Settlement reached in Spa 151 saga

The sorry saga of Spa 151 played out its final chapter last week when Attorney General Jay Nixon's consumer protection division secured a $103,000 settlement for holders of gift cards and gift certificates.

For most of the past four months, I made a weekly call to Nixon's office, seeking information on the progress of the effort to win refunds from owners Ashli Rowland, Scott Rowland and Brent Wills. I would also regularly try to call the Rowlands, who were primarily responsible for the actions that led to the demise of the popular spa.

Wills had told me soon after the spa closed that he severed his ties to the Rowlands' businesses in October, when the two filed for divorce. His claim was backed up last week by Nixon's spokesman, John Fougere. Nevertheless, Wills is on the hook for $30,000 of the initial $60,000 in refund payments and has guaranteed much of the remaining $43,000.

I couldn't reach Wills last week. I don't think he was avoiding me — we left messages for each other but never connected.

But I was able to talk to Ashli Rowland, who tearfully sought to defend her reputation. It was our first conversation since she promised in February to make good on the outstanding gift cards and certificates, an interview that took place before a cascade of complaints reached Nixon's office.

After offering a few choice words for the people who comment anonymously on our Web site — "I am a victim here and I am still being slammed. I am sick of it." — Ashli Rowland said she is the only one who has worked to secure help for the gift certificate holders.

"I have lost everything over Scott closing this spa for no reason," she said. "I have been working with everyone from day one. I told you the truth the first time."

And I spoke was Scott Rowland as well, the first time he has done more than hang up on me. He wanted to make sure I knew the actions he took in January that were the immediate cause of the spa's demise were forced on him by Ashli Rowland's actions.

He took over the spa, Scott Rowland said, because the bank accounts were empty. He changed the locks and told the staff they could not accept checks, credit cards or gift certificates because he did not have control over the bank accounts. The staff, who depended on commissions for their pay, didn't return and the spa closed.

"I was securing the assets so there was something of real money to take care of last-minute debts," he said. "The money was gone."

For those following the case closely, I wrote last week that both Rowlands have moved to Ashland, Mo., a small community between Columbia, Mo., and Jefferson City, Mo. I based that on court records, which I have found out were mistaken. Ashli Rowland lives in Ashland; Scott Rowland is living at the couple's one-time home in Valles Mines in Jefferson County.

Ashli Rowland has returned to the payday loan business again under the name Mizzou Country Loan Centers. Rowland operated more than a dozen Check Please locations in Missouri with Scott Rowland, Brent Wills and Lori Wills.

Scott Rowland continues to own a single Check Please location in Festus.

I could tell about the charges and countercharges from each of the Rowlands. Without naming who said what, I can write that it involves allegations of embezzlement, abandonment, jealousies and lying. Lots of lying, they said. Don't believe a word the other says, they both argue.

But most of that is for the lawyers and the judges to decide as the divorce action that underscored the whole episode plays out in Jefferson County. And this space is not about the private lives of people, no matter how fascinating the train wreck appears.

But Ashli Rowland maintains, and apparently believes, that the spa was just on the verge of financial success. And she has borne the brunt of the public injury. "I put my heart and soul into that spa, every damn dime I had. But nobody wants to be around you unless you are making a bunch of money."

* Ready for a challenge: Just a year after selling his interests in the Cape Girardeau Hyundai dealership, longtime automobile dealer Jerry Wieser is starting out in a new business. He will be going into partnership with his son, Keith Wieser, and son-in-law, Richard Davidson, with the aim of opening three Qdoba Mexican Grill locations in the next three years.

Wieser began his career in the automotive business in 1956 with a dealership known as British Motor Corp. with offerings of MG, Austin-Healey and Morris Minor cars. He's better known more recently as the owner-operator of Wieser Honda and Wieser Hyundai, franchise dealerships he sold in late 2006 and mid-2007, respectively.

At the time he sold the auto dealerships, Wieser said he wanted to slow down. The new restaurants, which will be in Cape Girardeau, the Marion-Carbondale, Ill., market and Paducah, Ky., are something he's helping finance and get started as a business for his children, he said.

"I am trying to get my kids established in something," he said. "My main focus is to get the kids going in the right direction."

Qdoba puts itself in the "fast-casual" dining category, which means you order your food at the counter and it is served on a tray, but the atmosphere has a little more of an adult approach to the dining experience. For example, the typical Qdoba serves margaritas and beer.

While he didn't go looking for a Mexican restaurant as a business opportunity, Wieser said he fell in love with the restaurant and its food during trips to St. Louis, where the company operates 15 corporate-owned restaurants.

"The food is damn good and it is different from anything offered here now," he said.

Davidson, Wieser's son-in-law, has extensive restaurant experience, including with KFC and Sonic Restaurants. But for the past 10 years, he, too has been in the auto business and currently is employed at Coad Toyota.

"The restaurant business is something I grew up in, it is something in my blood," Davidson said. "I've always looked for the right opportunity to get back in."

Right now the biggest obstacle will be finding the right location for the restaurant, Wieser and Davidson said. They are looking for a good spot on the west side of Cape Girardeau.

Founded in 1995, Qdoba has more than 400 locations in 39 states. It is currently owned by Jack in the Box Inc. In a news release announcing the Wieser franchises, the company said it had been named by Technomic Consultants as the fastest-growing restaurant concept with system-wide sales of $200 million or more.

* New game store: Just in time for the Dungeons & Dragons World Game Day, Cape Girardeau role-playing game enthusiasts have a new place to gather. Championship Games, 909 Broadway, opened Friday afternoon and hosted participants in the local edition of the game day on Saturday. Owned by Shane Wolfenkoehler, Championship Games offers gaming merchandise, miniatures and accessories, as well as offering players the ability to rent a room for their activities, Wolfenkoehler said.

The new store, with Wolfenkoehler as the owner/operator and Trace Webster as the office manager, seeks to fill a gap in the downtown offerings. A group of friends operating Thundergnome at 716 Broadway have apparently closed up shop after nine months in operation.

Wolfenkoehler said he was friends with the operators of Thundergnome, heard they were closing and decided he would try his hand at the business.

"I actually have been a gamer for more than 20 years. I saw the opening in the market and thought now is the best time as any," he said.

He's going to keep his day job, so Wolfenkoehler will open Championship Games from 4 to 10 p.m. Tuesdays through Fridays and from noon to 10 p.m. Saturdays.

The store, he said, "will try to keep a clubhouse atmosphere with a business mentality."

* New club: The former House Party bar at 820 N. Sprigg St. will undergo some renovations as a nightclub to be called Slinger's, business owner Shaun Langford said. He's partnering with Brian Williams, and they are both from St. Louis.

"It is going to be a complete face lift," he said.

Langford promised a variety of live musical acts as well as disc jockeys for dance nights. They hope to open by mid-July.

"I was born and raised in the Cape-Jackson area," he said. "I moved to St. Louis eight years ago. Every place down there seems to have the same feel to it."

Langford said his partner has competed in the International Flair Bartending competition, so visitors can expect to see some fancy bottle flipping as they await their order.

Here's a couple of updates on previous items that have appeared in this space:

* Old Hickory Specialty Meats, the reincarnation of Esicar's Old Hickory Smokehouse at 1157 N. Kingshighway, plans to open Wednesday under new owner Jack Whisnant, according to a business license application on file at Cape Girardeau City Hall.

* The Huddle House restaurant on the west side of Kingshighway at Broadway expects to open Sunday, also according to the business license application.

Rudi Keller is the business editor for the Southeast Missourian. E-mail him at rkeller@semissourian.com or call 335-6611, extension 126.