South Side Grows, Blazers Closes — Hardin County Business Buzz

Key Takeaways

• New McDonald's heading to the south side of Elizabethtown at 100 Roanoke Drive, next to Subway. On tonight's planning commission agenda.
• Snack World replaces Vapor Lab at 2030 North Dixie — international snacks, late-April soft opening, sign possibly going up this week.
• Blazers Fun Zone in Radcliff is closing for good after April 17–19. Use gift cards by Sunday.
• Stax Nutrition is moving from Ring Road to 5151 North Dixie next to Uncle Dan's Pawn in July 2026.
• Zoie's Swim School is open for registration — instructor Zoie Deshaw, USA Swimming athlete for nine years.

Summary

The Tuesday planning commission meeting was already shaping up to be busy — a new south-side McDonald's, intensive health care reworking the old co-op building on Peterson Drive, a short-term-rental zoning request on Miles Street, and a Woodland Corridor commercial rezoning all on the agenda the same night. Nate Bryan walked the table through every item.

The biggest news came at the end. Blazers Fun Zone in Radcliff — the indoor entertainment spot that hosted a generation of Hardin County birthday parties — is closing for good after April 19. The closure was announced Monday. The building's future is being kept quiet for now.

Between the openings, closings, and zoning shifts, Hardin County is in active flux this week. The south side keeps growing. Radcliff loses a staple. And a couple of new local businesses are stepping in to fill the gaps.

Full Article

Nate Bryan led the Business Buzz segment with a piece of news the south side has been waiting on: a new McDonald's is on Tuesday night's planning commission agenda. The proposed location is 100 Roanoke Drive — right next to Subway, in what Nate called "the old Big T area for people that are old like me and gray hair." Approval was still pending at airtime. Nate gave a hat tip to Greg Thompson at the News Enterprise for breaking the story Friday.

Three more items came up on the same planning commission slate. Intensive Health Care is reworking the old co-op building at 201 Peterson Drive — the one before you get to the soccer fields. A zoning change at 1612 North Miles Street would move the property from R2 to R3 so it can be operated as a short-term rental. Rachel Brantingham confirmed The Brantingham Group manages the property: "It's a very minor adjustment, but it's set up as a short-term rental — we have to move it from one zone to the next to then get a classification for it to be used as a short term rental." The home itself is a restored historical property — Rachel called it "super, super cool" — sitting near the new Shepherdsville Road development. The fourth item was a public hearing in the Woodland Corridor District — a WCD to C2/C3 commercial rezoning. Nate's read on it was simple: that lot is already surrounded by commercial use, so the change is an appropriate adjustment.

Then came the openings.

Snack World is taking over Vapor Lab's space at 2030 North Dixie — right around the corner from Little Charlie's Pizza. Vapor Lab has closed. Nate noted the broader trend ("we've seen plenty of vape stores come and go — tariffs, the new laws about ages") and pivoted to what's coming in. Snack World — the alien mascot brand — is converting at least two former Vapor Lab locations. The sign may already be up. The store is targeting a late-April soft opening and will specialize in hard-to-find international snacks: Pepsi from China, Japan birthday cake Oreos, Kobe steak chips, seaweed chips, and inventory that rotates every few weeks. Nate has been invited out and is planning coverage.

Stax Nutrition is relocating from Ring Road to 5151 North Dixie, right next to Uncle Dan's Pawn just past New Highland Elementary. The blue building — what locals will recognize as the old Builders Outlet / Carpet Connection of Dalton, Georgia. The move was announced April 10, targeted for July 2026. Their own message on the move: "More space, bigger, better shopping experience. Same heart, more fuel."

Zoie's Swim School got the welcome treatment. Owner Zoie Deshaw — "Z-O-I-E apostrophe S Swim School," Nate clarified — has been teaching swim lessons for four years and is a nine-year USA Swimming athlete. The school accepts learners from very young beginners through adults working on technique. Nate's framing: "Huge for health, huge for knowledge. And I believe it serves a purpose in a niche. So good luck to Zoie there."

The heaviest news landed last. Blazers Fun Zone in Radcliff is closing. The announcement came in to Nate while he was still at work — Monday's news. Blazers will be open for its final three days April 17, 18, and 19. From the Blazers Facebook post Nate read on air: "Final days of fun, don't miss out. After years of making memories for our amazing community, Blazers Fun Zone will be open for our final days on April 17th, 18th, and 19th. This is your last chance to enjoy laser tag, skates, skee-ball and more. Cash in your fun card tickets for prizes. Use any remaining gift cards." Half-price ticket redemption is in effect for the closing weekend. Gift cards cannot be redeemed by phone or mail — if you have one, you need to be in the building.

Phil pressed Nate on what comes next for the space. Nate had to keep it short: "I do not — something will be announced soon. It's not up to me to say. I do not have the information yet. I'm waiting to clear it. But I don't see that building staying empty very long, if people catch my drift. I don't know what it will be. I don't know who it will be. I don't know if it'll be entertainment-related at all." Nate did confirm Blazers is not being bought out as an operating business — the equipment has been posted to a bid site, so whoever moves in starts fresh.

Nate's overall take on the closure was honest and respectful. "It was a good story for them. A good run, especially for a small business to serve a niche in Radcliff, which really compared to E'town doesn't have a whole lot of opportunities. We're blessed here with E'town, obviously, trying times. But to do what they did and to build up there and to bet on themselves — I'm proud of the run that they had."

That same tone — celebrate the openings, honor the closures — is what makes the Business Buzz segment work week after week. The south side is growing. Snack World is coming. Stax is leveling up. Zoie is launching. And a family-entertainment landmark is closing its doors after years of service. All of it matters in a county the size of ours.