Hi, there, Early Word-ers. Welcome to another wild Wednesday. Today is Nov. 10, and members of the Shelby County Commission and the Memphis City Council will NOT meet this afternoon as planned to discuss government efficiency (or consolidation). But County Commission committees will be in session, with members getting a briefing on the proposed Union Depot project, aka possibly the first TIF district in Bartlett.

A Collierville Kroger that was the site of a mass shooting in September will reopen this morning with a small ceremony and a new memorial garden on-site. But, after a $4 million renovation following the shooting, it no longer has a sushi station. The Memphis Grizzlies will host the Charlotte Hornets at FedExForum, and it’s possible Dillon Brooks could be back in action.

THE NEED TO KNOW

Hardgrave was easy choice? The University of Memphis’ Board of Trustees unanimously approved Bill Hardgrave as the school’s 13th president yesterday. Hardgrave, currently provost and senior vice president of academic affairs at Auburn University, will replace M. David Rudd, who plans to step down at the end of the current academic year. “There’s no way that a kid from a small town just a few hours down the road should be standing here in front of you. But I am. And it certainly is a testament to the power of higher education,” Hardgrave said after the vote. 

A two-year-old gasped as she saw the Peabody Hotel ducks swimming in the lobby fountain. (Houston Cofield/Daily Memphian file)

Peabody gets its ducks in a row: The Peabody hotel has stood at 149 Union Ave. for almost 100 years, and the owner wants to make sure it’s there for another 30 — if not more. Belz Enterprises is looking at $125 million in renovations to the iconic hotel over the next three decades; to help it do so, it’s asked Downtown’s Center City Revenue Finance Corp. and the Memphis City Council to approve the hotel for its own TDZ (tourism development zone) and a special 5% surcharge to pay for the renovations and improvements, even some safety upgrades. “It’s our family’s position and thought that we want to keep The Peabody the crown jewel in our community for the long term,” said Marty Belz.

Sara Hall, chief legal officer and general counsel at ALSAC, leads a community meeting to discuss a future St. Jude Children's Research Hospital employee parking garage on Tuesday. (Mark Weber/The Daily Memphian)

Employee parking raises problems: St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital and its fundraising arm are pursuing a seven-story parking garage that would be 89 feet tall, about double the established height limit of the surrounding area. And that is just one thing that has residents of Greenlaw and Uptown concerned about the project. Since a meeting earlier this month with citizens, the hospital’s leadership has changed the color of the garage from St. Jude’s signature pink to white and has said they will work with Memphis’ traffic engineers to push vehicles away from the residential area. But those were described as “Band-Aid fixes,” by a neighborhood leader at a community meeting last night.

Uniform decision: A private equity firm out of Texas has bought an 83-year-old Memphis-born company. Landau Uniforms began in 1938, with Rudolph Landau selling work uniforms out of his Model A Ford. The family-owned business has since grown to employ 200 people locally and more than 1,000 around the world; it sells uniforms, medical scrubs and food-service garb through brands such as Urbane, Chefwear and iD. And though Landau has been bought by LKCM Headwater Investments, Rudolph’s grandsons, Bruce and Gregg Landau, will retain a minority ownership in the company and seats on the board of advisors.

MEET MEMPHIS 

From left, Zuri Shaw, Terini Mims and Laquisha Mathis sort various postage at United States Postal Service’s North Memphis site earlier this month. (Ziggy Mack/Special to The Daily Memphian)

As part of the U.S. Postal Service’s national push to move more packages, two new sorting machines have been installed at the Memphis Package Support Annex between Douglass and Nutbush. The new Single Induction Package Sorter can sort packages 12 times faster than doing so manually (though it takes five employees to operate it). And if a package is heavy, it can be sorted by a machine called the Spider or by one of 10 heavy package sorting robots.

THE NICE TO KNOW

Memphis Tigers center Jalen Duren (top) completes a dunk against Tennessee Tech last night. (Mark Weber/The Daily Memphian)

Tigers thrill: As expected, the Memphis Tigers men’s basketball team dominated Tennessee Tech, 89-65, in their season opener yesterday. In fact, Tech didn’t make its first basket until 16 minutes in. Here’s what columnist Geoff Calkins had to say: “By the time [coach Penny] Hardaway made his first substitution, at the 14:51 mark, many of those in attendance had been reduced to happy babbling. Or even happier expletives. It wasn’t just the 17-6 score. It was the wondrous things on display.” New, also, this year are t-shirts fans can buy that bear the players’ names and numbers. You can’t get a “Bates,” a “Duren,” a “Timberlake” or an “Onu” but Tiger Properties offered all the players the same deal, and you can get everybody else, even the head coach. Just one more thing, and we’re not loving this: Fresh off his new partnership with area McDonald’s owners and operators, Hardaway appears to have retained counsel to handle his communication with the NCAA’s Independent Accountability Resolution Process. 

For $2 a Pop: Recently, Daily Memphian writer Chris Herrington realized that “perhaps the best cheap eat in the city of Memphis had not yet appeared as a $10 Deal” in our ongoing series. So, he set out to rectify that with a trip to Pop’s Tamales on Park Avenue. Each tamale, made Memphis-style and all beef, are $2, so for our $10 deal, you can get five. But even ordering these tamales is an experience unto itself. 

Charles “Lil Buck” Riley was seen on a giant screen as he performed during a 2019 event in Paris, France. (AP file Photo/Francois Mori)

New jookin’ joint: A new show about Memphis’ own style of street dance is coming to the Orpheum Theatre in February. “Memphis Jookin’: The Show” will originate in the Bluff City — with many of the area dancers who competed in October’s Red Bull Dance Your Style competition — before embarking on a national tour. And, of course, choreographer, activist and internationally known dancer Charles “Lil Buck” Riley will star. 

Retail therapy? Though the Lake District development has a few “names” attached to it, Lakeland is looking to lure more restaurants and retail to its shores. And, to do so, it plans to hire Birmingham-based recruiter Retail Strategies — especially as the Memphis Megasite begins to take shape in West Tennessee. “One thing that Retail Strategies will help us with is to put us on the map and market us to regional and national brands that have a hard time understanding Lakeland,” one commissioner said in support of the contract.

WE’RE TALKING ABOUT 

I love when pre-social pictures make their way to the present.

Yes, it was 25 years ago that the University of Memphis defeated the No. 6-ranked Tennessee Volunteers (and future Hall of Famer Peyton Manning). The goal post then came down and was carried out of the stadium and more than two miles to the Alpha Tau Omega fraternity house.

So that will be it for us today. Before you go, this is just a gentle reminder that The Early Word will become a subscriber-only morning newsletter after Thanksgiving. If you’re not a subscriber to The Daily Memphian yet but you want to be, it’s easy (and pretty affordable). 

We’re also giving away five one-month subscriptions as a small thank you for all the support shown to The Early Word over the past two years. If you want to enter to win, you can do so here. 

Last thing, a special shout out to loyal readers and subscribers Betty G., Cinny V., Lamar B., and Margaret F. Thanks for supporting our community, our journalists and their work. 

Have a wonderful Wednesday! 

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