GOOD NEWS COMES IN BUNCHES FOR DOWNTOWN CAPE

Good news and bad news seem to come in bunches for downtown Cape Girardeau.

A recent column noted the number of buildings that have become vacant in the area near the Mississippi River.

So much for the bad news.

Today, some good news emerged.

Don Lowe of Sikeston, owner of the former Montgomery Ward building, has announced plans concerning the huge structure at 18 N. Main.

"We're going to put in eight loft apartments on the second floor of the building," said Lowe. "Five of the eight apartments will have a river view."

Meanwhile, one new business -- Ye Olde House Collectibles and Gift Shoppe -- has opened in the 100 block of Broadway and two existing businesses -- Step-by-Step Shoes, and Body Shoppe -- moved from other locations to open on Main Street last weekend.

Lowe's loft apartments are expected to be open by April.

"Each apartment also will have approximately 1,000 to 1,200 square feet of space," said Lowe. Each apartment will have entrances off Main Street and the river side (Water Street), along with a freight elevator for moving furniture."

The apartments, designed for singles and couples (no pets allowed) will have one large bedroom, full kitchen, large living room and bath.

There will be a storage area for each apartment on the first floor of the building.

Construction will get under way in January, with a completion target date of April. John Boardman of Cape Girardeau is the architect for the project.

"These apartments will offer a touch of class and will be fun to live in," said Lowe. Rents will run from $500 to $650 per month.

Lowe said the ground level of the building about 10,000 square feet would also be occupied in early 1994.

"We have a possible tenant for the lower level," said Lowe. "But if it doesn't work out, we'll occupy the ground floor with a retail operation featuring new and used office furniture."

Lowe is president of OFMCO, one of the nation's largest buyers and sellers of new and used office furniture.

The Body Shoppe has moved to downtown Cape Girardeau.

The business, which has been located at West Park Mall since August of 1988, opened last weekend at 118 North Main in an 1,800-square-foot, ground-level area.

"We're a contemporary store that specializes in career, evening and daytime wear for women," said Marsha Edwards, who is involved in three Body Shoppe operations at Cape Girardeau, Dexter and Poplar Bluff. "We're really excited with our move to the downtown area.

"We're a specialty store," said Edwards. "I feel that specialty stores are becoming more prevalent downtown. This area of town has so much character, and we're seeing a good traffic flow."

The business will be open from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., Monday through Saturday.

"But we'll be presenting some special promotions where we will remain open some evenings and even Sunday," said Edwards.

The first Body Shoppe was founded in Dexter 14 years ago by Edwards and her mother, Mary Vowels. The Poplar Bluff and Cape Girardeau stores are owned by Edwards and her husband, Michael Edwards.

Step-By-Step Shoes, which opened at 105 Independence in April of this year, moved last weekend to North Main Street.

"We wanted a Main Street location," said Andy Lui. The women's shoe store is owned by Andy and Dorothy Lui.

The store offers a wide variety of women's shoes.

The store will be open from 9:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., Monday through Saturday.

Ye Ole House, a collectibles and gift shop at 120 Broadway, is owned by Midwest Energy, a new corporation.

Laura Younghouse is president of the corporation.

The new gift shop opened recently on the first level of the old Kage House. The top two levels of the three-story building are utilized as corporate and accounting offices.

"We have porcelain and Santa Claus dolls in our collectible line," said Younghouse. "Among the gift items are music carousels, all types of figurines, jewelry, western wear and unique sweatshirts and holiday jackets."

Sam's Club is still coming to Cape Girardeau.

More than a year ago, in August of 1992, Sam's Club officials confirmed plans to build a 134,000-square-foot warehouse adjacent to the Wal-Mart Supercenter near the Route K/Siemers Drive intersection.

To date, a permit has not been issued for the new structure, but it is expected later this year.

"We're looking at a spring 1994 opening." said a spokesperson from Wal-Mart headquarters in Bentonville, Ark., late last week.

The Sam's Club building design has been changed, however, to a streamlined look, down-sized to about 113,000 square feet.

Meanwhile, plans for a "Mini-Sam's" have been announced for Paducah, Ky., where a former Wal-Mart store is being converted into a 75,000-square-foot Sam's.

Remodeling of the Paducah building in Kentucky Oaks Plaza is now under way and a mid-February opening is anticipated, say company officials.

The Paducah store is what company officials refer to as a "mini-Sam's." It will not carry as wide a range of merchandise as other Sam's outlets, such as the one at Marion, Ill., and the proposed store here.

Sam's, a division of Wal-Mart Stores Inc., is the largest members-only buying club in the United States, providing name brand merchandise at warehouse prices to businesses and selected employment groups.

Sam's Wholesale Clubs feature three prototype warehouses one of 113,000 square feet, another of 135,000 square feet, and the third, Mini-Sam's, of about 70,000 square feet.

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. purchased the 18.67-acre site just south of the existing Wal-Mart Supercenter here.

The first Sam's Clubs opened in 1983 in three locations. Since then, more than 300 of the clubs have cropped up. By year's end, there will be 333 Sam's open in the United States, plus one each in Mexico and Puerto Rico. The company plans to open more than one a week in the future.

The Cape Girardeau club will be the 13th in Missouri, and will employ from 125 to 150 people.

Shine-A-Blind is expanding its operation into Cape Girardeau.

The ultrasonic cleaning service, which opened in Sikeston in May of this year, offers cleaning of all types of blinds -- metal, fabric, woven wood, pleated, plastic, etc.

"The ultrasonic cleaning concept is a new concept," said Jim Burden, owner of the business. "It's been around since about 1985. It doesn't just wipe the dust off, it thoroughly cleans the head-rail, ropes, cords and ladders. We also lubricate the mechanism."

The company features a self-contained van operation and will go into commercial business and homes.

Shine-A-Blind is an expansion of Jim's Carpet Cleaning and Janitorial Service of Sikeston, which has been in business since 1969.

Victorian Memories has expanded in West Park Mall.

"We have almost tripled our space," said Cecelia Gerecke, owner of the business which specializes in Yankee brand candles, a furniture line featuring oak tables, chairs and china cabinets, Victorian art and fragrances. "We have expanded most of our lines, and have added Fragrances by Aromatique."

The business, which previously occupied about 1,200 square feet, has expanded to 3,600 square feet.

Victorian Memories opened as Victorian Holidays in a 200-square-foot space in December of 1992. In March of this year, the business moved into larger quarters.

The store is open during mall business hours, 10 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. Monday through Saturday and noon to 6 p.m. Sunday.

Servpro, a professional cleaning service, has opened at 166 LaSalle St. in Cape Girardeau.

Richard and Sandy Hastings are owners of the new business.

The Hastings operated the business in St. Louis 12 years before moving to the Cape Girardeau area.