From the KY3 website – SPRINGFIELD, Mo. — Two first-time restaurant owners are opening Savor on Commercial Street despite the current climate. It’s still a few weeks away from opening but will get some national attention when it’s featured on The Food Network.
One in every four restaurants fails or changes ownership in the first year, but that isn’t stopping co-owners Erik Kinkade and Will Peak. “I’m excited, very excited about the whole venture. That’s why I do it. I like keeping things on the edge,” said Kinkade.
They will soon appear on “The Opener.” It’s a show about people who are first time restaurant owners. The restaurant is still under construction and a lot of work needs to be done before the camera crews show up. “The great thing about this is we’ve been doing every thing ourselves. [We did] the faux painting, we made the columns ourselves, and all the chandeliers we’re making ourselves,” said Peak.
It’s an antique that’s getting some new life. It’s adding a little flavor to Commercial Street and putting Springfield onto the national scene at the same time. If all goes as planned camera crews for “The Opener” will arrive in about two weeks.
NEW YORK, July 20, 2010 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ – Following a comprehensive review, Liz Claiborne Inc. (NYSE: LIZ) today announced plans to exit its Liz Claiborne branded outlet stores in the United States and Puerto Rico. As a result of this decision, the Company expects the meaningful operating losses related to this business to be eliminated in early 2011 when this action is anticipated to be completed. The Company’s other outlet stores in the United States and Puerto Rico for its Juicy Couture, Lucky Brand, Kate Spade and Kensie brands are not impacted by this decision.
Price-Cutter facility in Wheeler building in downtown Springfield MO
An inside look at the early build-out stage of the new Price-Cutter facility in downtown Springfield. The key? Check out the refrigerator installation in the back of this photo shot on my iPhone 3Gs. That’s a definite sign that fresh milk and related dairy products will be available downtown in the near futures.
An urban market in downtown Springfield may open as soon as spring, as RPCS Inc., the parent company of Price Cutter stores, is in the final stages of developing plans for the downtown shop.
“There’s 90 percent we will do it, and 10 percent we won’t,” said Erick Taylor, the ever-cautious president of RPCS. “We are still making the decision.”
Morris Dock, who owns the former Wheeler’s building at South Avenue and Walnut Street, said RPCS has signed a 10-year contract to lease the 10,000 square feet on the first floor of the building.
The grocery chain also has access to the 25 parking spaces south of the building, Dock said.
Taylor can opt out in the first 10 years, but he also can extend the lease for another 15 years, Dock said. “Erick is looking at a long-term investment,” Dock said. “He is committed to it.”
The downtown grocery store was first rumored to be coming last year, especially after students at Missouri State University — for a class project — sought public input to brand the future store at the 2008 annual Taste of Springfield event.
The first of the city’s wayfinding signs is scheduled to be installed this morning.
Nixa-based Modern Neon will install the first sign near Springfield-Branson National Airport, on the west side of Airport Boulevard south of the traffic roundabout. The sign aims to guide travelers to the three city districts represented in the program: the Battlefield/Glenstone retail corridor, the Bass Pro retail area and downtown.
The sign program is supposed to increase awareness of the city’s major retail destinations, and identify parking options in those areas, according to a city news release. It is mostly funded by the quarter-cent capital improvements sales tax and is expected to cost more than $604,000 for design, fabrication and installation. The sales tax covered just less than $500,000 of the total cost.
Wayfinding sign, Commercial Street headed West
That’s an example of a parking sign on Commercial Street above, if you are traveling from West to East. But here’s what you see if you are traveling from East to West.
Pretty cool huh. Oh, and before you leave, check out this recent discussion of urban parking by Professor Andy Cline, Missouri State University – OUR URBAN CHALLENGE: FREE PARKING that included a visit to the parking spaces associated with the signs:
Dr. Donald Shoup wrote a book called The High Cost of Free Parking in which he argued that too many American cities just give away their most valuable real estate in the form of free parking spaces. The usual cry from business owners in response is: “But we’ll drive away customers if we charge for parking.”
Box turtles live a long time, and females continue laying eggs for most of their lives. They need lots of time to replace themselves, since snakes, raccoons, opossums and other nest predators eat most of their eggs. Before roads crisscrossed their habitat a low reproductive rate was no big deal. Animals that continue laying eggs past 60 years of age can afford to take their time replacing themselves. But the unnatural mortality caused by speeding cars is a problem.
To help, Briggler suggests that motorists slow down when they see a turtle in the road and check to be sure they can safely steer around it. If traffic and road conditions permit, motorists can pull their vehicles off the roadway and carry turtles to the other side of the road and place them at least 15 feet beyond the pavement, facing away from the road.
Ah Maria’s, downtown Springfield’s only Mexican Restaurant. It’s hard to find someone who hasn’t been there and most folks do enjoy themselves. Me – after 5 years of downtown living I’m on a first name basis with the bar staff and can say I’ve spent more of my disposable income for dining there then at any other restaurant in town.
That’s not something I’m necessarily proud of. The one thing that brings me back is their Traditional Margarita, made with tequila, their knock off brand of orange liqueur and two squeezed limes. Very enjoyable although at $7.50 apiece, it gets expensive quickly. And have I ever been offered a gratis drink, for being a loyal customer? Nah, and that’s what leads me to ‘the other side of the coin’.
The food? No complaints so long as they keep it in the microwave long enough before delivering. Renowned for their speed of service, it’s due to the fact that everything is pre-made and when you can’t even heat it up properly… It’s time to walk away. I’m out searching for an alternative, even if it means getting in my car. I’m leaving Maria’s to the downtown touristas.
From the KY3 website – SPRINGFIELD, Mo. — Two first-time restaurant owners are opening Savor on Commercial Street despite the current climate. It’s still a few weeks away from opening but will get some national attention when it’s featured on The Food Network.
Conservation Department asks motorists to spare box turtles – Automobiles may threaten this long-lived species.
