Rex’s Rentals is moving.
For nearly eight years, the Columbus business has been located downtown at 322 Main Street, between the old Masonic lodge and the Tennessee Williams Welcome Center. A group of local investors purchased that property about two months ago. With the ownership change, Rex and Lisa Dickerson, who own Rex’s Rentals, are moving the business two blocks away to 210 2nd Ave. North — the old Jarrett Towing location.
“We wanted to stay downtown,” Lisa Dickerson said. “We like it here.”
The first day operating out of the new site will be Dec. 2. The location will be better for the business, Dickerson said.
“It gives us more room,” she said.
Rex’s Rentals offers things like tents, tables, chair and fine china for rent to people organizing weddings, large parties or any other type of special events. Business is good, and the new site will give the Dickersons more room to operate and display their inventory, they said.
The business opened in 1991, when Rex Dickerson began renting construction equipment off Military Road. That led to plates and dishes, and when that enterprise “grew and grew,” Lisa Dickerson said, the couple ultimately got rid of the construction equipment and moved the business downtown.
As far as the location on Main Street they are leaving behind, extensive renovations are underway on the building, which includes approximately 5,000 square feet. Details on plans for the building will be released in coming weeks.
Have you ever had a satsuma? It’s a sun-colored citrus, smaller than an orange, available in winter with skin that is easy to peel.
Two weeks ago, Rollin and Sandra Miller drove three hours from the Golden Triangle to south Alabama, picked 900 pounds worth and then hauled them back in their van. They sold every last one at The Tomato House, a green house outside of Macon the Millers have operated for a decade.
Earlier this week, the Millers returned from a second satsuma run with 800 pounds worth. If you find yourself with a citrus hankering on Black Friday or at any other time, call The Tomato House at 662-425-9116 to see what’s available and check prices. Their address: 16132 Hwy. 45 North.
Switch gears now. You may not be aware, but Columbus has a Barnes & Noble bookstore. Sort of.
Earlier this year, the bookstore inside Hogarth Student Center on MUW’s campus officially became a Barnes & Noble College site. It happened in spring. Now, the largest book retailer in the country manages the store.
The Book End, as locals know it, still sells textbooks, course material, school supplies and “The W” apparel. Also, the store, through the Barnes & Noble partnership, offers up to 60 percent off of new books.
The selection of new releases and popular reads is small, but there. But there are loads of eclectic titles for college classes, which some members of the public might be interested in.
Barnes & Noble operates 675 stores in all 50 states. It operates 686 college bookstores. The one in Columbus is definitely geared toward serving MUW students. But the public is welcome to browse.
The bookstore is open Monday through Thursday from 7:45 a.m. to 5 p.m. and on Fridays from 7:45 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Browning on Business is a weekly column that runs each Thursday. We want your input. Send items and tips to [email protected] or [email protected].
And Happy Thanksgiving!
William Browning was managing editor for The Dispatch until June 2016.
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