There are dozens of business stories that unfolded in Columbus and the surrounding region that — depending on those people being impacted or simply generating ample interest in them — could qualify as among the top stories in 2018.
The Ledger-Enquirer’s Top 10 stories included news of NCR closing, a new VA clinic, St. Francis Hospital’s ownership change, Synovus in acquisition mode, 600 call center jobs, and Whitewater Village construction.
Here are the best of the rest that we simply could not file away into the history books without yet another mention. To read more about each one, go online and click on the headline to view the story at www.ledger-enquirer.com.
Nearly 600 people losing jobs at three area companies
It’s without a doubt a tough holiday season for several hundred workers and their families in the Columbus area, with three companies eliminating a combined 566 people between mid-December and Jan. 1.
Layoff and closure notices filed with the Georgia Department of Labor show Georgia-Pacific Wood Products LLC is laying off 321 employees at its plywood plant in Warm Springs, Ga. Another 83 workers with XPO Logistics in the Midland area of Columbus are being cut as of Dec. 31, according to the state, while Aptim Federal Services is laying off 152 staffers at Fort Benning on Jan. 1.
47,000 people in region need help to feed themselves
How bad is the Columbus area in terms of people going hungry chronically? With Feeding the Valley marking its 35th anniversary this year, it is now helping put food in the stomachs of about 47,000 people in 14 counties. That amounts to about 8.7 million pounds of dry goods, meat, produce and dairy items distributed to people of all ages and race annually. And that number is up from 1.7 million pounds just eight years ago.
In the Columbus metro area, which includes Russell County in Alabama, one in six adults are classified as chronically hungry, while one in five children are at that level of need for basic nourishment.
Toys R Us joins Sears and hhgregg in closing its doors
As Toys R Us closed its Columbus store this year as part of a national bankruptcy liquidation, it left holiday shoppers with one less brick-and-mortar outlet to find that special gift for their loved ones.
The popular retailer also joined Sears and hhgregg, an electronics retailer, in closing their doors within the last couple of years at Columbus Park Crossing, the city’s largest shopping hub, creating a retail crater of sorts at the shopping center. That doesn’t even include Kmart exiting the market last year.
150 lose their jobs as Phenix City employer shuts down
A Phenix City employer that operated a 550,000-square-foot distribution center since 2013 shut down its local operations this year, with 150 workers losing their jobs.
Vogue International, purchased in 2016 by Johnson & Johnson, a consumer health and personal care products firm, vacated its 903 Fontaine Road location in April. Vogue’s parent company’s products include Band-Aid, Neutrogena, Tylenol, Motrin, Listerine and an array of baby items.
The Rapids complex changes landscape along downtown riverfront
The Rapids, a major $52 million construction project that is changing the riverfront in downtown Columbus, began to take shape in a major way this year, just north of the 13th Street bridge.
The 226-unit apartment complex with more than 300 parking spaces also will bring restaurant and retail tenants to its location adjacent to the Chattahoochee Riverwalk. The W.C. Bradley Company, which is developing the property, expects to have the first units ready for people to move in sometime around February, with the rest opening into the spring and summer of 2019.
A new restaurant lands at the former Logan’s Roadhouse site
For local foodies, there apparently is only one thing bigger than Logan’s Roadhouse closing its doors suddenly on Manchester Expressway, which happened in February. And that’s learning what is coming to the vacant property.
An Atlanta restaurant group has purchased the nearly 2-acre parcel of land that includes the 8,541-square-foot building that Logan’s inhabited more than two decades. A Realtor working with the group said they are planning a Korean barbecue that Columbus-area diners should find delicious. The story was viewed heavily by online readers.
City to gain major impact, exposure from USA Softball event
It’s a major deal for Columbus, with USA Softball unveiling plans to bring its Olympic-style International Cup to the city next summer. First, there’s the fact that it will give the city and its softball complex a major boost from the money spent during the competition next July by teams and fans. They’ll be here to see high-level play in the city that hosted Olympic softball when the Summer Olympics came to Atlanta in 1996. Team USA took gold here that year.
Then there’s the national and global exposure that the Columbus Sports Council will receive from the competition that should certainly be a significant factor when recruiting for high-school, league and other softball tourneys against other U.S. cities. Some of next summer’s games will be telecast by ESPN.
Major retailer, restaurants fill large hole at Columbus Park Crossing
An area of Columbus Park Crossing that basically had been nothing more than prospective land along Whittlesey Boulevard since the shopping area’s opening years ago finally came to life.
The largest piece of the puzzle was the construction and opening of the discount retailer Academy Sports and Outdoors in the summer. Filling in the another gap were the openings of a Fazoli’s Italian eatery and an Old Chicago Pizza & Taproom restaurant. Columbus Park’s first convenience store is expected to open in the coming weeks at the site. Alas, there is still more space in the area to develop.
Great Wolf Lodge indoor water park opens with a splash
The splashy grand opening of the highly anticipated Great Wolf Lodge Georgia indoor water park and adventure park took place this year, with the attraction in LaGrange, Ga., just north of Columbus, promising fun for regional residents and those from other states.
The massive park, which had been more than two years in the planning and construction phase, opened with a large hotel, a nearly 100,000-square-foot water park, and a 40,000-square-foot adventure park on site.
Kiddie Shoppe closes its doors after decades-long run
Roughly 16 months after making a major move from north Columbus to the city’s downtown, the Kiddie Shoppe, a decades-old retailer catering to clothing and accessories for youngsters and babies, closed its doors this year.
The Kiddie Shoppe dated to its 1936 founding by a local couple named Philip and Ada Pomerance. Its locations throughout the city over the last eight decades included Cross Country Plaza, Columbus Square Mall, Peachtree Mall, Main Street Village and a previous stint downtown.