-A closer look at the Broad Street Shuffle: More changes coming to downtown Rome over the next few weeks and months> Click
-More media shuffles, too: Look for a surprise in coming days.
-Oct. 19-23: Most significant news week of the year?
-Trick or Treat collides with Florida-Georgia game this year.
-Peaks & Valleys: The highs and lows of Northwest Georgia.
Your latest forecast:
-Monday: High of 69, low of 50. Ran chance tonight; 30%.
-Tuesday: 80% chance of rain, then 60%. High of 58, low of 53.
-Latest weather: Extended forecast / Local radar / Regional radar
Norman Arey's Sports Roundtable>Arey
-Can you see Boise State, Cincinnati in the mythical championship game?
John McClellan's high school football picks: John goes 11-0 on his local picks last week; new picks due Tuesday> Football Report
Georgia High School Football Daily> Calhoun remains No. 1> Details
Upcoming events at Rome Braves/State Mutual Stadium> Sports
-Braves' first Celebrity Shootout with Rocket Wheeler, Frog Smith.
-First annual Wing Ding due Nov. 21.
-Links to winter baseball leagues.
Three-Dot Buzz . . . :
ints of more media changes in the air: There's a story circulating among local media players about a surprising change. A few e-mails, phone calls and some vague Facebook hints are out there as well. We're staying "sufficiently ambiguous" for now to let all sides announce it on their own terms and timetable. It certainly adds to a year of change under way with local media and Web sites including:
-Rome Radio Partners LLC as the new owners of WRGA and Q102 and as the managers of the other Southern Broadcasting stations.
-The ownership changes with the "Newswire" group.
-And the advent of direct-to-the-consumer advertising courtesy of social media and electronic communication, virtually bypassing media advertising channels.
-Stay tuned for details on this latest move with more due after the elections . . .
Most significant news week of the year: In five days last week, we saw:
-Harbin Clinic's formal announcement on the new cancer center opening in 2010. This could be a real catalyst for both redevelopment and relocation as well as the health ramifications. It again puts Rome's health community on the map.
-Shorter College's acknowledgment of talks with Ledbetter Properties to move the business school to the former Goody's location at Midtown Crossing. If the deal is struck, it is another significant move by Shorter--and Ledbetter.
-The annual bank deposit-market share bank report -- which underscored the strength of local banks--and those mixed quarterly reports from the "big boys."
-Next up: At least one more story line is out there to be resolved, one that has been neatly placed on the back burner until voters decide the fate of the SPLOST package. We expect front-burner status on this one before the year ends . . .
Trick or Treat and Gators vs. Dawgs: Here's a dangerous combination for this coming Saturday. The annual throw down between Georgia and Florida is set for 3:30 p.m. with Halloween trick-or-treating expected to be in full force by game's end, 6:30 or so. It could get real ugly out there depending on how the game goes. Area restaurants and bars are offering specials for the game, ranging from 333 on Broad to Game Time Sports Grille in Cartersville . . .
The Broad Street Shuffle: Merchants are on the move this month
and more are on the way in the next few weeks, new year
By Natalie Simms
With three relocating and two new businesses coming in, there are a lot of changes sweeping through Broad Street these days with more on the way in 2010.
The Cotton Block of Broad Street is seeing the most change with Mattress Direct/The Kidz Loft and C&S Trophies moving into new spaces. Roger Wade, owner of Mattress Direct/The Kidz Loft, also has plans to bring in a new restaurant in 2010.
While John Massey, owner of Massey's/The Diamond Store, will be bringing Posh consignment store into Cotton Block Hall next week.
"I believe that this (Cotton Block) may be the premiere shopping block on Broad Street," Wade says. "We have a toy/baby/mattress store, antique store, bicycle shop, office supply store, sporting goods shop, jewelry store, beauty shops, cleaners and an investment banker on the end .. .we really have everything."
Wade is 95 percent moved into his new space at 111 Broad St. and is open for business in the new location. Mattress Direct/The Kidz Loft has downsized its business, going from 10,000 square feet of display space to 5,000 square feet.
"This space really fills our needs completely," he says. "We got out of the bedroom suite business and are just focusing on mattresses and in The Kidz Loft. We have baby furniture, bedding, toys and mom's chairs. We can manage a lot better without having warehouse space and need for delivery."
Wade also has a contract on the building next door to his business, which houses the current Three Rivers Antiques. He says Three Rivers Antiques will be moving out of the building over the next several months.
Wade will be opening up a hot dog restaurant called The Past Time as soon as he can get the building renovated in 2010.
"That building used to be a billiard place back in the late 1800s, so we're going to decorate it in decades of Rome's history up through the 1970s," he says. "I already have lots of props stored so we think the decade theme will be really unique."
Into Mattress Direct's former location at 210 Broad St. comes Paula's Silver and Gold (above).
"We've been really busy getting moved, but we're very excited to be in our new location," says Paula Conway, owner. "We have so much more space and will be offering a lot of new service items and personalized items that no one else is doing in Rome."
Conway's business is expanding from 3,000 square feet to 6,000 square feet in her new location. Her building also has two additional floors giving her additional space for storage and her new imprinting machines.
"I am installing four new machines that can print on just about anything," she says. "We will be doing T-shirts with photos on them and have the ability to do only one T-shirt at a time, most places in town make you order a minimum and not just one."
Paula's also will be able to imprint photos on jewelry, mugs, plates and ornaments. Another machine can personalize tumblers, note cards and luggage tags.
"We will also be doing invitations and announcements, where you can choose the background and put a photo on it…those will all be printed in house," Conway says. "And, we offer monogramming on anything and everything that will fit into the machine."
Conway received two loans from the City of Rome to help in the purchase of the building. One loan, in the amount of $11,000, is from the Community Development Loan Fund with a six-year payback and a $62,000 loan from the Downtown Development Authority with a 15-year payback. One of the requirements for these loan approvals was that new jobs will be created as a result of the venture.
"In November, we will be expanding our hours to be open Monday through Saturday. We'll be open 10 a.m.-6 p.m. on Monday through Friday and 10 a.m. -4 p.m. on Saturday," she says. "We are really excited about what all we can offer our customers. We have a lot more merchandise including an expanded line of clothing and shoes."
Another Paula moving locations is Paula Blevins and her C&S Trophy business. Blevins will be moving into the Cotton Block at 7 Broad St. just past Pullen's Ordinary Bicycle Shop.
"Our new building is a similar size to what we have but I am very excited about the new space and to be going to the Cotton Block in this new growth time and be there as it unfolds," Blevins says.
Blevins will be moving her business this weekend and will be open in the new spot on Nov. 2. A ribbon cutting ceremony is scheduled that day for 11 a.m.
"It really was a hard decision to move because I have been here for more than 31 years," she says. "But my customer base is established and word is getting out about the move, and my customers have no problem going down the road…so it's really not going to be an issue for customers, plus parking down there will not be as difficult."
Will Byington with Toles, Temple & Wright is seeking a new tenant for Blevins' former location at 338 Broad St. "We've had some interest in the space but we're waiting for them to move and will be putting the space on the market at the end of the month…it really is a great space."
Another new business moving to the Cotton Block is Posh, a men's and women's consignment store now located on Glenn Milner Boulevard. Posh will be moving into Cotton Block Hall at 112 Broad St.
"Cotton Block Hall will be the new Posh Building," said Massey. "It will be good for downtown and Posh will be moving into a larger space so they can offer men's and women's consignment along with wedding and prom dresses."
Massey says he will still honor the handful of contracts that he has with clients to rent the Cotton Block Hall for events. Posh merchandise will be moved out during the events. No new contracts are being offered.
Posh will be open in the new space this week. He expects the business to be fully operational and accepting consignment items by Thursday. For more information, Posh can be reached at 706-232-3330. A new manager is expected to join the business on Nov. 13.
"I am just really excited about all the new things on the Cotton Block," Massey says. "About a year ago, I predicted it would take 12-18 months for the block to be full and didn't know it would be this fast. This end of town has really come alive so it's great on the Cotton Block."
In Posh's former location at 220 Glenn Milner Boulevard, Massey will be opening a new beauty salon called The Hair Affair. He expects the salon to open by the second week of November. The Hair Affair's new number will be 706-378-1220.
PEAKS & VALLEYS: The highs, lows of Northwest Georgia
Peak to Harbin Clinic and the cancer center:
In addition to providing a wonderful, unified home for Northwest Georgia cancer patients and their families, Harbin's cancer center also will serve as a "lure" for businesses and retirees in search of new homes as well as a stimulus to the downtown economy. We hope this $15-plus million project is just the start of more to come.
Valley to the Rome News' whining editorials on downtown police patrols: Let's see--the community spends thousands promoting downtown Rome as a live/work/play environment. Police officers are on patrol there to serve and protect. And yet for doing so, the snorts and grumbles that serve as "editorial comment" from the newspaper these days make it sound as if law enforcement is waterboarding people. A navel-gazing series of editorials -- citing "reports" and "anonymous calls and e-mails" but nary a substantiated fact or, even better, a piece of live litigation -- blasts the police department for doing its job. ('Opinions') The paper's commentaries reek of it almost being a personal issue. Let the police do their job, especially with those who are too inebriated to function as adults.
Valley to the Girls Gone Wild coverage: And we lump ourselves into the mix here. Was this "event" really worth the barrage of coverage from local media, pretend media, Atlanta radio and television, and the AJC? Did we need constantly updating attendance figures Saturday night? As we say earlier in this report, last week was perhaps the single most significant news week of the year--and everyone is hell bent on beating this dead horse?
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