Hi Barbies (and Kens!) It’s Wednesday, Dec. 27, and Black Lodge will screen this summer’s Greta Gerwig blockbuster tonight, paired with a Barbie-themed menu of baked salmon, beet salad, pomegranate sorbet and more. It sounds like the perfect excuse for a girl’s night (but every night is girl’s night, right?)

THE NEED TO KNOW

The shuttered Electrolux Plant located at 3231 Paul R. Lowry Road has been purchased. (The Daily Memphian file)

Lux deal: The vacant Electrolux plant in Southwest Memphis, which ceased production in June 2022, has been sold for $35 million to Milwaukee-based Phoenix Investors. That came after several failed deals over the past year and a half. Phoenix, which acquires and renovates former manufacturing facilities across the country, will locate the building’s next tenant — likely another manufacturing company. “The building is ideally suited for advanced manufacturing, so think batteries, semiconductors, really high-tech manufacturing,” said Gwyn Fisher, chief economic development officer for the Greater Memphis Chamber.

Can’t bank on it: Mississippi-based Renasant Bank is terminating its nine-year payment-in-lieu-of-taxes (PILOT) deal with the Economic Development Growth Engine because it can’t meet the incentive’s hiring requirements. The PILOT was approved by EDGE in 2019 for a new headquarters at 5575 Poplar Ave. But it required Renasant to hire at least 15 net new jobs with an average base salary of more than $93,300, but the bank has not been able to do that. By terminating the PILOT, the bank is forfeiting all property tax benefits, but the move doesn’t otherwise hurt the bank or EDGE.

Deputy Chief of Information Technology Joe Oakley worked in the MPD Real-Time Crime Center Dec. 13. (Patrick Lantrip/The Daily Memphian)

Somebody’s watching you: The Memphis Police Department now has access to more than 4,500 residential and business security cameras citywide, thanks to the Connect Memphis program that launched about a year ago. When Memphians opt to register their security cameras with the MPD, the department has an easier time accessing to footage when needed. MPD Deputy Chief of Information Technology Joe Oakley credits the program, in part, to a 12% reduction in certain crimes between Nov. 15 and Dec. 12 compared to the same period in 2022. “We may not have an officer on every street corner in the city, but we can have a camera,” said Oakley. He hopes to have 10,000 cameras integrated next year, but there are still gaps in parts of the city where fewer residents have registered cameras. The Shelby County Sheriff’s Office just launched its own Connect Memphis program this month, and the two departments plan to share access when needed.

MEET MEMPHIS

Rodney Hall will serve as the first Black Republican member of the Mississippi House of Representatives since 1894. (Courtesy Rodney Hall)

When Rodney Hall, DeSoto County’s new House District 20 representative, heads to Jackson, Mississippi, in January, he’ll be the first Black Republican member of the Mississippi House of Representatives since 1894. Hall comes from a military family, and he enlisted in the Mississippi Army National Guard at the age of 17. “I really consider myself a solider first,” he said. While in the military, Hall met U.S. Rep. Trent Kelly of Mississippi, and he went to work as Kelly’s legislative director after graduating law school. He also spent time working in the Shelby County District Attorney’s Office, which he says will guide him as he works on issues related to public safety as a state lawmaker.

THE NICE TO KNOW

Memphis Grizzlies guard Ja Morant celebrated after his slam dunk in the final seconds of overtime against the New Orleans Pelicans in New Orleans on Tuesday, Dec. 26. (Gerald Herbert/AP)

So Smart: Marcus Smart returned from a 17-game absence on Tuesday night to help the Memphis Grizzlies win an overtime nail-biter, 116-115, over the New Orleans Pelicans. In the final seconds, he found Ja Morant for an emphatic alley-oop that sealed the win, eliminating what was a 15-point deficit earlier in the night. Smart, who had been out with a foot sprain for weeks, was added to the starting lineup, and we also have him to thank for making two important 3-pointers that narrowed the scoreboard in the fourth quarter. In fact, made three-pointers were hard to come by on Tuesday, and cold shooting nearly cost the Grizzlies the game.

Nick Bolander, left, will open the Arlington location of Stacks Kitchen. Bolander also runs the Collierville location. Founder Brice Bailey, right, owns the East Memphis, Germantown and Southaven locations. (Patrick Lantrip/The Daily Memphian file)

Breakfast, lunch and dinner: Local pancake chain Staks Kitchen is really stacking up its Memphis-area locations. The sixth Staks is opening soon in at The Shops at Arlington Village retail center. But there will be a whole lot more to the menu than pancakes. “Arlington will be the first location that opens with evening hours, with more of a bar and grill menu,” said founder Brice Bailey. In other new business news, a new Skechers retail store is opening on Highway 51 North in Millington, and the old Staples location at Wolfchase Galleria will soon be home to the sixth location of Golden Beauty, a beauty supply store. The Daily Memphian’s Sophia Surrett has more on those retail moves in her Inked column.

Memphis Tigers head coach Penny Hardaway instructed his team against Vanderbilt during a game on Saturday, Dec. 23, at FedExForum. (Nikki Boertman/AP)

Failing grade for Tigers’ offense: If the Memphis Tigers’ offense were to get sent home with a report card at this point in the season, they might be grounded by their parents. Coach Penny Hardaway told the media on Saturday, after the Tigers’ 77-75 win over Vanderbilt, that he’d give the offense a D. And that’s with the Tigers ranked No. 19 on the AP poll. The Daily Memphian’s Tim Buckley dives into why the offense is failing, in Hardaway’s view. On a brighter note, Hardaway was more generous with his grades for the team’s chemistry and defense. You know what else is working well for the Tigers? Guard David Jones. The Dominican Republic native is perhaps the biggest reason the Tigers are off to a 10-2 start, and some say he has national Player of the Year potential. In Tigers football news, if you’re planning to go to watch the team play in the AutoZone Liberty Bowl, the University of Memphis would prefer you buy tickets directly from the school. And in more Liberty Bowl news, Memphis linebackers coach Jordon Hankins will stand in as interim defensive coordinator for the game.

WHAT WE’RE TALKING ABOUT

Midtown’s beloved, family-owned Vietnamese restaurant Pho Binh closed its doors forever on Christmas Eve, and the internet was awash in sadness as Memphians said goodbye to their locally famous “Memphis-style tofu.”

I was lucky enough to take home my last-ever orders of lemongrass tofu (the best in town) and green bean tofu before they closed. RIP, Pho Binh. Thanks for everything. 

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