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Look what I saw during my gas run. See more pictures.

It was parked in front of Barnes & Noble and Coldwater Creek. Mall at Barnes Crossing General Manager Jeff Snyder told Dennis that he thinks the bus is in town for repairs. No word if Poison's front man is in Tupelo, but I seriously doubt it. I knocked on the bus door to check, but no one answered. However, someone was in the bus smoking. Cigarettes not the other stuff, to our sport editor's surprise.

The bus had a Celebrity Coaches tag on it. The business is based on South Green, near the Journal offices. I'm going to connect the dots and say that Celeb Coaches is probably doing something with the bus.

From the Associated Press – it seems a restaurateur in Brooklyn has run into some opposition for his use of the president's name for his new fried chicken joint. Here's the story from the AP.

Perhaps if the restaurants pays diners to eat there or subsidizes their purchase, it will help. Seems everyone is lining up for help these days anyway.

Here it is:

  Mayor Michael Bloomberg says a New York City fried chicken restaurant named after President Obama could probably find a more appropriate name.

  The mayor was asked Wednesday about the controversy surrounding the Brooklyn eatery. Community activists say the manager of Obama Fried Chicken told them he would change the name because of its racial overtones, but now says it will stay.

Mohammad Jabbar says the name was chosen as a tribute to the president. The restaurant is in Brownsville, a predominantly black neighborhood.

  Activist Kevin McCall says the name is “very offensive to African Americans.” Another protest is planned for Saturday.

 

The White House says the administration disapproves of using the president’s name and likeness for commercial purposes.

Just to let you know, it's me, Dennis, posting under Carlie's screen name, until our vendor figures out how to make sure my posts end up on Biz Buzz here on nems360.

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So, here's news from the Beer Institute and the National Beer Wholesalers Association, citing data that shows the beer industry is good for many, many things:

  A new economic impact study shows that America’s beer industry, made up of brewers, beer importers, beer distributors, brewer suppliers, and retailers, directly and indirectly contributes $840,592,977 annually to Mississippi’s economy. The study, commissioned by the National Beer Wholesalers Association (NBWA) and the Beer Institute, also shows that the industry’s economic impact in Mississippi includes 12,401 jobs - paying $294,569,819 in wages - as well as $132,986,848 in federal, state, and local taxes.

 

  “Beer distributors are proud providers of 95,000 quality jobs with solid wages and great benefits in every state and congressional district across the country,” said Phil Terry, chief executive officer of Monarch Beverage Company in Indianapolis, Indiana, and chairman of NBWA. “As privately-owned businesses, beer distributors are invested in their communities and work hard to ensure the effective state-based system of alcohol regulation, which works to keep communities and consumers safe.”

  According to the study, the beer industry directly employs 8,043 people in Mississippi, paying them $171,342,894 in wages. The 34 beer distributors in Mississippi employ 933 people. Large and small brewers and beer importers employ approximately 23 people. Beer sales help support roughly 7,087 jobs at licensed retailers, which include supermarkets, convenience stores, restaurants, bars, stadiums and other outlets.

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So, there you go.

From Poynter (full story):

Are you guilty of WILB, also known as Workplace Internet Leisure Browsing?

Don't be ashamed if you are. A new University of Melbourne survey of 300 workers found that those who surf the Web while at work may actually be more productive.

Dr. Brent Coker, who helped oversee the study, said its findings reveal that those who leisurely surf the Web for "a reasonable limit of less than 20 percent of their total time in the office workday" are about 9 percent more productive than their colleagues who don't.

The study found that seven in 10 of those surveyed engaged in WILB, which includes searching for product information, reading online news, playing online games and watching videos online.

Most of the blueberry growers in Mississippi are in the southern parts of the state, but this is interesting from a consumer standpoint. I can't say I ever remember seeing an ad telling me to eat blueberries.

Excerpts from press release today from the U.S. Highbush Blueberry Council:



In just three years, North American highbush blueberry acreage grew 33%, from 71,000 acres in 2005 to more than 95,000 in 2007. Expanded acreage has led to a record 407 million pounds produced in 2008, more than twice the level produced ten years before (185 million pounds in 1998). As new acres mature and worldwide production grows, highbush blueberry supply is expected to exceed 1 billion pounds by 2015.

 

“In spite of the sagging economy, the future looks bright for our industry,” says USHBC Executive Director Mark Villata. “Consumers love blueberries and are aware of their health benefits, which has helped increase per capita consumption. But now, with rapidly increasing supply, we will have to make a concerted market promotion effort to double consumption by 2015. Dollars strategically invested in our “BLUEprint 2015” campaign will pay off in helping us maintain and grow a healthy industry.”

 

Programs will target consumers, foodservice, food manufacturers and export markets. There will also be increased support for blueberry health and nutrition research, as well as expanded educational efforts in the areas of food safety and good management practices to strengthen consumer confidence.

 

For more information, go to www.blueberry.org.

For the second week in a row, New Albany has the cheapest gas in our sampled region, charging $1.79 per gallon of regular. It's gone down from the $1.83 price tag last week.

Gas is $1.87 in Pontotoc, $1.89 in Sherman, $1.89 in Starkville and $1.97 in Oxford.

In Tupelo, it's $1.91 for member's at Sam's, $1.97 at Kroger at Crosstown (subtract your discount if you are a cardmember) and $1.98 at Travel Store USA.

Most expensive: $1.97 (Boonevile, Oxford, Tupelo)

Other prices:

Amory $1.94

Booneville $1.97

Corinth $1.88

Fulton $1.89

Ripley $1.88

Starkville $1.89

The state average is $1.93 today. It was $3.18 a year ago. Cheapest gas in the state, according to mississippigasprices.com, is in Meridian for $1.76 per gallon.

Here is Dennis' story from today's paper about the changes we discussed earlier this week:

TUPELO - Prudential Magnolia Realty is getting a new name - and a new location.

Lee County farmer and businessman Mitchell Scruggs is working to get a new Prudential franchise in Tupelo, after several weeks of uncertainty with the Tupelo office.

"We're getting an all-new franchise from Prudential," Scruggs said. "All the agents are staying and it's business as usual. They're doing what they've always been doing."

Scruggs also is moving the real estate company to Spanish Village on Thomas Street, once all the details are finalized, he said. A new name hasn't been selected, but Scruggs said he's working with Prudential to get one.

Former Prudential Magnolia owner Dustin Gifford bought the franchise last fall. Gifford heads Corinth-based Gifford Global, an umbrella company that has interest in construction, building supplies, excavation, landscaping and dirt work.

But Gifford apparently ran into some financial difficulties, which in turn sparked rumors that the business was closing. Gifford could not be reached for comment.

Scruggs said that the business is in fine shape and is not in trouble.

"The agents are the same, they have the same phone numbers, they have the listings - again, it's business as usual," he said.

Familiar territory

And Scruggs knows quite a bit about the housing business. His Mitchell Scruggs Properties LLC has built homes across the area, and he said he was quite familiar - and impressed - with Prudential.

"Prudential is the strongest and best real estate company out there," Scruggs said. "They've done really well, and even today, it has a 41 percent market share. That's saying a lot, considering the quality of the companies in the area.

"That's what really intrigued me."

Scruggs said he's been working on the deal for about a month and is "90 percent sure that I'll get the new franchise. I feel really good about it."

Financial details of the deal were not disclosed.

Esther Brown, the former broker/owner of Prudential Magnolia who helped build the company, had stayed on a consultant after Gifford bought the company.

While no longer connected with Prudential, she said that she supported Scruggs' move.

"They'll continue to serve the community and do what they've always done," she said. "I have every confidence that it will continue to be very successful."

We started this list in January on our old site. We'll be updating it here in the future.

We’re hoping this doesn’t turn into a long list of businesses that close this year. Here’s what we have so far for the Tupelo area. We included a few closings from the surrounding area and ones that happened in late 2008. Leave us a comment if you know of another business we need to add or if you want to post a eulogy.

• Circuit City  - mid-December 2008 (more)

We'd like to extend a warm welcome to the following businesses that have opened in the Tupelo area in 2009. We started this list in April at the suggestion of Biz Buzz reader noggin. Please let us know if we missed any businesses.

Early 2009:

Los Toros: Mexican restaurant that replaced Country Squire

February

Hardware House: hardware retailer in the Center City Market shopping development in Saltillo

Comfort Suites: hotel on North Gloster

March

Romie's Barbeque: restaurant on South Green Street

Walgreens: location at the corner of Garfield and South Gloster

Estes Fish and Steak: restaurant reopened in Plantersville

April

Reynold's Hardware: Hardware store moved from South Green Street to Mill Village, 

Papa V's: convenience store and deli in Fairpark

Read our list of the businesses that didn't make it this year.