Drove by the Carbondale Staples on the east side of town this afternoon. Well, actually, I drove to it since I planned to make a purchase but a sign on the door says they are "temporarily closed" and directing customers to either make purchases online or shop at the Mount Vernon or Cape Girardeau locations. Not knowing anymore than that and not having heard of any financial problems with the chain leading to the shut down of stores, I would bet one or more employees tested positive for Covid-19 and management shut the store down as a precaution.
Showing posts with label Carbondale business. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Carbondale business. Show all posts
Monday, July 13, 2020
Wednesday, April 8, 2015
MerchOP
MerchOp, focusing on t-shirt and other creative printing services, recently opened in Carbondale. Apparently in a secret location though, as the website gives no business address that I could find. Looks to have done quite a bit of work for local bands and other organizations.
Tuesday, December 23, 2014
618 Vape
Following up on yesterday's post about the Vape Shop moving and further showing the growth in the e-cigarette category, since regular cigarette sales have been flat for about a decade, 618 Vape opened on East Grand about the beginning of December. With sales of electronic cigarettes roughly doubling every year, I would expect to see a third or even 4th shop to open in Carbondale in 2015.
Monday, September 1, 2014
New Business Opening (Kinda)
New online business based here in Carbondale will have a ribbon cutting this Saturday. Hard to call it an opening since the event is taking place in the Old Train Depot building:
The Carbondale Chamber of Commerce will hold a Ribbon Cutting Ceremony for Classroom and Board, a Carbondale-based online business at 1 p.m., Saturday, Sept.6. The ceremony will be part of an open house and kick-off party for the business, and will be held in the meeting room of the Chamber’s office at 131 S. Illinois Ave.
Classroom and Board is an online source for ready-to-use educational bulletin boards and components for classrooms, university and college residence halls, churches workplaces and more. All of the products can be customized to buyer’s specifications and include free shipping. The company can be found online at www.classroomandboard.com.
Representatives of the Chamber, City and the business will participate in the ceremony. The event is open to the public.
The Carbondale Chamber of Commerce will hold a Ribbon Cutting Ceremony for Classroom and Board, a Carbondale-based online business at 1 p.m., Saturday, Sept.6. The ceremony will be part of an open house and kick-off party for the business, and will be held in the meeting room of the Chamber’s office at 131 S. Illinois Ave.
Classroom and Board is an online source for ready-to-use educational bulletin boards and components for classrooms, university and college residence halls, churches workplaces and more. All of the products can be customized to buyer’s specifications and include free shipping. The company can be found online at www.classroomandboard.com.
Representatives of the Chamber, City and the business will participate in the ceremony. The event is open to the public.
Monday, December 23, 2013
Sunday Night Restaurant Closures
Went out for a walk around downtown last night about 8:30 or so and was surprised to see the number of restaurants that had already closed for the evening, even though their signs listing their hours indicated they should still be open. Granted, yes, it is Christmas week and Christmas break at the univeristy but none of them had signs up in their windows indicating they planned to close early or that they would observe holiday hours.
If you want to close early for the holiday fine, go ahead, do so. But put a note up in your window so that customers who come by at least know why the lights are out.
Incidentally, Thai Taste has a sign posted indicating they will close from today until January 2
If you want to close early for the holiday fine, go ahead, do so. But put a note up in your window so that customers who come by at least know why the lights are out.
Incidentally, Thai Taste has a sign posted indicating they will close from today until January 2
Tuesday, March 12, 2013
Houlihan's Closing
In case you missed this in the Southern, Houlihan's, out on Reed Station Road, closed today and will reopen on April 1 (assuming this is not a April Fool's joke). From what I have heard, the restaurant will re-open under the name Boondocks with no change in ownership or management, ergo, no need for a liquor license application. Steak & seafood will still be the focus of the menu.
Despite what it says in the article, either Brown or Houlihan's had to be dissatisfied with the franchise operation as, according to this, the contract for a Houlihan's franchise is 20 years, meaning this one still had eleven years to run. Speaking based upon years of studying retailing, franchise contracts typically make it very easy for the frachisor (Houlihan's) to pull a franchise and very costly for the franchisee to end the contract.Re-opening it as a non-franchise operation does mean that Brown will automatically add 4% (the amount of the annual franchise fee) to the restaurant's bottom line.
Despite what it says in the article, either Brown or Houlihan's had to be dissatisfied with the franchise operation as, according to this, the contract for a Houlihan's franchise is 20 years, meaning this one still had eleven years to run. Speaking based upon years of studying retailing, franchise contracts typically make it very easy for the frachisor (Houlihan's) to pull a franchise and very costly for the franchisee to end the contract.Re-opening it as a non-franchise operation does mean that Brown will automatically add 4% (the amount of the annual franchise fee) to the restaurant's bottom line.
Tuesday, January 29, 2013
Jane Adams and the DE on Polar Bear
Councilwoman Adams spend much of Saturday night crusing with the Carbondale PD around downtown Carbondale the night of Polar Bear and has posted a report to her blog. The DE has photo coverage here. It appears a surprisingly quiet night for the police department, at least based on news posted on their website and from Adams comments. Strangely, I found no coverage in the Southern Illinoisan about the event, save for descriptions of city preparations for the event.
On the agenda at City Council tonight is a proposal to reduce the number of available class B liquor licenses from 16 to 15, which are all currently held by operating bars and restaurants. If the license cap is reduced, anyone wishing to open a bar in town would not only have to get a liquor license but would first have to petition the city council to raise the liquor license cap in order to make another license available, putting another hurdle in the way of someone wishing to start a business in C'dale. There is also the question of whether we want to encourage the opening of more bars within the community.
On the agenda at City Council tonight is a proposal to reduce the number of available class B liquor licenses from 16 to 15, which are all currently held by operating bars and restaurants. If the license cap is reduced, anyone wishing to open a bar in town would not only have to get a liquor license but would first have to petition the city council to raise the liquor license cap in order to make another license available, putting another hurdle in the way of someone wishing to start a business in C'dale. There is also the question of whether we want to encourage the opening of more bars within the community.
Monday, November 26, 2012
Small Business Saturday
Just some thoughts about Small Business Saturday. It's a good idea but some major problems in execution.
If you haven't heard of it, Small Business Saturday is a promotion by American Express set the day after Black Friday. AmEx makes a big deal of this, offering free advertising to participating businesses, listing them on a website and offering a $25 credit to AmEx using customers who register their cards and spend at least $25 in a participating retailer.
The idea is good, I am in favor of anything that drives business into local retailers. However, I question the wisdom of placing it on the Saturday after Black Friday for a couple of reasons.
First, the Saturday after Black Friday is arguably the third busiest shopping day of the year, only topped by Black Friday itself and the Saturday prior to Christmas. It doesn't need any additional promotion to draw more customers into local stores. They are out there and they are spending and Saturday gets a lot of additional spillover in terms of spending from Black Friday.
Second, having it on such a busy day makes it very hard to quantify the effect of all the promotion. Were increased sales due to Small Business Saturday or due to the halo effect of Black Friday? I can see if Small Business Saturday had an effect on AmEx sales as I can easily measure the number of purchases made with AmEx on SBS and compare them with a typical Saturday (FYI, it did bump AmEx sales up) but it would be much easier to quantify the effect on local business if AmEx would put this focus on a Saturday outside the holiday season.
Thirds, if you are a local retailer and doing anything with Black Friday, you are are trying to develop two promotions for major events that take place within 48 hours. That's a lot of work for a small retailer with limited hours, staff and funding. Moving SBS to a different Saturday would allow greater focus by retailers on both events, rather than diluting the attention paid to each.
Still a good program but certainly think the date should be moved, but I don't think AmEx will pay that much attention to one blog post.
If you haven't heard of it, Small Business Saturday is a promotion by American Express set the day after Black Friday. AmEx makes a big deal of this, offering free advertising to participating businesses, listing them on a website and offering a $25 credit to AmEx using customers who register their cards and spend at least $25 in a participating retailer.
The idea is good, I am in favor of anything that drives business into local retailers. However, I question the wisdom of placing it on the Saturday after Black Friday for a couple of reasons.
First, the Saturday after Black Friday is arguably the third busiest shopping day of the year, only topped by Black Friday itself and the Saturday prior to Christmas. It doesn't need any additional promotion to draw more customers into local stores. They are out there and they are spending and Saturday gets a lot of additional spillover in terms of spending from Black Friday.
Second, having it on such a busy day makes it very hard to quantify the effect of all the promotion. Were increased sales due to Small Business Saturday or due to the halo effect of Black Friday? I can see if Small Business Saturday had an effect on AmEx sales as I can easily measure the number of purchases made with AmEx on SBS and compare them with a typical Saturday (FYI, it did bump AmEx sales up) but it would be much easier to quantify the effect on local business if AmEx would put this focus on a Saturday outside the holiday season.
Thirds, if you are a local retailer and doing anything with Black Friday, you are are trying to develop two promotions for major events that take place within 48 hours. That's a lot of work for a small retailer with limited hours, staff and funding. Moving SBS to a different Saturday would allow greater focus by retailers on both events, rather than diluting the attention paid to each.
Still a good program but certainly think the date should be moved, but I don't think AmEx will pay that much attention to one blog post.
Wednesday, November 21, 2012
Eddie's Auto Service
In case you missed it, Eddie's Auto Service has moved into the location formerly occupied by Today's Technology at 1000 East Main, which, by this count, makes 63 places you can go in Carbondale to get your car repaired.
Saturday, September 29, 2012
New Wendy's
It appears the Wendy's on East Walnut will move into a newer building going up just west of the currently location, on the spot where Taco Bell used to stand. The current building, while still open for business, has a "For Sale" sign on it, with one of the selling points sales of $1.5+ million annually.
In the late 90s, that stretch of East Walnut had the second largest concentration of fast food restaurants in Carbondale, with Taco Bell, Popeye's , Wendy's and one or two others there. Now, all, with the exception of Wendy's, have either closed or migrated further east to the Main/Giant City Road area.
In the late 90s, that stretch of East Walnut had the second largest concentration of fast food restaurants in Carbondale, with Taco Bell, Popeye's , Wendy's and one or two others there. Now, all, with the exception of Wendy's, have either closed or migrated further east to the Main/Giant City Road area.
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