Who knows? Not us, thats for sure.

Milan Tobacconists, a venerable downtown business since 1912, is moving.

Down the street to 309 S. Jefferson, the old Lee and Edwards Wine Merchants shop.

106 S. Jefferson, the current location, is owned by Blue Marlin LLC - which also owns the Frankie Rowlands/ Subway building.

One can only speculate that with the recent acquisition of the old Southern Pawn, we could be looking at yet another restaurant downtown, and a possible expansion of Frankie Rowland's.

And just a block away - the Ol' Billy's Ritz is heading down a similar road. Filings with the city include many details, one of which being a 5th floor added atop the existing 4. The amount of work required to convert this aged beauty into a boutique hotel and restaurant is.. well, expensive. And word on the street is, no investor would touch it - but the decision was made to go ahead anyway.

And much like the former Woolworth's/CampbellMart, all work has ceased there too.

Would it be too much to ask for the City to put a time limit/fine on permits for work? The Woolworth's has been an eyesore for over 2 years now, and if the owners had only went for the proper permits - they might not have received a stop work order, and we might have a viable retail location.

Milan should do well in it's new location, being 2 stories prepared for wine storage, which is not all THAT different from cigar storage. Hey, maybe it will become a cigar bar?

Anyway - that's my retail roundup. I kept meaning to get to it.