BUSINESS BUZZ

The lowdown on what’s up with neighborhood businesses

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Unlucky dog

Lucky Dog Books had been expected to close its West Davis location April 1. The building owners did not renew the bookshop’s lease after they were unable to pay the full rent for several months. The Common Desk co-working space has leased the building. There is a possibility that the bookstore could relocate to another Oak Cliff space, but only with community support. According to the store’s announcement on Facebook: “…our being able to afford to move may depend in large degree on a couple of things over the coming weeks. First, continued strong sales at the store so that we can be accumulating as much cash as possible to pay for what would have to be paid. And second, whether enough of you are willing to donate some labor for a move in exchange for some ‘book bucks’ so to speak that can be used for stuff in the stores once a move would be completed. This labor would mostly be helping box, move and unbox the stuff on our shelves that we do not sell between now and then.” Lucky Dog Books, which also has locations in Northeast Dallas and Mesquite, opened its Oak Cliff store in May 2012.

Che buono!

Cibo Divino, the concept from Kessler Park residents Daniele and Christina Puleo, could open in a 4,400-square-foot space at Sylvan Thirty as soon as this month. The idea is something like Eatzi’s. Check the statistics: 3,000 bottles of wine for retail sale, 42 cheeses, pizza from an oven built in Naples (and delivery within a 2-mile radius), 12 local craft beers on draft and wine by the glass, a 2,200-square-foot patio, prepared meals (including Daniele’s homemade pasta, plus chicken, turkey and salmon from the in-house smoker), made-to-order panini, and a coffee bar with Lavazza espresso, open 7 a.m.-10 p.m. Monday-Sunday.

The Puleos moved to our neighborhood in 2013, and one night just after they moved, Christina had trouble finding a place to buy a bottle of wine. They’ve been working on their concept ever since. Cibo Divino also will offer wine tastings and cooking classes, among other events. Daniele Puleo is from Sicily, and he and Christina travel to the Italian wine country and Napa Valley at least once a year. They are inspired by “wine culture and community culture,” says Christina, and that’s the vibe they want to bring with Cibo Divino. “We wanted a place that felt like a community,” she says. “You can pick up some good cheese and a bottle of wine and have a picnic.”

Bye-bye Butch’s

Butch’s Transmission shop closed in February, just one month shy of 45 years in business at 810 W. Davis. Butch Rushing, 74, sold the building to Jeff and Pam Dowling. The Dowlings plan to renovate the shop and possibly turn it into a restaurant space. Jeff Dowling is a pharmacist, and Pam Dowling is an interior decorator. They have one son who is an architect and another son in the construction business, and they like investing in commercial real estate. They previously bought and renovated a 1925 cottage on McKinney Avenue, which now houses Cliff’s Bar and Grill, aka the new Loon. Butch’s was a family business: Rushing’s two sons worked with him there, and he had the same secretary for 38 years. The lifelong mechanic started having back pain last year and has had two back surgeries recently.

“We got a fair price for it, and I think everybody’s happy, so that makes for a good deal,” he says.

Vintage shop, vintage building

Zola’s Everyday Vintage, The Cozy Cottage and a hair salon called the Mod Labb are now open in the former Cannon’s Village shopping center on West Davis at Edgefield. A French restaurant from Dallas restaurateur Jean Michel Sakouhi is expected in the corner space on West Davis farthest from Edgefield. Real estate broker Kacy Jones of Kessler Park bought the building with his family in December 2014 and renovated it. They plan to live in one of two second-floor apartments to be finished out above the retail spaces.

1 Antiques on Bishop, from the owners of M’antiques, is now open in the former Cozy Cottage space on Eighth at Bishop. 2 The owners of Ten Bells Tavern snapped up the space vacated by the Amsterdam Bar in Exposition Park, where they plan to open Eight Bells Alehouse

Education

Four La Rondalla students received full four-year university scholarships from benefactor Jorge Baldor The four students, all seniors in Dallas public schools, are Dominique Fleming, Science and Engineering Magnet at Townview High School; Marcos Rivera and Carlos Reyes, Sunset High School; and Luis Castillo, Adamson High School. The students have completed more than three years of guitar and bass lessons in La Rondalla, which is funded by Big Thought and based at the Oak Cliff Cultural Center.

A $10-million addition to Greiner Middle School, expected to open before the coming academic year, will double the school’s size and eliminate the maze of portables that have been in use for decades. Greiner has about 1,600 students in grades 6-8. If it were a high school, it would be a 4A school. The existing school was built for about 800 students. The new two-story wing will add six science labs and 33 classrooms. The school currently has six science labs and 12 science teachers, so the addition means each science teacher will have his or her own lab.

Business

Methodist Dallas Medical Center received a baby-friendly birth facility designation from Baby-Friendly USA Based on the ten steps to successful breastfeeding, the designation recognizes birth facilities that offer breastfeeding mothers the information, confidence and skills needed to successfully initiate and continue breastfeeding their babies.

People

Former U.S. Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison received the Bill Melton Humanitarian Award from the Oak Cliff Lions Club in March. The award recognizes a person whose “activities, contributions and service to the community best symbolize the ideals of Lionism.”

Parks

Work began earlier this year on a makeover of the streets, sidewalks and pocket park at Rosemont and West Seventh. The $413,000 project includes repaving the streets and sidewalks, landscaping and installing park amenities such as benches and lighting, and improving storm water and sewer lines. The Davis Garden TIF is paying for most of it, $391,592. Another $22,000 comes from the city’s wastewater utility construction fund. The Rosemont Plaza is expected to be completed this coming summer. It precedes the $1-million West Davis sidewalk improvement project.

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