Ozark Natural Foods Still On A Roll

Daddy Warbucks

For the seventh year in a row and in the midst of an economic recession, Ozark Natural Foods, Fayetteville’s homegrown grocery store and food cooperative, recently sent out patronage checks for 2008. These are refund checks paid to shoppers who are co-op members. The check amount is based on the amount spent at the store. The more a member spent last year, the bigger their refund. Those who spent at least $126 received a $2 check and it multiplied from there. The amounts being paid to cooperative members set a record. Members pocketed almost $90,000 in patronage refunds, which is only 20 percent of the profits that the co-operative made. The 80 percent held back will be reinvested in the cooperative for improvements and such. The co-op in the Evelyn Hills Shopping Center is a Fayetteville mainstay and is becoming a regional shopping magnet for those in a 100-mile or so radius. Did the big box retailers send you a check thanking you for shopping there last year? Well that’s a good question, now isn’t it?

Big Question

Wt what temperatures did researchers discover that office productivity suffers when the workplace gets too cold or too hot? Answer at the end.

Play City

Well another national ranking has come to Northwest Arkansas. Chickendale, aka Springdale, has been named the only “playful city” in Arkansas by a national group. Yep. That’s right. The nonprofit KaBOOM! named Springdale, Arkansas’ most playful city. No other cities were nominated. Go figure. Few, if any walking trails, one water park and, oh yeah, the Jones Center, which now charges for formerly free stuff. This was the second time Springdale has won this honor.

Bankruptcy

Looks like the Fayetteville Athletic Club will head into Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection after the Bob Shoulders family got entangled in a bank collapse. Some out-of-state bank bought the loans and Shoulders could not reach a settlement agreement with them. The filing shows the debt at between $10-$50 million. Stay tuned.

No Mo’ Alltel

Now that Verizon and Alltel are one, the Alltel name is no more. Thus, North Little Rock’s Alltel Arena is now known as Verizon Arena.

Empty Spots

Looks like the recession has caught up with some of the high rent places along Dickson Street. The Three Sisters Building has some empty spots and of course there are more stacked-high condos available down there than you can count on your fingers and toes.

Action On Dickson

There is activity at the old Froggy’s/Gypsy on Dickson Street. A restaurant liquor permit notice and a building permit are taped to the door and workers are on site. The building permit is in the name of Pearson Family Trust. At one time the Pearsons owned most of that block, but have sold some of the buildings. Not sure if the Pearsons are still involved in Brewskis, but they did open that Dickson Street hot spot.

Wee Wee Wee

Looks like the hog farmers working for Tyson Foods on their corporate hog farms in Benton and Washington counties will be working for someone else or looking for jobs. Tyson sold their corporate hog facilities, which represented only about 1 percent of their corporate structure, but there are 76 jobs affiliated with these farms.

Tech Tour

The Fayetteville School District will be on the next National School Board Technology Tour on March 14-16, 2010. Seems the tech savvy district has caught some national attention.

More E-Z Beer

Looks like the E-Z Mart at 4026 W. Wedington Drive in Fayetteville is trying for a beer permit. The usual suspects will be speaking out against the permit, no doubt. The ABC down in Little Rock will make the call.

Big Answer

Researchers found that when temperatures drop below 72 (too cold) or climb above 78 (too hot) worker productivity falls.