D e s e r t E x p o s u r e
February
2008
Business Exposure
Page: 2Update
Kurt Albershardt checked in to say that progress continues at the Silver City landmark, the Murray Hotel. A crew is working full-time on the grand old building and Albershardt says he anticipates a new roof will be on and more than half the rooms in the hotel refinished this spring. At press time, Albershardt was headed to Santa Fe to lobby for passage of HB245, which would fund the NMFA Smart Money program in which the Murray is participating.
New in Town
Want to look like a rock star? Head to Silver City's new Rox Star Style. Roxanna Rosales has set up shop in Mina's Barber Shop at 524 Silver Heights Blvd., offering fast, sleek cuts — no wash, no styling or fuss — for just nine bucks. Women and men both welcome. 590-5480.
Got time for the works? Trisha Renteria has opened New Phaze Beauty Salon, a full-service salon offering haircuts, waxing, nails and pedicures, at 2345 Ranch Club Road, across the street from Griffin's Propane in Silver City. Two cosmetologists are on staff. 534-4928.
Also on the "cutting edge": Roger and Jacqueline Haden have opened Jolly Roger Knifeworks a knife shop selling hunting knives of all stripes, collectible pocketknives, kitchen cutlery and even some swords. The shop has more than 800 pieces in stock, with prices from $3-$60. Roger Haden says some products have handles made of ram's horn, deer antler and special woods, and he will also sharpen knives and has plans to add paintball equipment to his inventory. The shop is located at 412 E. 12th St. in Silver City, on the back side of Johnnie's barber shop. 538-1407.
Satellite Kings, a satellite TV and Internet provider, has opened at 317 E. 16th St. in Silver City. Owner Albert Coss says that to celebrate its opening, the company is running a special on DISH network installation this month. 388-3274.
Susanne Kee, LISW, has opened Kids In Need Of Supportive Services at 301 W. College Ave., in the College Avenue Plaza in Silver City, offering individual and family therapy, including family services in the home. Kee has been doing therapeutic visitations for CYFD children and families for more than 10 years in Deming and Lordsburg, and in Silver City for the past five years. 956-7209.
Timothy Ludington has opened The Office of Max Carmichael, an information-architecture business offering Internet consulting to large commercial clients. 538-5739 in Silver City.
Thomas P. Buckley, CPA, has opened an accounting firm by the same name in Silver City. 388-2854.
Nicole Tesnow has registered Abundant Life Therapies in Silver City, offering in-home alternative health care. 538-5806.
John Hausermann has opened Hausermann Plumbing & Heating at 715 Luck St. in Bayard. 537-2541.
Spine & Muscle Rehabilitation, an Albuquerque-based occupational medicine clinic, has opened a new facility at 530 N. Telshor Blvd. in Las Cruces. Specializing in workers' compensation, auto, personal and sports injuries, the clinic provides diagnosis and treatment of soft-tissue injuries, such as back strains, shoulder strains and carpal-tunnel syndrome.
Coming Soon. . .
Cincinnati-based Convergys will open a new call center in Las Cruces this year, bringing some 500 jobs to the area, according to corporate spokesperson Vicki Jenkins. Most of the jobs will be for customer-service positions, handling telephone inquiries, and will pay $9.50-$12 an hour. Jenkins says people may apply now for employment at the center-to-be. (800) 235-8000, marketing@convergys.com
Las Crucens soon will have a new location for one-stop shopping. The construction of a new Pic Quik outlet is well underway on South Main Street, near the intersection with Tortugas Drive, by the Auto Zone and Family Dollar stores. Along with the usual gas station, the location will include a soft cloth car wash, a Subway sandwich shop, Santa Fe Grill and Calich's dessert outlet. Oscar Andrade, who owns the Pik Quik stores around town, says his newest is on schedule to open March 1, and may even be open sooner. Ground also has been broken for yet another Pik Quik off Hwy. 70 at the Sonoma Ranch exit. That store will really cater to the car crowd with two automatic car washes — one soft cloth and one no-touch, and four self-serve car wash bays.
Out with the old and in with the new! Construction soon will begin on a sparkling new Walgreen's, coming to El Paseo Road in Las Cruces. The new store will replace the Walgreen's up the street at 1300 El Paseo and, at 16,900 square feet, will be nearly 3,000 square feet larger. It will have a drive-thru pharmacy window and photofinishing and liquor departments. A spokesperson for the company said the relocation will take place this fall.
Borman Autoplex is building a new 25,000-square-foot Honda-only showroom near its current facility on the corner of West Boutz and Valley Roads in Las Cruces. The new showroom is expected to cost around $4 million, and will have a greatly expanded service area. The Autoplex opened in 1986 and has more than 1,000 cars on 20 acres of property. 525-4500.
Bigger and Better
Louise Cash, DC, and practitioners at her Red Hat Healing Center are now offering detox and cleansing classes that utilize chiropractic and naturopathic modalities. Cash, who also is trained in equine-facilitated learning, is offering special sessions for healing with horses. 309 E. College Ave., Silver City. 934-4439, (888) 9LOUISE.
The Young family, owners of The Marketplace, a retail store inside The Hub Plaza on Bullard Street, are reviving the former "Side Door," Silver City's original free acoustic music house-concert venue. Reincarnated as "The Side Door Stage," the new venue will open March 1 with its first in a series of weekly Saturday-night shows. Shows will be alcohol-free, smoke-free and family-friendly, with free admission and even free snacks at intermission, from 7-9 p.m. Kim Young is soliciting talented performers of all stripes. Call her at 535-2154 or 313-2378, or email dezertskye@gilanet.com
MECA Therapies, a Las Cruces-based audiologic services and speech and occupational therapies company, has moved into its new 13,000-square-foot building at 135 Hillrise Circle. The company, owned by the husband-wife team of Jeff Flores and Roberta Martinez-Flores, began in 1998 with a contract for speech and language services with the Deming school system, and has gone from four employees to more than 80 working in seven New Mexico counties, with branches in Roswell and Clovis. 526-1161.
And in more medical news, Covenant Clinics, 3961 E. Lohman Ave. in Las Cruces, has expanded its hours of operation. The urgent-care center is open 360 days a year, now 8 a.m.-8 p.m. Dr. Robert Patterson says walk-ins are welcome, service is "super fast," and costs are less than at most emergency rooms.
On the Move.
Marcia Smith and David Furnas, owners of Ekletikas Gallery in Silver City, have closed down their location at 104 W. Yankie St. and moved their gallery up the block to share the space of the Seedboat Gallery, 214 W. Yankie St.
Virginia Sifuentes and Carrie Ingram, owners of Pro Tax Service, have moved to larger digs. Still in the Arroyo Plaza at 2001 E. Lohman in Las Cruces, the business is now located in Suite 129, thanks to a better than expected first year. 526-8080.
Ch-ch-changes
A rose is a rose is a. . . Veloz? Having firmly established his identity as a builder, Rafael Veloz has renamed his Las Cruces company Camino Real Builders to Veloz Homes. Not counting subcontractors, Veloz says he has 18 employees. 1681 Hickory Loop, 541-8700.
Copy That?
Spectrum Imaging Systems, located in El Paso, purchased Document Center (formerly Mouse of All Trades) and A.C.T. Systems in December. Document Center and ACT Systems combined under the Document Center banner under Spectrum. They purchased the companies from Documation, Inc., in San Antonio, Texas. 538-9712, 388-1884.
Kudos
Burke Insurance Group in Las Cruces was named one of the Top 30 agencies by the Independent Agents & Brokers of America for the fifth straight year. The agency deals in personal home, auto and motorcycle insurance as well as commercial policies. 1691 Hickory Loop, Suite B, 524-2222.