Sept. 11, 2018

Here’s a roundup of recent changes in the Sioux Falls-area business community.

Wine expert Riccardo Tarabelsi plans to open R Wine Bar in October in the former Prairie Berry East Bank space on East Eighth Street. The emphasis will be on wines from Italy, Tarabelsi’s homeland, but there will be a broad variety and also 12 beers on tap. A food menu will be limited and have Italian influences.

Two of the anchor stores at The Empire Mall, Sears and Younkers, have closed.

Juniper Bath & Body has opened in The Empire Mall. Brittany and Josh Sopko are leasing the former Teavana space near the center court. They make bath bombs, bath salts, bubble bars, soaps, shower steams and scrubs, and body butters and balms.

MK Threads Boutique has moved into the marketplace at Jones421 on North Phillips Avenue. Kelly Grovijahn and Melanie Huston started the women’s clothing business as an online-only shop in March 2017, and opened a retail space a few months later in part of the Nordic Hall on the south side of downtown.

The Avera on Louise campus is adding another building – this one to support a range of services from strength and conditioning to physical therapy and volleyball. The 60,000-square-foot, $14 million Avera Human Performance Center is expected to open in December 2019.

Elegant Mommy will remain open with new owners. Lindsey Auch and Kelcey Smith are buying the business and building at 207 W. 37th St. from Shelly Gaddis, who had announced in August that she was closing it. She will continue to run Educated Mommy out of the south end of the building.

The Auto Group has moved from the Tea exit at Interstate 29 to 2524 S. Minnesota Ave. That’s the former site of Autoland, which built a new home in northwest Sioux Falls. The Auto Group owner Jay VanEssen started the used-car business three years ago after working in the auto industry for 35 years.

The closing of Golden Dragon Chinese Restaurant for a vacation in August has turned into a permanent end with the retirement of its owner. The business had been at Eighth Street and Indiana Avenue for 16 years.

Scooter’s Coffee is building a drive-thru kiosk in the Fareway parking lot at 41st Street and Sycamore Avenue. It’s expected to open by the end of the year, franchisee Travis Rhoades said.

Sioux Falls will be one of the first cities in the country to open a Glo hotel, which will start construction soon at Dawley Farm Village. The four-story, 79-room hotel will be on the south end of the development. It’s expected to open next summer.

Rudy M. Navarrete’s Tex-Mexican Restaurant opens Wednesday in the former Starz building on 57th Street west of Western Avenue. Hours will be 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. daily.

Great Plains Pawn has opened at 1007 W. 41st St. It’s owned by Drew Williams, who previously managed a corporate pawn shop. Hours are 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. daily.

An aisle filled with party favors, a massive balloon wall and a powdered candy dispenser are some of the fun features inside the expanded Party America, which opened over Labor Day weekend in part of the former Hobby Lobby space on West 41st Street. The party supply store moved across 41st from the space it occupied for almost 25 years.

Rust & Co. has opened in The Bridges at 57th. The business owned by Tom Utrera and Stacey Roemen Utrera offers men’s and women’s clothing, shoes and accessories. It’s open daily.

TCF Bank is moving its contact and operations center out of Sioux Falls, resulting in the loss of 145 jobs. Layoffs will occur from November into March 2019 as the company moves the work to offices in Minnesota and Illinois. The center opened in 2012.

El Tapatio Mexican Restaurant in Dell Rapids, which had closed temporarily in April because of a shortage of workers, is now closed permanently. It opened in late 2016.

Halloween Express has opened its seasonal location in Sioux Falls in a retail center at 41st Street and Kiwanis Avenue. It’s open from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. daily except for Sunday when it closes at 6 p.m. Spirit Halloween will open soon at The Empire Mall in part of the former Younker’s space. The entrance will be on the west side of the building. Hours will be from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Saturday and 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sunday.