Two Starkville items and two Columbus items this week.
Over in Starkville on Monday a business called “Bulldog 2 Go” opened. You call them up, place an order from a local restaurant and they bring the food to you. You pay for the food and an additional $2.99 for the delivery.
Nick Weston is the owner and operator. He spoke with The Dispatch on Wednesday. “Bulldog 2 Go,” he explained, works in conjunction with locally-owned restaurants in Starkville (no national chains). If you visit their website — bulldog2go.com — you will find a list of restaurants (Lost Pizza Co., Old Venice Pizza Co., Shipleys, The Camphouse, Dawg House Sports Grill, etc.), as well as those restaurants’ menus. You place an order via email or by calling 662-268-8173, and sit back and wait.
Weston said what the business offers is a simple, personalized delivery for people who want to eat out, but not leave home. He said with roadway construction going on in some pockets of Starkville, as well as tight parking downtown, there is a good market for the service.
The idea began about five years ago in Athens, Georgia. Then one began in Tuscaloosa in 2011. Then Auburn. An Oxford location opened in April. Now it has spread to Starkville and Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Notice the trend? Each of those towns is home to a SEC school. That’s by design.
Weston said the Tuscaloosa delivery service averages 500 to 600 orders a day. He hopes for similar success in Starkville.
They will deliver within about seven miles from each restaurant in Starkville. This week, discounts are being offered at the business’ Facebook page.
Currently, there are two full-time employees and three drivers.
This coming Monday, Pure Barre Starkville will open at Cotton Mill Marketplace on Cotton Mill Drive.
What is “pure barre?” According to its website, it utilizes “the ballet barre to perform isometric movements” and offers a “total body workout that lifts your seat” and tones muscles.
Sarah Harrelson is the owner of the Starkville location. She said the workout they offer creates long, lean muscles without bulk.
Harrelson said they will offer several class times seven days a week. The number is 662-268-8084. The website is purebarre.com/MS-starkville.
They employ six people.
In Columbus, the city has received and is reviewing civil plans for the Holiday Inn Express that will be located on Sixth Street North. A Pearl-based developer named Chico Patel is behind the hotel, which will have 90 rooms. Patel told The Dispatch the hotel is slated to open June 1, 2016.
It will be the 18th hotel in Columbus.
Columbus officials have also received and are reviewing construction plans for the Harbor Freight that will be located at 1601 Hwy. 45 N., in the empty building beside Goose Hollow Furniture. Kenny Wiegel, the city’s building inspector, said the plans call for extensive interior and exterior work to be done.
As it stands now, the closest Harbor Freight to Columbus is in Tupelo.
Lastly, the Falcon Lair Apartments in Columbus will be featured in an upcoming edition of the Great American Properties publication.
Tamra White, the manager of the apartments on 31st Avenue North that were built in the 1980s, said the 152 units routinely stays booked, but anyone interested in pursuing a lease there can call 662-329-2544.
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].
William Browning was managing editor for The Dispatch until June 2016.
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