BUSINESS BUZZ

The lowdown on what’s up with neighborhood businesses

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In the lines

Dairy Queen across the way from Jimmy’s Food Store. It was family-owned and operated, run by Ann Lee. According to The Dallas Morning News (DMN), Perry Guest Company recently bought the property, including next-door Mai’s, out of foreclosure. They have plans to redevelop the property, and Jade Garden got the axe — although, there are differing stories about how that happened. Lee told the DMN that Perry Guest simply doesn’t want the restaurant to stay. “We tried,” she says. But Neal Morris of Perry Guest told the DMN that Jade Garden’s lease ended in November, and Perry Guest kept the restaurant on month-tomonth to give Lee time to find a new home, which she failed to do. “We talked to them about market rents, and the economics just didn’t work,” Morris told the DMN. “This is the worst part about redeveloping any property.”

Adult coloring books have quickly emerged as a popular new trend. They made national headlines last year after four of them reached the top 10 best-selling books list on Amazon.com. Last year we profiled Walter Hofheinz, a Lakewood resident, who capitalized on the trend with an adult coloring book of his own. By day he’s an attorney, but he’s been making mandalas — geometric circles comprised by lines, dots, swirls and other designs — for at least 20 years. He just released his second adult coloring book and it contains 60 three-inch mandalas, plus space to practice drawing your own mandalas and quotes printed beneath many of the designs. The book is listed on Amazon. com and can be easily found by searching

“Walter Hofheinz 2.”

Bragging on Bragg

Captain Jack R. Bragg Jr. retired from the Dallas Police Department recently after more than 41 years of service. We interviewed Bragg in 2014 about his role as dive team commander. When there was a suspected drowning at White Rock Lake or another local body of water, Bragg typically was first on the scene, after Dallas Fire-Rescue personnel. He was one of only two people in the entire Dallas Police Department with the title of captain. Despite the gloomy nature of his work, Bragg’s colleagues say he always has a cheerful disposition.

Closing

Jade Garden, which has been a staple on Bryan Street in East Dallas for 34 years, went out of business recently. The Chinese restaurant first opened in 1982 in an old

Opening

Construction is still underway on the neighborhood’s newest Latin cuisine concept, La Bodega’s, at 1905 Greenville. Owners James and Iana Price originally hoped to open by the end of the year but were delayed by some city approval issues. James told us he hopes to introduce “a lot of new concepts from Europe and Central America” to the drink menu. “I’m really excited about that.” Roots Juices opened in the Lakewood Shopping Center in April as well. Owner Brent Rodgers says the shop is open weekdays from 7 a.m.-8 p.m., and weekends from 10 a.m.-6 p.m. The dream of an East Dallas Dream Café was realized last month with the opening of the new restaurant at Abrams and Mockingbird. Just like its sister stores in Addison and Uptown, this location will serve breakfast lunch and dinner. Lakewood neighbor Christine Lott opened the local franchise, maintaining Dream Café’s dedication to freshly produced dishes.