Billings Gazette, Mont., Have You Heard column: CVS leaves plaza for new store

Oct 25, 2009 (Billings Gazette - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- ZZHVV | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating -- CVS Pharmacy, a former fixture at West Park Plaza, has moved into a new store at 2402 Grand Ave.

And that is just one of the changes under way at the Billings mall that has been redesigned and partially rebuilt this year.

On the weekend before Thanksgiving, Time Out Sports will be moving into its permanent store from temporary construction quarters along Grand Avenue that shoppers had to search for.

"We've got lots of loyal customers and they hunted for us, so that made me feel good," said owner Cindy Thompson.

One last call for help will go out to a dozen relatives and half a dozen friends to again move the store's 2,500 pair of shoes, plus clothing and accessories. This time, though, she plans on renting a U-Haul to help.

Her permanent store has big windows facing south, a first for this business.

Last May, as the major remodeling began, Hastings Books Music & Videos was the first West Park business to move into a remodeled store on the southwest corner of the mall. CVS is gone now, but the mall's other anchor stores, Oz Fitness and Sears, are staying put.

Shoppers are now wondering which new stores will come to West Park Plaza.

The first new tenant will be a familiar face, according to Jeff Kanning of Collaborative Design Architects.

"We saved Santa this year. We're really proud of ourselves, and I'm going to put that on my resume," Kanning said.

Interior space next to Time Out Sports will be remodeled so Santa and four seasonal kiosks can have a holiday home. That meant getting temporary occupancy permits from the city of Billings, Kanning said.

Meanwhile, workers for Langlas & Associates are busy finishing the exteriors, including masonry, stone, brick, exterior coatings and windows, work that should be completed by the end of the year.

"Our goal is to get the exterior finishes done," said project manager Joe Clark. "We should have all the sidewalks in, and basically the last thing to do is (bring in) more tenants."

A bar and casino called The Den will move to permanent quarters sometime after Nov. 15, Clark said.

However, plans to build a signature clock tower along the "promenade" or an exterior street cut through what once was the center of the mall have been put on hold until some tenants have signed leases, according to Kanning.

Hi-Ho Shiloh\n

The bid has been awarded for the third and last phase of the reconstruction and improvements of 4.5 miles of Shiloh Road, and Knife River Corp., an MDU Resources Group subsidiary in Billings, submitted the winning bid.

Montana Department of Transportation District Administrator Stephan Streeter said the pre-construction meeting is Monday and Knife River can start work anytime after that.

But widening and improving the middle section of Shiloh Road from King Avenue West to Grand Avenue will take a while.

"My guess is it will take through next summer," Streeter said.

The bid for this stretch of Shiloh came in at $5,816,617, about $600,000 under last year's estimate, apparently reflecting competition in the construction industry and lower costs for steel, cement and asphalt.

However, the Montana Contractors' Association, citing U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics numbers, is reporting that construction materials are starting to cost more and that the days of bids coming in 20 percent below estimates may be ending.

Knife River rebuilt Shiloh during Phase 1, and Riverside Sand & Gravel of Billings did Phase 2, or the southern portion.

Turning this two-lane former country road into a four-lane corridor with eight roundabouts is costing $30 million for construction, according to Sanderson Stewart, which designed the project. When you add in the design and engineering costs and land acquisition, the price tag will hit $46 million or double the initial estimates. Federal dollars are covering the majority of the cost.

AAA remodels building\n

AAA MountainWest has completed a major remodeling of its downtown Billings office, at 3220 Fourth Ave. N., and held an open house Thursday to show off.

The building, which was something of a rabbit's warren, now has a semi-contemporary look with a better floor plan, according to team manager Barb Brandenburg.

"We basically took down two of our four walls and gutted the inside," she said. "It's just a totally different look. It's wonderful."

Six full-time employees work at AAA's travel and insurance businesses, and they worked in a trailer during the summer of construction. Before committing to a major remodeling, AAA conducted a survey, and a majority of members said they wanted the office to stay in downtown Billings, where it has been for 24 years. The building used to be two buildings connected in an earlier remodeling project.

AAA also plans on leasing 1,000 square feet in the southwest corner of its building to another business.

Fisher Construction Inc., a Billings company that was formed 33 years ago, was the general contractor.

"This was quite intense at the start because it was an old service station years ago and we didn't know what we'd find, but the project went smoothly," said Fisher Construction project manager Irene Morgan.

By the numbers\n

Nine and eight-tenths percent and 6.7 percent: September's national unemployment rate, up 0.1 percent, and Montana's rate, which increased the same amount last month.

Scams du jour\n

A Laurel High School guidance counselor, Brent Edgmond, said local parents are receiving calls from salespeople claiming to offer their children training to take the SAT and ACT tests.

The caller promises they can try the software free for 30 days and that the course would boost their kid's SAT scores by 200 points and ACT by 4 points. Then the caller asked for a credit card number and hung up if the parent hesitated.

Five parents have told Edgmond they received multiple calls about the software.

"It's unfortunate there are some people who prey on them (students). It makes trusting adults an issue," he said.

The scam was reported to the Better Business Bureau, which said it has seen a bunch of these calls. Remember the rule: Never give out any financial or personal information to anyone calling you.

Joy Manning of Billings signed up for the federal Do Not Call list years ago, but the solicitation calls keep rolling in. Last week she picked up the phone and a woman claiming to represent Credit Card Services offered her lower interest rates if she would share her credit card information.

Manning said "no" and started to say she would deal directly with her credit card companies, but the caller hung up halfway through that sentence.

"The phone number was really weird. I was thinking it would be an 800 number," she said.

The number of 637-000-2432 on her caller ID came back as "not in service" when Manning tried to call it back.

Laugh lines\n

Billings travel agent Linda Hofer's brother, Richard Hofer, who lives in Perth, Australia, sent some wisecracks purportedly to be from actual Australian tourism officials who got tired of fielding dumb questions.

Q: Will I be able to see kangaroos in the street? (U.S.A.)

A: Depends on how much you've been drinking.

Q: Are their supermarkets in Sydney, and is milk available all year-round? (Germany)

A: No, we are a peaceful civilization of vegan hunter/gatherers. Milk is illegal.

Q: Which direction is north in Australia? (U.S.A.)

A: Face south and turn 180 degrees. Contact us when you get here and we'll send the rest of the directions.

Contact Jan Falstad at jfalstad@billingsgazette.com or 657-1306.

To see more of The Billings Gazette or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to
http://www.billingsgazette.net/. Copyright (c) 2009, Billings Gazette, Mont.
Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services. For reprints, email
tmsreprints@permissionsgroup.com, call 800-374-7985 or 847-635-6550, send a fax
to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Group Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave.,
Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA.

More News:   Market Updates | Stock Alerts | All Trading News | Stock Index