Plenty of action is rolling along in downtown Rochester these days.
While the renovation at the Kahler Grand Hotelis gearing up, other businesses have their own projects under way.
Adventures of Sole Man
The classic footwear store — O&B Shoes— by the Peace Plaza on First Avenue Southwest is coming into the final sprint in the construction of its new adjacent pair of stores, O&B Athletic and O&E (Odds & Ends) Bargain Room.
Owner Don Hadley, aka "The Sole Man," says he hopes to begin selling shoes out of the new 2,300-square-foot space in the next two to three weeks.
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"Shoes are pouring in here, day in and day out," says the harried but happy Hadley. "It is a new adventure."
Part of that adventure is adding running, cross training and walking shoes from New Balance and Asics to O&B's offerings.
Then tucked away behind the new athletic space, "O&E will sell brand-name shoes for 25 to 60 percent off, 365 days a year," he says.
Calling the Shots
Talk about a quick draw.
It took just 30 days to turn an empty shell with concrete walls and a sand floor into a sleek new bar in the City Centrebuilding along South Broadway in Rochester's downtown.
Top Shots! started serving drinks and chalking up cues Monday night. Crowds of pool and dart players could be seen bathed in a neon glow lighting up Broadway.
Majority owner Ross Manahanseems very happy with how his latest project has turned out. He describes it as "an upscale, industrial-design, pool-and-darts bar."
Expect a shiny, black marble bar, wood walls, neon lights all around, including glowing LED-lit beer coolers behind the bar, six pool tables and three dart board machines.
Manahan,who also owns Grumpy's Bar/ Southside Saloon and Billiardsin Grand Meadow, is the lead owner in this watering hole with partners Krissie Pauley, Brad Petersonand Rudy Naul.
This is the first tenant to open up in developer Joe Weis' City Centrebuilding since RMS McGladreytook over the third floor as the building's anchor at the start of 2009.
The Top Shotsdeal was put together by George Rowndof Braasch Commercial Real Estate.
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Law on the move
When 2011 starts, expect a familiar name to be gone from Rochester's downtown.
With some reluctance, the law office of Klampe, Delehanty & Morris is moving because it's outgrowing its space in the top of the historic building at 300 First Ave. N.W.
"We just ran out of room," says partner Mark Delehanty.
The firm is now made up of four attorneys and six support staff.
The law office, founded by the late Mike Klampe, is almost doubling its space by taking most of the fourth floor of the Olmsted National Bank building at U.S. 14 West and Superior Drive Northwest.
Delehanty says the idea of moving to a new almost 4,000-square-foot office with a panoramic view is exciting. However, it is sad to leave the downtown that he and the firm's staff have enjoyed for almost 30 years.
Biz buzz
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Here's the answer to a question raised in my story Wednesday about the renovation of the lower level of the Kahler Grand Hotel.
What's going to happen to the popular, old-fashioned Kahler Barber Shop?
The barber shop, formerly Dallman Barbers, and Swanger Barbers before that, will no longer offer a trim and lots of conversation in its current spot.
The future of the shop owned by Wendy Hagen and Duane Hawkins is still being worked out.
Talks are under way to find a new home within the Kahler complex for the shop that has cut and buzzed the hair of Mayo Clinic doctors, professional football players like Dick Butkus and Ray Nitschke, actors like Danny Kaye, and many loyal local customers.
