Hey, there. Welcome to Thursday, Sept. 3.

There’s some fun going on tonight with a whiskey tasting at Celtic Crossing, and it’s your choice to do it in person or attend via Zoom. There’s also a dinner from Restaurant Iris and Joe’s Wines & Liquor. Find details on both in the link above. 

THE NEED TO KNOW

ServiceMaster’s corporate headquarters in Downtown Memphis (Daily Memphian file)

Betting on bugs: Big business news yesterday, as Memphis-based ServiceMaster announced it would sell off most of its brands to a private equity firm in a $1.6 billion deal and become Terminix. Longtime observers of the company might have seen this coming, as it has routinely spun off other business segments (TruGreen and Frontdoor come to mind) in the past.

Daughter to take over deli: I said I hoped that we’d hear more about the Raffe’s Deli story, and the new is a little bit of the old. Basma Lucchesi, daughter of original Raffe’s deli owners Al and Raffe Sakan and the owner (with her husband) of Lucchesi’s Beer Garden, said they will be taking over the deli space: “I take Raffe’s very personally. It’s not just a family business, it’s my mother’s name. It’s where I met my husband. She offered it to us when she sold it, but at the time we just couldn’t take it on.” The plan is to take over the space in October but probably keep the deli closed for a while to do renovations.

A dancer practices a pirouette at the Collage Dance Collective. (Houston Cofield/Daily Memphian file)

Dance, dance revolution: Collage Dance Collective, now perhaps the largest Black-owned ballet company in the South, is almost ready to move into its new, $11 million home in Binghampton. The change will give it almost 10 times the space it has now — allowing students and professional dancers to effectively social distance and minimize the risk of spreading COVID-19.

Club life: It looks like a group of locals is now planning to buy the former Germantown Country Club property. An Arizona company was interested in the property last year but had trouble reaching a compromise with neighbors. But the new prospective buyers, though still undisclosed to the public, have already met with some of the area’s neighbors.

MEET MEMPHIS 

Memphis Tigers assistant coach Cody Toppert during an exhibition game in Nassau, Bahamas, in 2019. (Mark Weber/Daily Memphian file)

Cody Toppert is a Cornell graduate with a degree in applied economics who also studied data analytics online at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. Armed with that background and a few graduate assistants, Toppert has helped Tigers basketball develop an in-house advanced analytics department designed to give the team a competitive edge. As The Daily Memphian’s Danielle Lerner writes, “Don’t get it twisted, though; he isn’t just a stat head who puts numbers ahead of on-court technique. Memphis relies on a combination of film and analytics to visualize the entire picture.” 

THE NICE TO KNOW

Mighty Sound of the South members perform during the Cotton Bowl’s Battle of Bands in 2019. (Mark Weber/Daily Memphian file)

Gimme a beat. And a mask: For trombonist Zach McCullough, it feels like a victory just to be able to play at a football game — and play he will, as the now 44-member Mighty Sound of the South takes to the stands Saturday when Memphis plays Arkansas State. The band will have to play through their masks and some of the musicians will actually have to collect their spit and carry it home in Tupperware containers. But, and I think the spit thing drives this point home, band members will do whatever they have to to be able to play again. Meanwhile, is Tigers football ready for its close-up? As the football season begins, the U of M could be a “mainstay on prime time,” with at least five games scheduled to be aired on an ESPN network.

Midtown living: I don’t have to tell y’all how quickly things can turn on a dime, but for quite some time, new apartments in Midtown just didn’t exist. The Madison@McLean was one of the first new apartment projects proposed for the area, and it was the first to get a new type of tax incentive meant to spur residential development. Now it’s pre-leasing and almost finished, with tenants expected to move in by the beginning of December.

Molly's La Casita owner Jaime Chapman (right) and general manager Kelly Johnson pose for a portrait in the popular Midtown restaurant Sept. 1, 2020. (Patrick Lantrip/Daily Mempian)

When life gives you limes ... Begun in a tiny shop on Lamar Avenue in 1974, Molly’s La Casita was doing pretty good business before COVID. Located just west of Overton Square since 1982, the restaurant’s sales were robust enough that if they needed something, they could buy it. In the latest edition of “Bread & Butter,” Molly’s owner Jamie Chapman and general manager Kelly Johnson talk about takeout, Health Department restrictions and a boom from Facebook.

WE’RE TALKING ABOUT 

Al Green’s drive thru pharmacy, and nine other things from Chris Herrington in this week’s Memphis 10 column ... 

And then Walgreens tweeted back! Seriously, this is one of the best things I’ve seen all month. 

Y’all take it easy and we’ll be back tomorrow for our final installment of the week. 

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