Buff City Soap will open its third Murfreesboro location at 2113 Memorial Blvd., near Chipotle and Newk’s.
The brand’s rapid expansion is part of an aggressive franchise agreement with Louisville businessman Rick Kueber, the founder of Sun Tan City and a Planet Fitness franchisee. Kueber’s franchise group has signed development deals that will result in a total of 150 new Buff City Soap stores, or soap makeries, within a five-year period, many of them in Kentucky, Tennessee and Indiana.
Buff City makes bar soaps, bath bombs and laundry soap, allowing guests to customize the scent and ingredients with multiple fragrances such as apple, peach, rose, bergamot, cinnamon, lavender, cedarwood and other aromas.
“It’s a unique product in a growing space and natural products have been growing pretty rapidly,” Kueber said.
A bar of Buff City Soap, produced in a beautiful swirled tie-dye pattern, goes for $7 per bar.
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Slim & Husky’s Pizza Beeria has announced it will open a Murfreesboro location, reportedly in the Medical Center Parkway space that formerly housed Freebirds World Burrito.
The Nashville-based business, now with locations in Antioch, Nashville, Memphis, Atlanta and Sacramento, serves signature oval-shaped pizzas in “slim” or “husky” varieties, even a hot chicken pizza.
Slim & Husky’s also slings some popular cinnamon rolls in different varieties—including one with bacon, caramel, whiskey and pecans.
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Maple Street Biscuit Company plans to open a location in the former Taco Garage building on Medical Center Parkway near the hospital.
The restaurant will offer biscuits, gravy, fried chicken, waffles and coffee.
Originating in Florida and now owned by Cracker Barrel, Maple Street Biscuit has locations all over the Southeast U.S., including seven existing Tennessee restaurants.
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Mahle will expand its operations in Rutherford County. The automotive supplier, based in Stuttgart, Germany, expects to bring approximately 300 additional jobs to the area with a multi-million-dollar expansion that adds 140,000 square feet to its operations at 906 Butler Dr. in Murfreesboro and will include new injection-molding production lines.
“These new jobs will be a tremendous boost to our local economy,” said State Sen. Shane Reeves of Murfreesboro. “Thank you, Mahle, for your confidence in the Rutherford County worker.”
The company, which employs approximately 77,000 workers worldwide, said its products address all issues relating to the power train and air conditioning technology both in automobiles with combustion engines and electric vehicles.
Rutherford County Mayor Bill Ketron said the company’s Murfreesboro expansion will provide more “above-average-paying jobs locally.”
“Partnerships like these support our community’s resiliency as it pertains to economic vitality,” Ketron said.
Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee added that “substantial investments like Mahle’s are crucial to get Tennessee’s economy back on track and ensure quality jobs are available for Tennesseans.”
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Murfreesboro Hyundai has taken over the property at 1625 S. Church St. formerly occupied by the Honda dealership (which has since relocated to John Rice Boulevard).
The dealership sells the popular sedans and small SUVs that Hyundai is known for, such as the Tucson, Santa Fe, Sonata, Kona and Elantra.
Murfreesboro Hyundai is part of the Hudson Automotive Group, which also includes Beaman Chrysler Dodge Jeep Ram Fiat—adjacent to Murfreesboro Hyundai on Church Street—and Murfreesboro Volkswagen, as well as over 20 other auto dealerships in the Southeast.
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After only two months of operation, Pepper+Peach Hot Chicken has announced that it will close permanently. The Peach Cobbler Factory, which operates two Nashville locations, a Smyrna location and a food truck, opened the restaurant at 1824 Old Fort Pkwy. (the former home of Uncle Bud’s, Jazzmatazz and Santa Fe) as a new concept adding hot chicken and other entrees to the menu.
However, Pepper+Peach closed suddenly in early December, and employees gathered and demonstrated in the parking lot shortly thereafter, requesting their final paychecks.
“Our leadership team, including myself, missed an opportunity to have a better dialogue in the hours leading up to this decision,” Peach Cobbler Factory CEO Juan Edgerton posted on social media following the public demonstration and subsequent negative media attention in response to the “abrupt announcement” of closure, but assured his employees that they would soon be paid in full for their work.
Edgerton added that he would resign from his position following the incident.
“I will no longer have a day-to-day role in the business I founded,” Edgerton said. “My drive and passion caused us to depart from our core values. I deeply regret that.”
The three other Peach Cobbler Factory locations will remain open.
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Hello Beautiful has permanently closed its boutique on Old Fort Parkway.
Business owner Molly Brown thanked all of her customers for supporting her and her dream throughout the store’s run.
“It’s definitely been a hard year on small businesses,” Brown posted. “It’s been so sad . . . everyone, really, thank you for your support.”
She will continue to operate Hello Beautiful Glam Bar, which will offer onsite makeup and hair services for special occasions.
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Bink’s Outfitters has announced that it will close its store on the Murfreesboro Public Square after 18 years in downtown Murfreesboro. Bink’s does operate another Murfreesboro location at Stones River Mall, where it carries products from Yeti, Columbia, Patagonia, Teva, North Face, Camelback and other popular outdoor brands.
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Transparent Heart Yoga has closed its Lytle Street yoga studio.
“We have tried our best to mold and change within the current landscape, but this business model is not sustainable,” according to owner Courtney Sabbagh. “I am excited about the future,” she added.
In the immediate future, Transparent Heart will shift from group classes, which were primarily physically based, to more individualized, on-demand offerings that focus on the mind and purpose of the soul.
Sabbagh has also begun clearing land on her own property for a building that can host yoga classes, workshops and retreats.
“I look forward to this evolution for all of us,” Sabbagh said.
On transparentheartyoga.com, as part of the mission of the business, she posted that “I believe that you, no matter who you are or what your background is, or what your current state of affairs is, or what your current mental state is, can become that excellence that you desire to be.”
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The Shoney’s on Church Street in Murfreesboro has closed temporarily, according to its sign.
The restaurant has a history of sudden closures; this Shoney’s closed temporarily in 2017 for remodeling.
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Restaurant spending in the U.S. in December 2020 has almost returned to levels seen in January 2020, according to a recent study conducted by TOP Data and Zenreach, companies that partner to track business and consumer spending habits and trends in the U.S.
2020 has been an incredibly trying time for restaurants with all of the shutdowns, but the data suggests that nationwide restaurant spending is only down one percent from where it was in January 2020. In fact, many states have seen an increase in restaurant spending since the pandemic started.
Tennessee restaurant spending is actually up six percent in December 2020, in comparison to January 2020.
Kentucky, Alabama, Mississippi and Georgia have all experienced double digit increases when comparing the two time periods.
However, some in some states restaurant business is still significantly down. Idaho has experienced the most drastic decline, with restaurant spending down 47 percent from January 2020. Massachusetts is down 41 percent, Rhode Island down 34 percent and California down 29 percent.
