May 18, 2020

Assuming nothing else disrupts their businesses, many of the retailers shut down since September’s tornadoes are planning to reopen in June.

Plaza 41 at 41st Street and Kiwanis Avenue was one of the hardest hit locations during last year’s storms, which destroyed multiple retail and restaurant spaces.

One of those was The Rush, which has been owned by Al and Stephanie Grey for eight years. They were on track to reopen in May, but then COVID-19 began disrupting their renovation.

“It’s coming really nicely now that things have opened up in terms of people who make the booths and tables and supplies and equipment and all the things we need,” Stephanie Grey said. “There were some hiccups that occurred because of closures that delayed us on some things.”

The new look is “definitely going to be much more updated,” she continued. “It looks much more open. Most of the concepts are all in the same space, but our casino room is larger and enclosed.”

The hope is to slowly open the week of June 8 and be fully ready to go by mid-June.

That includes an expanded menu, now that the kitchen includes a grill and fryers.

“We’ll start pretty basic until we get everything perfected,” Grey said.

They also have been integrating coronavirus-related precautions as they plan for the opening, designing distancing with their furniture, going with disposable menus and possibly silverware and planning to sanitize credit card machines between use.

Hiring has started and is “going really well,” Grey said. “We have our kitchen manager hired, and the majority of our staff is hired as far as casino attendants and cooks and prep cooks, and we’re looking for bartenders and servers. We’re just very excited and anxious to get back in.”

Applicants can visit therushbarandgrill.com for information.

The Original Pancake House also will have a new and expanded look when it reopens.

Co-owner Janet Eining said she is hoping for an early June opening, once delayed furniture arrives.

Other tenants also are close to reopening, said property manager Linda Dunham of Jim Dunham & Associates.

JoAnn and Tuesday Morning both are in the final stages of construction, waiting on fixtures and lights, respectively.

“Tuesday Morning and JoAnn use a lot of national vendors, so we were concerned, and there was about a two-week delay, but we didn’t lose much time at all,” Dunham said. “The pandemic has caused a lot of fear and heartache and been terrible on businesses, so to be able to get in and reopened in a brand-new store is a wonderful thing. That’s the best situation someone could be in.”

Warhammer games store also is ready to go once out-of-town staff members are able to arrive, she said.

“I think by the end of June, other than Pizza Ranch, everybody will be open,” she said.

“Pizza Ranch is going to be late fall of this year. They have a pretty big space and a huge amount of equipment, and, if anything, what’s holding us up now is trying to get supplies in from vendors. But otherwise everything is going exceptionally well. We could not have asked for a better process.”