On your mark, get set, fasten!

Think you’ve got tool skills? Here’s your chance to prove it. The Colorado Springs Fastenal store, 1130 E. Fillmore St., will host the local running of Fastenal’s nationwide Ultimate Drive Challenge. Contents using a DeWalt cordless impactor drive down six screws (three into wood, three into metal) and then rachet down one nut as quickly as they can. The 10 fastest in the country will be flown to Homestead, Fla., to compete for a 2008 Dodge Ram 1500 Laramie packed with tools and gear. The local challenge will run from 10:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Aug. 14 as part of an all-day sales event.

Stewart Title emphasizes Hispanic homeowners in the Springs

The Colorado Springs division of Stewart Title of Colorado has launched a full-service title and closing team targeting Hispanic home buyers and sellers. The Hispanic team will be based out of Stewart Title's downtown Springs office in the Plaza of the Rockies office complex, 111 S. Tejon St., Suite 111.

The Springs' rising Hispanic population was cited as a reason for offering the services. In addition to offering escrow documents and closing materials in Spanish, Stewart Title will have Spanish speaking employees and a "culturally relevant approach to servicing Hispanics," the company said. Stewart Title is committed to making its services “more welcoming to the Hispanic community,” said Tammy Perez-Baca, regional multicultural markets director for Stewart Title Guaranty Co.

Ken Barela, chairman of the Colorado Springs Hispanic Chamber of Commerce's board of directors, said businesses must understand the markets they serve. “There are rapid changes in our community's demographics occurring and the overall consumer base is requiring businesses to better understand the culture, values and different perspectives associated with this new era of diversity,” Barela said.

Krumbz crumbles

Robert "Chef Rob" Lemoine and girlfriend Pamela Raver opened Krumbz cake and pastry shop in early June at 321 N. Tejon St., the former Tejon Street Grocery and Deli. Within a month, they were gone, said Scott Long, who owns the building.

Long, who also owns the neighboring Tejon Street Wine Shoppe, said he learned Krumbz had closed when he found the store’s sign tossed in the trash. “He moved out overnight,” Long said of Lemoine.

Lemoine acknowledes he gave no warning. The rent was too high and business was too slow the first month, he said. “We started with really low capital,” he said.

Is that your final answer?

In today's Gazette story about the apartment industry, Colorado Springs real estate veteran Ken Greene, who works for Apartment Realty Advisors in Denver, was asked if a second-quarter dip in the Springs apartment vacancy rate signaled the start of an improvement in the market, or was just a one-time decline.

“That’s the $64 question," Greene said, "nobody really knows.” His response prompted this reply from some readers under the age of, oh, 40: What "$64 question" was he talking about?

OK, for those of you came out of the womb wearing an iPod, here's the answer. Greene's comment refers to the 1950s-era television game show called "The $64,000 Question," in which contestants answered a series of questions and saw their winnings increase for every correct answer. That program was based on a radio quiz show that started as 1940's "Take It or Leave It" and was renamed "The $64 Question" a decade later. Today's "Who Wants to be a Millionaire?" is based on those shows. More information: www.museum.tv, the Web site for the Museum of Broadcast Communications.

Downtown Jamba Juice closing

Downtown Colorado Springs suffered another loss today as Jamba Juice, 15 E. Bijou St., was set to close its doors for good at 7 p.m. The downtown smoothie and juice shop opened 10 years ago as Zuka Juice.

“It’s our last day,” said franchise owner Dean Patzel. “Kind of a sad finish to 10 years.”

Patzel and his wife, Diane, own three other Jamba Juice stores in the Springs. They’re staying open, he said.

The downtown location was not an underperformer, he said. In fact, business has been up, possibly because of the closings in recent months of Michelle’s and Cold Stone Creamery downtown. But the shop was at an age that it needed a face-lift, he said, and corporate wanted a site with higher volume and more exposure.

“I agree with them,” Patzel said. “We’re excited about growth and we’d like to pursue opening a few more stores in town. This is kind of the first step in that whole process.”

New store opens at Promenade Shops

Olivia & Rose (www.oliviaandrose.com) has opened at The Promenade Shops at Briargate, featuring fine paper products such as greeting cards, stationery, gift wrap and custom invitations and announcements. A grand opening celebration is set for Aug. 4. The Promenade Shops at Briargate also has welcomed back the Halloween Bootique. Located between Kirkland’s Home and Gymboree on the west side of the shopping center, the seasonal shop features costumes, wigs, masks and makeup.

Apply your green to brownfields

Here's a chance to double your money, while helping to clean up dilapidated and polluted areas. The Colorado Brownfields Foundation, a Littleton non-profit, has announced the billionaire Anschutz family of Colorado will match donations to the Brownfields Foundation up to $5,000 between now and Oct. 15. The tax deductible donations will help the foundation in its efforts to clean up brownfields around the state. The organization partners with communities, local governments and other non-profits to help reuse and redevelop sites where hazardous substances, pollutants or environmental contaminants hamper their clean-up. An estimated 1,000 brownfield sites -- including former gas stations, dry cleaners, manufacturing facilities, mine and milling sites and landfills -- exist in Colorado, the foundation says. The matching grants from the Anschutz family will help raise funds for the Brownfields Foundation, but also will shine a light on the importance of its work, the organizations says. More information: http://www.coloradobrownfieldsfoundation.org/ or 303-962-0941

Never mind

It took a Grand Canyon-sized leap in logic to conclude that construction of a pair of John Q. Hammons' hotels would be delayed in Colorado Springs, but the Colorado Springs Business Journal took the plunge.

On Friday, the weekly Business Journal ran an item on its daily electronic update with the headline "Colorado Springs hotel developer changes mind." The item went on to say that Hammons -- of Missouri, not the Springs -- had apparently put his proposed southwest downtown and northern Colorado Springs hotels "on the back burner." Because Hammons was moving ahead with a hotel project in Loveland, the Business Journal concluded, he therefore was delaying his Springs' hotels. The item carried no comment from Hammons, his company or local land developers where the Springs hotels will be built.

A Gazette call Friday to Hammons' senior vice president L. Scott Tarwater brought this comment: "Nothing could be further from the truth." He went on to say that Hammons' hotel in Loveland had no connection to the company's projects in the Springs. On Monday, the Business Journal retracted its Friday item -- sort of. The publication now said "it appears Colorado Springs isn't on the hotel construction back burner after all." The Business Journal didn't acknowledge its Friday item, but quoted Tarwater and an executive from Classic Cos. -- the Springs developer which owns land where one of the hotels will be built -- as saying the two local hotels are on schedule.

Former Albertsons becoming a Ross

A former Albertsons supermarket in Security is being transformed into a Ross clothing store. The new Ross at 302 Main St. is slated to open in early October.

Supervalu Inc., owner of the Albertsons grocery chain, closed the Albertsons in Security last summer along with two stores in Colorado Springs. Since then, Ross Stores, Inc. has announced an agreement to acquire certain leasehold rights to 46 former Albertsons sites in Colorado, California, Florida, Texas, Arizona and Oklahoma. While former Albertsons in Boulder and Highlands Ranch are also being remade into Ross stores, there’s no plan to do so with the two empty stores in the Springs, a spokeswoman said.

Langstaff-Brown Urgent Care Center turns 25

Langstaff-Brown Urgent Care Center in Woodland Park will celebrate its 25th anniversary with an open house Aug. 4, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at 41 State Highway 67.

Free hamburgers, hot dogs, prizes, entertainment and blood pressure checks will be available.

Children can take their favorite stuffed toy to an interactive Teddy Bear Clinic for a checkup. Dr. Funny Bones will provide animal balloons and the Peterson Air Force Working Dogs will give a demonstration.

Chamber weighs in on Pinon Canyon debate

The Greater Colorado Springs Chamber of Commerce is working to make its voice heard in the debate over expansion of the Pinon Canyon Maneuver Site.

The Army’s intention to buy more than 400,000 acres of land in southeast Colorado has met with fierce opposition from ranchers who live near the training area. The House voted last month to stop the Army from spending money on the project.

In letters this week to senators Ken Salazar and Wayne Allard, the chamber urged passage of the Senate version of the 2008 Defense Military Construction Appropriations bill. The letters encourage Salazar and Allard to reject the amendment that the House added to its bill blocking funding for the study and assessment of the maneuver site expansion.

“The state’s military installations are critical to the vibrancy and well-being of our state’s economy, contributing approximately $2.8 billion annually,” the letters state. “Colorado’s military installations not only provide a tremendous number of jobs and revenue to our state, but also create an atmosphere that entices other companies to relocate to Colorado, including many small start-up businesses.”

It's Hammons, not Hammonds

You'd think after developing 185 hotels over nearly a half-century, Missouri hotelier John Q. Hammons (right) could get a little respect. But in Colorado Springs, they don't know how to spell his name. Hammons has said he plans to build a 220- to 240-room Embassy Suites hotel in southwest downtown as part of an urban renewal project, and a 306-room Renaissance Hotel as part of the InterQuest Marketplace shopping center on the city's far north side. But the city's Urban Renewal Authority often spells Hammons' name as "Hammonds" in planning documents, while Nor'wood Development Group -- the Springs real estate company developing InterQuest Marketplace -- does the same on its Web site. Everybody misspells a name now and then. Of course, this is the name of a man who's investing tens of millions of dollars in the Springs.

Hospital opening delayed a month

The opening of Pikes Peak Regional Hospital in Woodland Park has been pushed back one month to Sept. 17.

The first full-service hospital in Teller County was supposed to open in August but equipment and finishing touches won't be ready until September, according to hospital officials.

Within the next month, the Pikes Peak Regional Medical Center Foundation hopes to raise $1 million in cash and pledges. To date, the foundation has raised $4 million from 550 donors to help keep the project on track.

Tax forum set for August

Colorado’s tax structure and its effect on business solvency and growth will be the subject of a forum Aug. 13 in Denver. The forum, open to all Colorado small-business owners, starts at 1 p.m. in the Old Supreme Court Chambers on the second floor of the state Capitol. It’s hosted by the National Federation of Independent Business/Colorado. To RSVP, e-mail Tyler Nifong at tyler.nifong@nfib.org.

Wybron gets second-largest order

Wybron Inc. will deliver its second-largest order ever in September to the Dubai Mall Aquarium in the United Arab Emirates.
The 164-foot aquarium will pay more than $500,000 to the Colorado Springs-based manufacturer of theatrical lighting fixtures and related products for 226 large-format "Aquarams," a lighting fixture that can display and change 32 colors, and an "InfoTrace" control and management system to control all 226 fixtures, Wybron announced last week.
The lights will allow visitors to the world's largest mall in downtown Dubai to see "sharks, stingrays and other species in their natural habitat" when the aquarium opens in 2008, Wybron said in a press release issued Thursday. Wybron will complete the order with existing staff.
Wybron's largest order totaled more than $600,000 in 2006 from a mall in Doha, Qatar.
"We are very pleased with the spike in sales of our architectural fixtures," said Wybron Chief Executive Larry Turner.

Fall opening for Rancho Liborio

Springs residents waiting for the opening of Rancho Liborio, near the intersection of South Circle Drive and Monterey Road, will have to keep waiting for a few more months. A May opening was first eyed for the Hispanic supermarket, which is part of the Liborio Markets chain. But the city permitting process took longer than anticipated, said Anthony Trujillo, a Denver developer and partner with Liborio Markets. Now he has a permit in hand and work will begin immediately on the store. “We should be open some time in late October, early November,” he said. The nearly 65,000-square-foot store, occuping a former Grocery Warehouse, will employ about 100 people, he said.

Mountainside Fitness coming to the Springs

Mountainside Fitness, an Arizona-based fitness chain, is expanding into Colorado, including Colorado Springs.

A fall 2008 opening is planned for a Mountainside Fitness club at 30th Street and Garden of the Gods Road. There are tentative plans for a second club on the east side of Colorado Springs, a spokeswoman said.

Mountainside Fitness facilities feature amenities such as a cycle room, a 30-foot rock-climbing wall, a stadium-style cardio area with a TV on each machine, a movie theater and Internet lounge.

New stores at Park Meadows

Park Meadows Shopping Center south of Denver is welcoming two new new stores. M.A.C., known for cutting-edge cosmetics, just opened on the lower level of the mall near JCrew. Lucky Brand Jeans will open late this summer on the lower level near Armani Exchange.

A Denver real estate company likes us, it really likes us

Why does a Denver-area real estate company invest in Colorado Springs? For DPC Development Co., which on July 5 paid $25.2 million for the downtown Colorado Square building, the company is bullish on the Springs for several reasons, said president Chris King (right). While the Springs' commercial real estate market is growing, several national investors still haven't made purchases here, which leaves the field open for a mid-range investor such as DPC Development, King said. In addition, the company believes the Springs has a diverse economy, what with tech companies, defense contractors and service sector businesses, King said. DPC also believes downtown Colorado Springs is poised to make "a pretty good turnaround," King said. The Colorado Square building was especially attractive. Constructing a similar building in downtown probably would have cost the company twice as much, he said. DPC hopes to keep two subsidiaries of Houston-based El Paso Corp. as tenants; they occupy about 90 percent of the building. If not, the building would be attractive to a wide range of tenants, King said. "Hopefully, they'll stay," he said.

Big publicity for Mr. Biggs

How does a Colorado Springs business go about getting nationwide attention? By getting robbed by a pair of knuckleheaded thieves, that's how. When news of a robbery of the Mr. Biggs Family Fun Center in Colorado Springs -- now called Bigg City -- hit local television stations and The Gazette, it quickly grabbed attention from the national media, too. In June, two burglars with door keys, pass codes and safe combinations sought to rob the northwest Colorado Springs amusement center. Their antics were captured by a security camera, which the thieves unsuccessfully sought to disable by spraying with WD-40. When they couldn't figure out how to actually open three safes, the thieves used a nearby computer and did a Google search for “how to open a safe” and “how to crack a safe.” The security video of the thieves repeatedly spraying the security camera -- the WD-40 kept dripping off -- and moving from safe to safe made its way July 11 to Good Morning America as the program's "Picture of the Morning." Hosts Diane Sawyer and George Stephanopoulos referred to the thieves as "the Google guys," and showed a portion of the video. ABC radio commentator Paul Harvey, who typically ends his reports on a lighter note, used the story to finish one of his daily newscasts. As of July 13, the thieves were still at large.