Club Moxy to take over Hecht's

The closing of the Hecht's Store at 107 N. Main St. in 2004 may have marked the end of a sophisticated era in Cape Girardeau, but the new business coming in its place is supposed to stand out from downtown's contemporary bar scene.

Two area residents, Will Otto and Josh Penfield, have leased the building from John and Jerri Wyman. Otto and Penfield are opening Club Moxy, a dance club with a 1920s theme, on June 1.

"There's not anything like this around here," said Penfield, adding people have to travel as far as St. Louis to go to a similar club. "Cape's lacking that nightclub element."

Club Moxy will have a bar downstairs with pool and darts like other taverns in the neighborhood. The club will have an area dedicated to music and dancing on the second floor, where live bands will be featured on occasion. However, the music won't be from the roaring '20s. It will be current.

There will also be a VIP section called the "blue room" that overlooks the club. Parties will have to make advance reservations for the room. It will have couches, flat-screen TVs and its own cocktail server.

The wait staff will dress in 1920s attire, getting their vintage clothing from local antique shops. Club Moxy will have a dress code for customers, but nothing that's strictly enforced, according to Otto.

"It's going to be higher class but not so much to where people feel uncomfortable," he said.

According to Penfield, they are bringing the building back to its 1920s look in some instances. For example, they are restoring the marble floor.

"That's great that they've got the foresight to put something together like that," said Dave Hutson of Hutson's Fine Furniture, another fixture of downtown Cape Girardeau. "The Hecht's Store was always top-notch."

Hecht's, an upscale clothing store, opened in 1917 and closed in 2004, when Marty and Tootie Hecht were ready to retire. The store manager, Dan Elkins, went into the fur trade business afterward.

"I don't feel like we need another drinking establishment on Main Street," said Judith Anne Lang of Lang Jewelers, but added that there are a lot of people who love to dance. "Maybe it's worth a shot," she said.

Lang Jewelers is the oldest business in Old Town Cape, having opened one year before Hecht's.

"Downtown is definitely changing its face," Lang said. "There was a time and era where everybody used to go dancing. Now people go to weddings and just stand there and look at each other."

Lang said she and her husband, Roger, were looking to go out after coming from a play one night, and couldn't find an environment where they felt comfortable being dressed up.

Penfield says he and Otto are not marketing to a particular audience.

tkrakowiak@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 137