Wellness City, Super Kroger Opening & Burger 21: E-town Business

Key Takeaways

• Suntan City in Elizabethtown has rebranded to Wellness City, the first in Kentucky, under E-town-based parent Glow Brands. The Radcliff Suntan City closed as part of the consolidation.
• The new Super Kroger Marketplace opens this week in Elizabethtown, with friends and family first and the public opening expected between today and Thursday.
• Burger 21, a gourmet burger chain, may be coming to E-town: a lease was signed June 23rd at the former Pizza Mavens location, though the tenant is not yet official.
• Firestone at Helmwood Plaza has closed, with indications of a bankruptcy process.
• Harvey Casteel of Bourbon Country Corals is retiring from the aquatics business and moving out his remaining stock.

Summary

Nate Bryan is on vacation this week, so he and Phil sat down Friday and pre-recorded Business Buzz before he left. It was worth the planning: this week brought a Kentucky-first rebrand, the county's biggest grocery opening in years, a possible first-in-state restaurant, and two goodbyes.

The headliner for most households is the new Super Kroger Marketplace, opening in Elizabethtown this week. The rebrand story is just as interesting: Suntan City's Elizabethtown location is now Wellness City, a new concept from Glow Brands, the parent company headquartered right here in E-town.

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Nate opened with the story he stumbled onto while driving down Dixie: the Suntan City sign in front of Planet Fitness had changed. "Suddenly I saw the sign had changed to Wellness City, and I was like, what's going on," he said. What is going on is a rebrand: the Elizabethtown store is the first in Kentucky to carry the Wellness City name, part of a pivot by Glow Brands, the Elizabethtown-based parent headquartered off Gates Road near the Sports Park entrance, toward wellness services like red light therapy alongside the traditional tanning business.

Two clarifications the crew made sure to land. First, nothing is happening to Planet Fitness; the two share a parking lot, not a company. Second, the Radcliff Suntan City closed last week as part of the consolidation, so E-town is now the home store for the area.

Then the big one: the new Super Kroger Marketplace opens this week in Elizabethtown. The exact public date moved around a bit, and the crew handled it honestly on air: employees, friends and family were in first, the public opening is expected between today and Thursday, and it is confirmed open by Thursday. Nate had photos from inside, including a Frito-Lay display shared by a friend of the show named Brent that looks like a small monument, and Harvey Casteel of Bourbon Country Corals contributed shots as well. Baskin-Robbins next door is already open. Nate's practical advice for the first days: if you need to get in and get out with groceries, maybe wait; if you work in restocking, godspeed.

The maybe: Burger 21. The gourmet burger chain, which runs a menu from Impossible burgers to a California burger, came across Nate's Messenger last week. What he can confirm is that a lease was signed June 23rd at the former Pizza Mavens location, the spot across from Wendy's where Texas Outlaw got its start before growing and moving. What is not confirmed is the tenant. "The lease is confirmed, the tenant is not official yet," Phil said in the live follow-up. "That's how we do it here. We tell you what we know and what we don't." If Burger 21 lands, it would be Kentucky's first, and E-town keeps proving it can be a chain's test market: Duff's took the swing, QuikTrip took the swing, and Hyatt Studios is planned for East Dixie.

Two goodbyes to close. Firestone at Helmwood Plaza, the corner at St. John and Dixie by Roses, across from Southeast Christian Church and Walgreens, has closed. There is a sign about new management, but what Nate has been told points toward a bankruptcy process, so if you are due for tires, plan on going elsewhere for now. Decades of Hardin County cars went through that garage, and the crew hopes the corner does not sit empty long.

And one that hits closer to home for the show: Harvey Casteel of Bourbon Country Corals is retiring from the aquatics business. Harvey is a friend of the show and, as Phil put it, a good dude. If you keep a fish tank or have been thinking about starting one, reach out to him while his remaining stock lasts; you will get a genuinely good deal. Harvey posted his updated list of what he has available:

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