker at 270-575-8656, send a fax to 270-442-7859 or e-mail buzz@paducahsun.com. |
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