Listen up, AutoZoners, you’re about to have a new place to stop for breakfast as you head into the “store support center” in the morning. MLGWers, you’ll have a new way to get your protein and vitamins to kick off a busy day of cutoffs. ServiceMaster folks, you’ll want to hear this, as will people who work in the Peabody Place office tower and the Gayoso/Pembroke complex.
The COVID-19 numbers continue to drop according the the often-not-working Shelby County Health Department COVID-19 data dashboard.
- New Cases by Specimen Collection Date 7-day rolling average is 197. That’s only 17 above the trip wire for limited service restaurants to reopen under Health Directive No. 10.
- Shelby County COVID-19 7-Day Rolling Positivity Rate is 12.3%, only 2.3% percent above the 10% trip wire set in the same document to allow limited service restaurants to open.
So, owners of limited service restaurants don’t know when the reopening date will be yet, but they are getting excited and starting to make plans. Jeannette, owner of the Blind Bear at 119 S. Main St., announced the following schedule yesterday when the Bear is once again able to let customers inside:
- 7-11 AM: Breakfast every day
- 10 AM-3 PM: Brunch Saturday and Sunday
- 11 AM-3 PM: Lunch Monday-Friday
- 3 PM-11 PM: Dinner (3 PM-10 PM while COVID-19 hours are in place; she’ll consider staying open for to-go after 10)
- 11 PM-3 AM: Hibernation menu (when allowed to stay open)
She has completely re-done two of the menus and is planning changes to the others. Every menu will contain vegan options. (Ariel does happy dance)
Jeannette didn’t say specifically, but I wonder if the health department has something in the works to help limited service restaurants. Due to the changing economics of COVID and increased to-go, Uber Eats, and DoorDash owners, the Bear’s food sales were outpacing their alcohol sales when open in 2020. Texas is allowing its bars to temporarily reclassify as full-service restaurants for the duration of the pandemic; I wonder if the Shelby County Health Department and the Tennessee ABC will work together on a similar plan?
The breakfast expansion is a brilliant move in that respect. Food sales should far outpace alcohol sales during those hours. If she can offer breakfast that people who work nearby can easily pick up and take back to their desks, that should prove quite popular.
The Memphis Tigers have lost another football game from their fall schedule. UT-Martin informed the University of Memphis it would not be able to make the November 21 date. That leaves the U of M with 10 dates, the first of which is September 5 vs. Arkansas State.
There was a shooting at a Summer Avenue nightclub early Monday morning. Health Directive No. 10 specifically says clubs are not supposed to be open right now. Even if the place was operating under a restaurant license, per regulations it should have closed at 10 PM.
Holly has info on the Virtual Memphis Beer Festival happening in October. A portion of the funds raised will benefit Memphis food workers. The event is organized by Cerrito Entertainment & Trivia and Memphis Growler & Bottle Shop. When you purchase a ticket, you select a pickup date, time, and location. There are four date/time pickup slots available, two at High Point Grocery and two at the Cash Saver on Madison. $30 ticket includes 8 beers and a Memphis snack, and the $50 VIP ticket adds two more beers, a commemorative growler, and upgrades you to a deluxe Memphis snack. Ticket-holders will be given a Zoom link for an interactive experience Saturday, October 3 from 2 to 6 PM.
As your number-one source of news and information about The Edge District, it is my pleasure to link you to this Memphis Business Journal article about presumptive NBA Rookie of the Year Ja Morant teaming up with an area business. Ja and 7 other NBA stars are participating in the #PlayItForward Challenge to raise awareness of Black-owned businesses. DoorDash will donate $1 to the National Urban League for every order from an NBA player’s chosen Black-owned restaurant through the end of August, and there will be $0 delivery fees for those restaurants during that time. Morant has chosen The Edge’s very own Chef Tam’s Underground Cafe as his restaurant to support. Order you some stuff from Chef Tam’s scrumptious menu so Ja can put the goggles on when challenge results are announced!
The Sheraton on North Main seeks a PM Housekeeping Supervisor.
In other job news, Williams-Sonoma is gearing up for the holiday season. They’re hiring 200 now and looking to add as many as 3000 in the weeks to come.
The revised SEC football schedule was released yesterday.
Today is the 100th anniversary of the 19th Amendment giving women the right to vote. Tennessee’s vote to ratify the amendment was the final state vote needed to make it official.
There will be a vigil to save the post office in Navy Park, G.E. Patterson at Second, Thursday night-Friday morning 7 PM-7:30 AM. The location was chosen because of its proximity to the main post office.
That’s it for now. I will try to watch the COVID-19 task force press conference and will be back this afternoon with a recap if anything interesting is announced.