As with Arena Grand, it looks like the Drexel will be losing the Gateway movie theater soon. According to Business First of Columbus, the Drexel Theater Group and Campus Partners decided not to renew Drexel’s management contract.

Campus Partners wants someone able to run corporate events as well as movies. Drexel says that they can do movie related events, but just don’t have the experience to run the big corporate events.

It’s too bad, because I did like to go down to the Gateway to catch a movie from time to time. They did a good job in showing more of the artsy movies that doesn’t play at the AMC.

As fast as it came, Sunflower Market is leaving. It seems like yesterday that Sunflower opened shop in Dublin, along with two other locations in Columbus. But now they are closing all of their stores.

The parent of Sunflower Market said it will close all of that chain’s stores next month, including its Broad Ripple location.

Minneapolis-based Supervalu said five Sunflower locations nationally are getting the boot, including the Indianapolis location, which opened in January 2006 as another location for organic foods.

Three stores in the Columbus, Ohio area and Chicago also are exiting the week of Feb. 18.

I wonder if they’ll have a nice close out sale.

All hail to Mad Hatter Muffler on 3390 Sullivant Ave, Columbus, Ohio. I originally took my 1996 Toyota Avalon to Tuffy because the engine sounded too loud and exhaust was coming into the passenger compartment whenever I was stopped. But when they quoted me $525.00 for the replacement part and another $75.00 to install it, I decided that I would live with my problems for a while, during which time I checked around. The problem was that the “Y Pipe” on the Toyota Avalon also contains the catalytic converter and actually is that expensive to replace.

A friend recommended Mad Hatter Mufflers. I drove out there and they immediately put the car up on one of their four lifts without an appointment. They took me into the garage bay underneath the car and showed me what was wrong, a cracked pipe. They said that they could put in a flex pipe without replaing the entire “Y-Pipe”.

My cost, 45 minutes later (exactly what they predicted it to be time-wise) was $106 and some change. This was $25.00 less than they quoted to me, as the fellow indicated that the matching part (one of which had cracked) was still in good shape). They also gave me a one year warranty on the part they replaced.

So the next time you get a big quote on a muffler from some chain store, give Mad Hatter a try. They open at 8:00 a.m M-F and stay open until 6:00 p.m.

A little late on this one, but the New York Times had a great mention of Jeni’s Splendid Ice Creams in the article The Gift Is in the Mail, and on the Web:

Jeni’s of Columbus, Ohio, has surpassed the creativity of all other ice cream makers with its versions like goat cheese and Cognac fig sauce. … Jeni’s Splendid Ice Creams’ intense, offbeat flavors would be worth a drive to Ohio. My favorites were the goat cheese, salty caramel, coffee, Thai chili and torrone, plus lime cardamom lingonberry frozen yogurt and forest berry and pear riesling sorbets. Six pints start at $70. (614) 488-3224.

I’ve only been to Jeni’s once.  I guess I’ll need to go there more often to see what the hubbub is all about. Nonetheless, great pub for a Columbus business.