Kroger Pulls $11 Million Permit for Union Avenue Store

Kroger has pulled an $11 million building permit for its new Union Avenue store in Midtown.

The existing Kroger store, which sits on a 1.1-acre site at 1745 Union, will be demolished for a parking lot for the new 74,000-square-foot store. Kroger has already completed the demolition of the Belvedere Apartments to make way for the new store at 1761 Union, which will include a larger pharmacy and new refrigeration and freezer cases, among other changes. Kroger has invested a little over $50 million in the Memphis area over the last three years and will invest north of an additional $50 million over the next three years.

Source: The Daily News Online & Chandler Reports

– Amos Maki

Duncan to Retire From Botanic Garden

Jim Duncan, executive director of the Memphis Botanic Garden, will retire at the end of the year.

Duncan announced his retirement Monday, Sept. 15, after 10 years leading the nonprofit.

In that decade, the garden has added the children’s attraction My Big Backyard, a permanent stage for the Live at the Garden concert series and seven new display gardens.

The board of the botanic garden is conducting a search for a new executive director.

– Bill Dries

Paper & Clay Owner Up for Martha Stewart Award

Memphian Brit McDaniel, the founder of handmade ceramics studio Paper & Clay, is a finalist for the national 2014 Martha Stewart “American Made” award.

If she wins one of the 10 available awards, it will mean a trip to New York City for the award ceremony, a feature in Martha Stewart Living Magazine and $10,000 to grow her business.

With the awards, Stewart and the editors of the magazine are spotlighting the next generation of American makers, including entrepreneurs, artisans and small-business owners. There’s an online voting component to the competition, which opened Monday, Sept. 15.

– Andy Meek

Evans Petree Names New Shareholders

Justin R. Giles, Aaron J. Nash and George “Harley” Steffens are the newest shareholders at Evans Petree PC law firm.

Giles had been an associate in the areas of construction and surety law, Nash was an associate in the areas of insolvency and litigation practice, and Steffens was an associate in real estate banking and commercial lending as well as corporate law and private client practice.

Giles, Nash and Steffens are part of the full-service law firm of 49 attorneys that was founded in Memphis more than 100 years ago.

– Bill Dries

MAAR Elects New Board Members

The Memphis Area Association of Realtors recently elected several new members to the organization’s board of directors.

Felix Bishop of Crye-Leike Realtors Inc., Deborah Williams of 4 Success Realty LLC, Lauren Harkins-Wiuff of Crye-Leike, David Tester of Marx-Bensdorf Realtors, John Mercer of Highwoods Properties and Albert Lee of Century 21 Maselle & Associates were selected to be 2015-2016 board members.

They will join current 2015 board members Thomas Murphree of Birch Tree Realty Resources, Lynn Pfund of Crye-Leike, Frank Dyer III of Leob Realty Group LLC, Tommie Criswell of Crye-Leike, Thomas Byrd of ERA Legacy Realty and Myra McCaskill of Keller Williams Realty.

– Amos Maki

Racquetball Tournament to Benefit Church Health Center

The 10th annual E-Force PowerSlam Racquetball Open to benefit the Church Health Center will be held Oct. 24-25 in Memphis.

WellWorX Sporting Clubs at 6161 Shelby Oaks Drive will serve as the host site for the tournament. Multiple skill and age divisions for men and women are available for singles and doubles play. The entry fee for one event is $45; participants may play up to three events and receive a reduced rate for the second and third events.

Starting times for the tournament be available Oct. 23 at memphisracquetball.org.

Player receive a tournament T-shirt and free food and drinks. The tournament entry fee also includes the Oct. 25 awards banquet and silent auction.

Deadline for entry is Oct. 21. For more information, call David Gross at 833-2269 or email dgross@fabtn.com.

– Don Wade

Southwest Tennessee Community College, TSU Agree on Transfers

Tennessee State University and Southwest Tennessee Community College have signed an agreement that will allow students who complete two years at Southwest to transfer to TSU to complete their baccalaureate degree.

The agreement between the two institutions calls for the awarding of 10 two-year full Tennessee State scholarships with preference to students who major in STEM courses of science, technology, engineering and math, beginning fall 2015.

The partnership also includes a dual-admission component that builds on the Tennessee Transfer Pathway, which is designed to help community college students plan for transferring to a Tennessee public university to complete their baccalaureate degree.

TSU President Glenda Glover and Southwest President Nathan Essex signed the Transfer Partnership Agreement during a ceremony on Sept. 11.

– The Associated Press

US Factory Output Drops 0.4 Percent in August

U.S. manufacturing output declined in August for the first time in seven months, reflecting a sharp fall in production at auto plants that was due mainly to seasonal adjustment problems.

Output at manufacturing plants fell 0.4 percent in August after a 0.7 percent rise in July, the Federal Reserve reported Monday. Total industrial production was down 0.1 percent in August, also the first setback for the overall figure since January. Output was up in mining and utility production but these gains were not enough to offset the decline in manufacturing.

Output of motor vehicles and parts dropped 7.6 percent after a 9.3 percent increase in July. The reversal was not viewed as worrisome. The July figure was boosted because many plants did not shut down as they normally do to retool for new models. That made August look weaker.

Economists had been looking for a weaker figure for factory output in August as auto activity returned to more normal levels. The fact that there were fewer plant shutdowns in July made output look stronger after the government adjusted the figure for normal seasonal variations. And that seasonal adjustment then made the August figures look weaker.

– The Associated Press