Good food and fun will open at Toot’s West in early July at 4213 Franklin Rd. Toot’s West will offer a familiar menu in its new 7,000-square-foot building. Since opening the original restaurant on Broad Street in 1985, Toot’s has opened three other locations in Rutherford County: Toot’s South on Church Street, Toot’s Smyrna on Sam Ridley Parkway and, now, Toot’s West.
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If you’re looking for something a little more wholesome, Lisa Cisco is opening Granny Meals in mid-July. Cisco said she plans to cook made-from-scratch Southern food in small portions, which sounds like an oxymoron. The portions will be flash-frozen, so customers can just heat and eat without the fuss of cooking for themselves. Once she’s up and running, Cisco will deliver a week’s worth of food following an online order. Granny’s Meals will be located in the shopping center at 855 W. College St.
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Bubble Tea Cafe has opened in the former Yum E Donuts space off Old Fort Parkway. The establishment serves a variety of flavors of bubble tea, along with Thai, Lao and Viet food. The cafe is located at 2486 Old Fort Pkwy. in Murfreesboro, behind O’Charley’s and near Ahart’s Pizza.

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Palmetto Moon plans to open a new store at The Avenue Murfreesboro. The retail store is a specialty gift and Southern lifestyle apparel chain with its corporate headquarters in Charleston, South Carolina. Shoppers can register to win one of Palmetto Moon’s grand prizes—a YETI bundle (including a Camino Carryall Tote, pair of wine tumblers and a lowlands blanket) and a Columbia paddle board, throughout the first two weeks of July.
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Sportsman’s Warehouse is planning to open a new store in Murfreesboro sometime this summer, according to a press release. The store will offer quality brand-name hunting, shooting sports, fishing, camping, apparel and footwear merchandise. The new Sportsman’s store will be over 30,000 square feet and located at The Oaks Shopping Center, 468 N. Thompson Ln. Soon, local outdoor enthusiasts will be able to choose from an incredible selection of over 60,000 items for region-specific activities and attend seminars, special events, instructional classes and more on a regular basis at the new location. With the Murfreesboro opening, Sportsman’s Warehouse will soon have 93 stores in 23 states.
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Brittany Rene Brandon, owner of The Exchange Boutique, 224 W. Main St., will expand on that business and open an event space in addition to the retail shop. The 3,000-square-foot space that is connected to The Exchange Boutique will now be the home of The Social Exchange.

“We have been working so hard over the last month to create a cozy, glam and functional space for all of your women’s events,” Brandon said. “Not only will the fun events that we host regularly take place in this amazing new space, but it will also be a rentable venue that everyone can enjoy for private parties, showers, gatherings, workshops and more.”
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Future Language 101 has announced it will soon open at 352 W. Northfield Blvd., Suite E, Murfreesboro (near CJ’s). The business aims to help those in the community with improving both Spanish and English language skills, more through interacting with one another rather than in a typical classroom setting. Courses will begin in August. For more information, call 615-410-1274 or email futurelanguage101@gmail.com.
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Brazilian Wax Studio opened at the end of June at 2330 Medical Center Pkwy., Suite C, in Murfreesboro. The studio will offer waxing of eyebrows, Brazilians (hence the name) and the “Full Body Special.”
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Glam & Grit Salon Suites has opened in Lascassas. Anchored by Glam & Grit Salon, the venture is headed by Sarah Solomon, a cosmetologist with nine years’ experience specializing in updated styles, current trends and quality products. The salon is located at 4700 Lascassas Pike, Lascassas.
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Two of Rutherford County’s entertainment destinations made big announcements in June.

First, Smyrna’s Malco Roxy Cinema announced a “rolling renovation to recliner seating.” Karen Melton, Malco vice president and director of marketing, said the Memphis-based theater chain will upgrade all 14 theaters starting in July. The project should be completed by the end of the year.
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Then Strike & Spare made it known it will be vacating its long-time home at 941 NW Broad St. in Murfreesboro once the lease is up in August 2020, General Manager Phillip Cox announced in a video posted to Facebook.

“We love this area, and we’re not going anywhere,” Cox said, but the new location hasn’t been announced yet, so be on the lookout for that.

The Broad Street building has housed a bowling alley since 1955 and Strike & Spare remodeled the 36-lane alley in 2017 with new seating and a new scoring system. Strike & Spare owns 14 sites in Indiana, Tennessee, Kentucky and Ohio.

In that same announcement, Cox also announced that fellow manager Mike Sealy planes to open a Sir Pizza in Shelbyville with his wife. A quick look at the pizza shack’s Facebook page only announces the impending opening with no concrete dates yet.
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Speaking of pizza, Spooky’s Pizza II in Walter Hill is having so much success with plant-based menu options they wanted to thank the vegan community for its support.

“The love and gratitude we have received from the vegan community is humbling,” the restaurant said in a Facebook post. “The words ‘thank you for doing this for us’ pretty much says it all. This is personal! Traveling down this new and exciting path is changing us. We have discovered a new and sustainable way to nourish our bodies.”

Spooky’s is expanding its earth-first philosophy by incorporating eco-friendly pizza boxes and carry-out containers.
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Main Street Murfreesboro / Rutherford, Inc. has a new executive director.
The Main Street board has named Sarah Callender as the organization’s executive director, replacing Kathleen Herzog, who retired from that position in June.

“I wholeheartedly agree with the vision of the Main Street national program, that ‘a community is only as strong as its core.’ Our downtown is the heart of our community,” said Callender, who previously served with Special Kids, Belle Aire Baptist Church, Dyersburg State Community College and the Middle Tennessee Council, Boy Scouts of America.

Main Street oversees the Murfreesboro Saturday Market, JazzFest, the First Friday concerts on the Square and other efforts to promote the downtown Murfreesboro activity and business.
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Closings Corner

After spending five years in the Boro, the Pfunky Griddle has closed. With the five-year lease ending, owner Matthew Pfuntner said he plans to focus on his Berry Hill location. Could it be there are too many restaurants in The Gateway? Nah, there’s definitely room for more tacos. The Pfunky Griddle vacated the space at 525 N. Thompson Ln. Now if you want to cook your own pancakes, but not at home, you can travel to 2800 Bransford Avenue in Nashville.

Seoul Pepper Korean Restaurant at 3138 S. Church St. has closed, but a sign on the door proclaims a “new Thai restaurant coming soon.”