Cape Girardeau Pendleton lassoes top retailer award

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The Pendleton Round-Up in Pendleton, Ore., dubs itself the largest rodeo in the world and Cape Girardeau business woman Peggy Tinsley will be there.

Tinsley and her husband Thomas will enjoy the week-long event in September, one filled with rodeos, parades, concerts and an Indian Pageant and Wild West Show.

Tinsley is going because the store she manages, Cape Girar-deau Pendleton, was named the 2001 Retailer of the Year, an accomplishment which earned her an invitation by the company's president.

The Cape Girardeau retail shop, which sells men and women's apparel and colorful wool blankets, outperformed the other 100 or so stores across the country, based on the increase of percentage in sales.

"And we've done that after only being open three years," said Tinsley. "I was completely taken by surprise because of all the stores in California and Portland that are really popular. I was totally shocked."

Tinsley would not reveal particulars on the annual sales figures of the store located at 2117 William St.

Pendleton is known nationally for its Native American blankets, a tradition that began in 1909, when the blankets were produced for Native American tribes and frontier trading posts. The company, now in its fifth generation of family ownership and management, has grown to encompass a full range of sportswear for men and women.

But to what does Tinsley attribute the local store's rapid success?

"It's strictly customer service," she said. "We wait on customers. We give them our time and attention. I think it's the personal service they get here. It makes them want to come back."

What about Bob?

Bob's Fish House turned out to be the one that got away, but another restaurateur has snagged the building for a new Mexican eatery.

Paducah, Ky., resident Israel Delapaz plans to open Casa Mexicana in the building on March 20. The menu will feature 100 selections of authentic Mexican food.

"But they all call it authentic," Delapaz admitted.

Delapaz and his wife own and operate two Kentucky Casa Mexicanas in Paducah and Madisonville. He became interested when an enterprising real estate agent in Cape Girardeau called Delapaz to see if he was interested in the building at 1015 N. Kingshighway.

Delapaz plans to remodel, paint the outside and put up new signage. Delapaz will stay in Paducah and will send his brother, Jose Delapaz, to manage the Cape Girardeau restaurant.

Delapaz, 29, was born in Mexico, but came to the United States 12 years ago. He started out as a dishwasher, but soon learned to cook and later managed a Mexican restaurant in Paducah. He opened his own Paducah restaurant in 1998 and the one in Madisonville in 2000.

For those of you groaning that Cape Girardeau doesn't need another Mexican restaurant, Delapaz is all too aware of his soon-to-be competition.

"But I think the city is a pretty good size for another restaurant," he said. "Even though it's all Mexican food, it's still all different. Every cook cooks differently."

A healthier Jackson

HealthSouth Rehabilitation Center is expanding with a new office in Jackson, Mo.

HealthSouth is the nation's largest health care services provider with more than 1,900 facilities in all 50 states, including one in Cape Girardeau. The Jackson center is expected to open no later than the end of February at Jackson Medical Center, said administrator Tom Weber.

Weber will administrate the Jackson center at 2387 West Jackson Blvd., as well as the one in Cape Girardeau. Like the Cape Girardeau facility, the 3,200-square-foot Jackson office will offer outpatient physical therapy specializing in sports medicine and on-the-job injuries.

The Jackson office will have two employees and will share staff with the Cape Girardeau office, which is located at 240 S. Mount Auburn Road in Lorimont Place.

Fill 'er up

The building at 1101 William St. has been an on-again off-again gas station for years, but Cassy Gibson of Cape Girardeau thinks she has the gumption to make a go of it.

J.D.'s Quick Shop will open within the next two weeks, said the Cape Girardeau resident who named the store after her three sons, Jason, Dennis and Shane. (Get it? J.D.'s.)

Gibson is waiting for a liquor license, but she expects to have one soon. The store will also offer pizza, hamburgers, barbecue and chicken wings.

Gibson has never owned her own business. "I was looking for something to do," Gibson said.

Swiped out

Louisville, Ky.,-based National Processing Inc., which processes credit card transactions, now has a presence in the area with the hiring of Mary Prince of Jackson, as the company's representative.

Working from her home, Prince will call on businesses in the area that use credit card and debit card processing, and share the rate that her company offers. The company is one of the largest to provide such a service, with about 600,000 national, regional and online merchants.

Competitors include First Data, actually the largest in the country, and Lynx.

You'll remember Prince from her four years as manager of Mail Boxes, Etc.

What recession?

Friday's Wall Street Journal had a story written by Emily Nelson that says Proctor & Gamble Co. is doing well despite the economic downtown.

Proctor & Gamble Co. posted an 8.8 percent rise in net income for its fiscal second quarter, signaling that its 18-month drive to sell pricier goods and cut costs is starting to pay off, the story says.

That's good news for the company's employees. P&G's workers' retirement savings are heavily dependent upon the performances of P&G stock, with about 90 percent of the U.S. pension plan invested in P&G stock. Those earnings sent P&G shares up $3.99 to $81.68 with no indications that it should let up.

"Earnings are in good shape," one Wall Street analyst is quoted as saying. "And I think the consistency is really going to start."

Let's end it on a good note.

Scott Moyers is business editor for the Southeast Missourian. Send your comments, business news, information or questions to Biz Buzz, 301 Broadway, Cape Girardeau, Mo., 63702-0699, e-mail to smoyers@semissourian.com or call 335-6611, extension 137.