Toyota job openings – Feb. 29

We have a few new jobs to report this week.

On MOJO:
• Toyota Boshoku America (Tier 1 supplier in Itawamba County) has one opening for an account manager and three openings for a department manager.
• Toyota Motor Manufacturing Mississippi (main plant near Blue Springs) still has 15 openings listed. Three for tool and die maintenance, six for facilities maintenance and six for multi-skilled maintenance.
• In addition, SeverCorr, Golden Triangle Mills Service and ACCO Inc. have job openings listed.

Click here to see more about all the jobs (requirements, description, hours, etc.) listed on MOJO.

On Job Central:
• There are 23 Toyota-related jobs listed in Mississippi. Openings for TMMMS include: Bodyweld Production Assistant Manager, Specialist – Quality Engineering – Electrical, Quality Body Operations Assistant Manager, Manager – Quality Engineering, Administration Associate and Environmental Engineering Specialist (Waste and EMS).

Click here and search for “Toyota” to find out more about the openings on Job Central. Note that you will get a few jobs for auto techs at dealerships around Jackson.

Cheapest gas: New Albany

Not many changes from last week unless you are in Oxford.

Cheapest gas is in New Albany ($2.96 for regular unleaded). Sherman is your next best bet ($2.99).

Members at Sam’s Club in Tupelo can get fuel for $3.01. It’s $3.02 at Kroger in Tupelo, before any discounts. Then we get a nice little jump in price. It’s $3.07 in Iuka and Amory and $3.09 in Starkville.

The most expensive gas is in Oxford. A whopping $3.15, with the expectation that the price will go up again Monday. Our source said the price isn’t stopping sales though. With several sporting events this weekend, traffic has been steady since last night. I do believe I would be investing in a bike about this time if I were still a student there. Gosh golly.

Happy birthday, Mr. Bob!

Today Mr. Bob, a 20-year veteran of McDonald’s, turns 90. We did a story on him in Thursday’s paper and have been utterly surprised at the response.

Among the responses: an e-mail from stranger who wants to attend his birthday party and a conversation with a woman who said she wept after reading the story. Not to mention our own awe and respect for this man who starts his day at 2:30 every morning and has 67 grandchildren and 104 great-grandchildren.

So, if you swing by McDonald’s on South Gloster Street today, make sure to wish the leap-year baby a happy birthday.

American Furniture jobs almost all back

Good news regarding the American Furniture Manufacturing plant in Ecru, which had that devastating fire three week ago.

President Lyle Harris said the company has hired most of its 1,100 workers back, and production is churning along. American has two shifts at the Landmark building and at its flex plant down the road, cranking out stationary furniture. You’ll recall that the company’s motion and recliner line was undamaged in the fire.

American is still looking to close a deal on another facility. And it needs it, because it had a good market at last week’s spring Tupelo Furniture Market.

We’ll keep you updated.

A sneak peak at Belk in Oxford

Belk opened its doors to the media this morning and Biz Buzz jumped at the chance to check things out. We have a story in tomorrow’s paper, but we wanted to give all of you the exclusive slideshow. If you roll over each of the photos, a caption will pop up. At the end, you have all the pertinent people who were at media day and who will be in charge of the store.

Basic info: Belk Oxford is slated to grand open March 12. The soft opening is scheduled for March 6 or 7. The store is one-third the size of the Tupelo location. Belk Oxford is in the Oxford Galleria, which is next to The Home Depot on West Jackson. Other stores in the retail development include Rack Room Shoes, Rue 21 and Maurices. There are a few shots of the entire development in the slideshow. If you roll across the photo, you’ll see what’s planned for the space.

Hancock hires CFO

Baldwyn-based Hancock Fabrics has hired Robert Driskell, 33, to serve as the company’s senior vice president and chief financial officer. Driskell was hired Monday, and Hancock made the information public today in a filing with the SEC.

Driskell replaces Jeff Nerland, the interim CFO who resigned Monday. Nerland will continue with the company as an executive vice president.

Driskell has more than 10 years of financial management and leadership experience, most recently as chief financial officer of Reeves Williams, a large privately held construction firm based in Memphis.

Driskell will be paid a base salary of $190,000, and is eligible to participate in the company’s annual cash bonus plan, which provides a minimum bonus of 20 percent of base salary, a target bonus of 40 percent of base salary and a maximum bonus of 50 percent of base salary if corporate and personal performance goals are achieved. He has also been granted 25,000 restricted shares of the company’s common stock, which will vest 20 percent annually, beginning on the date of grant.

Larry D. Fair, vice president of finance, remains the principal financial and accounting officer.

Terrible customer service

My wife and I bought a trampoline as a birthday present for our son today at a certain discount retailer which shall go unnamed.

So, my wife goes on her lunch break to pick it up and has to wait for an associate to load the rather heavy box onto a cart. He turns to leave, so she asks if he can load it for her.

“What kind of car do you have?”

“It’s a minivan,” my wife says

“A minivan? Does it have a back door that opens?”

“Uh, yes, it does.”

“I guess so.”

A properly trained employee, and one who gives a rat’s behind about customers would have said, “sure, no problem. Just tell me where you’re parked and I’ll take care of it for you.”

Never had bad customer service at a Target…. but it seems more the rule than the exception at that “other” retailer that dominates the market.

Grocery shopping at Palmer’s

A few weeks ago I was talking with Jason Palmer, co-owner of Palmer’s, and I let it slip that while I had been in his store for a story, I had never actually shopped there. Yeah, shame on me.

So, last night I did my grocery shopping at Palmer’s. I couldn’t find a few things that I normally get at Kroger/Wal-Mart (English muffins and a particular type of lunch meat), but on the whole, I was very pleased with the product range. I was surprised to see the wide range of products from the $1 section at the front to many higher-end products mixed in throughout the store.

My favorite part was the random questions that came across the store’s pager system.

Woman obviously working the register: Joe, do we have any shrimp … in a can?
Man somewhere else: Yeah, on aisle 3.
A few minutes later …
Woman again: Joe, how much is the shrimp in a can?
Man leaves the back area and disappears down an aisle.
Another man on speaker a minute later: He’s not ignoring you. He’s gone out to find the price.
About 10 minutes later …
A third man on the speaker: Joe, break time is over.

And, unlike the Seid family’s experience, the stocker was jumping at the bit to load my groceries into my car. He looked so disappointed when I told him I could manage it myself.

West Main sells to retail developer

It’s official – West Main Church of Christ has signed a sale contract with an unnamed Tennessee developer. The plans call for the 5.9 acres to be cleared to make room for several retailers. At this point, the talk is that it will be one standalone retailer and then a shopping strip with other retailers. Read the story in today’s paper.

We think the unnamed developer is Redd Realty, who happens to be the same developer who led an unsuccessful bid to put a CVS pharmacy at Crosstown. Redd Realty hasn’t returned our calls and a CVS spokesman said the company will only comment after it has signed a lease or purchase agreement. Soooo, it sounds like Redd and CVS are still negotiating if we are reading the signs right.

Besides CVS, who do you think would be interested in locating there? And better yet, who do you want to see there?

Young Professionals event at the Bistro

From the Tupelo Young Professionals (biz folks 20 to 40 years old):

Please join us tonight…
Tuesday, February 26, 2008
5:00 p.m. – 7:00 p.m.

The Bistro on Main
210 West Main Street, #103
Tupelo, MS

This is a come and go business-after-hours event. Refreshments will be served and door prizes will be awarded. Come network with your peers in the business community and bring a friend. Please RSVP to typ@cdfms.org.

A service project will be held in conjunction with this meeting to benefit families in Alcorn, Lafayette, and Tippah counties, who were affected by the northeast Mississippi tornadoes. Please bring a monetary donation for entrance into the meeting. All monies collected will go to our local chapter of the American Red Cross.