Welcome to the first Business Pulse of 2025. I hope everybody had a great Christmas and a happy New Year. I love the holiday season, but frankly, I'm ready to get back to some weeks with a normal schedule so maybe I'll know what day of the week it is. 

Luckily I remembered this is Sunday, so here's another Business Pulse.

Mud Bums

gets new look

Customers returning to Mud Bums after its holiday break may soon be noticing a few changes. Most noticeable is a new exterior paint job.

Now I make no secret of being a Vandy fan who is allergic to orange, but even I have to admit the restaurant's new color scheme of smokey grey with orange highlights is a vast improvement over the previous beige. 

The changes don't stop with a snazzy new paint job however, as owner Brett Simmons explained to me. 

"Miguel Gomez is coming on as a business partner to give me some help and fresh ideas," Brett said. "It was his idea to paint and re-do a few things."

One of those things is work on the outdoor patio which is a popular hang-out area during pleasant weather for Mud Bums customers.

"When we get the permits sorted out, we're going to cover the patio so in the winter we can enclose it," Brett said. "Inside, we're going to add some TVs. We'll also be bringing some fresh ideas to the menu in the next three to four weeks."

But don't worry. Mud Bum favorites will remain while some new additions may soon join them on the menu. Mud Bums also offers several special events, which will continue.

"We've got the meat-and-three still. Thursday is wing night. That's our biggest night," Brett said. "We have poker on Wednesdays and different stuff on Tuesdays.

"This month we will have live music every Saturday," Brett said. "We should continue concerts pretty much every Saturday night up until football season returns."

Miguel expressed his thanks to Brett for welcoming him on board and is excited about what the future holds.

"I appreciate Brett for the opportunity," Miguel said. "Like he said, we're looking forward to making some changes and making sure we stay on top of our level of customer service."

One of the changes in the works is the addition of liquor to their current lineup of craft beers.

"We've applied for our liquor license," Brett said. "So hopefully that will be coming in the next 10 to 12 weeks. We're just hoping to have it for the spring." 

Mud Bums is located at 231 Northgate Dr. St. 400 and can be reached at (931) 507-BUMS. It is opened on weekdays from 11 a.m. - 10 p.m., weekends from 11 a.m. - 11 p.m. and Sunday from 11 a.m. - 5 p.m.

Main Street Center progress

One of the biggest success stories on Main Street has been the complete transformation of the old Fraley's building which had remained dormant for decades.

The space has been brilliantly brought back to life as Main Street Center. That is thanks to owner Ken Roberts and his granddaughter Raven Young, who manages the center and has been responsible for much of the renovation and design work of the building which now contains a variety of commercial businesses including Begonias restaurant.

As I reported in May, Raven isn't done yet, working on adding 10 high-end apartments to the upper floors of the building. Raven recently provided me an update on the construction progress.

"We are working on the new construction portion of our project that will be the main entrance for our residential apartments at Main Street Center," Raven said. "This area will have a private parking lot strictly for use by our residents, private key-card access, and there will be a new elevator and staircase to access the second floor.

"We will have 10 residential apartments in total, with the majority being long-term lease options, and potentially a couple of short-term rentals. If anyone is interested in more information they are welcome to contact me at mainstreetcenterofmcminnville@gmail.com or call (931) 259-4273. We are not finalizing leases yet but will be in the coming months."

Raven noted one of the most exciting additions to the building isn't necessarily an entirely new bit of technology to the building.

"I am really excited to see this phase of our project start to take shape since it will make a drastic difference in the overall appearance of the facade of the building," Raven said. "And the addition of an elevator to the property will make the apartments accessible to everyone. Many people might remember that the building did have an original freight elevator when it was home to Fraley's Furniture, but the new elevator will not be so scary to ride.

"We are tentatively planning to be complete with the project in late spring/early summer 2025, but that is a tentative date since we all know construction can sometimes take longer than anticipated." 

Big Lots' fate

still uncertain

I recently delivered the unpleasant news that all Big Lots stores, including the local one in the Northgate Shopping Center, were set to be closed. 

On Sept. 9, 2024, Big Lots filed for bankruptcy, citing a slowdown in customer spending since COVID. Initially the company, with 1,300 stores in 48 states, anticipated closing 300 stores, which became 400 which, by the end of December, culminated in an announcement all stores would begin going-out-of-business sales and closing for good.

Last week a small sliver of hope arrived with the news that the company reached a deal which with Variety Wholesalers which owns over 400 retail stores, including Roses. Variety Wholesalers plans to buy 200 - 400 Big Lots stores which it will keep open under the Big Lots name.

Now the question, of course, is will the McMinnville Big Lots be one of those stores which is given a second life. That's a question I took to our McMinnville location. 

Unfortunately, local employees are as in the dark as we are, telling me they have no idea if they'll be spared or not, and they have been given no deadline on when they might be officially closing if they aren't spared.

Here's hoping for the best for the Big Lots employees as well as the many customers who love the store.

Until next week,

same biz day,

same biz page

Thanks for reading and thanks to Ben Lomand for sponsoring the page. As we embark on a brand new year of Business Pulse, let's hope this page brings more news of business openings than closings and a better year for us all.