Construction has begun on a Panda Express restaurant at 101 Brampton Avenue beside the McDonalds, in front of the Walmart Marketplace on Fair Road. The owners have not announced a target date for opening.
        Panda Express is a fast casual Chinese restaurant chain based out of Rosemont, Calif. Currently, the closest Panda Express is in the new Tanger Shopping center in Pooler. It opened last year, shortly after Tanger's opening.
        Panda is one of the largest privately held restaurant chains in America. With more than 1,800 locations and annual sales topping $2 billion, it is the largest Chinese fast food restaurant chain. The company was founded in 1973 by husband and wife duo Andrew and Peggy Cherng, along with Andrew's father, Master Chef Ming Tsai Cherng, when they opened the Panda Inn restaurant in Pasadena, Calif.
        In 1993, they opened their first Panda Express in a food court in the Glendale Galleria Mall in Glendale, Calif., which is a suburb of Los Angeles. For the next decade, they focused on opening the restaurants in food courts of malls and airports. They opened their first stand-alone restaurant in 1997.
        Peggy Cherng, who holds a masters in computer science and a PhD in electrical engineering, is credited with bringing a systems analysis perspective to the business and working through the logistics and standardization issues necessary to scale up the concept.
        The Cherng's were early innovators in the creation and implementation of the point-of-sale system that revolutionized the restaurant industry. The Cherng's are still active in leading the company serving as co-chairman and co-CEO's.
        Peggy was featured in a L.A. Times story last year on the success of the company. In that article she was asked if they ever considered taking the company public. She explained that they did consider it in the 1990's.
        "Luckily we didn't," Peggy Cherng said. "Our business mentality is to focus on people and food and less on profit. If we went public, maybe we would have to change our philosophy."
        The philosophy probably explains why Forbes Magazine named the Panda Restaurant Group as one of the best employers in the country last year. Panda Restaurant Group, Inc. is the parent company of Panda Inn, Panda Express and Hibachi-San.
        To learn more about job opportunities at the new Panda Express, visit www.pandacareers.com.

Krispy Kreme Update
        "Hot Now" is getting closer to a reality.
        Now that Title Max has completed their relocation inside of the "I Save More" furniture store right next door to their former location, the building that formally housed Title Max has been moved and site work has begun in earnest for the construction of Statesboro's first Krispy Kreme.
        The Krispy Kreme will be located between "I Save More" Furniture and Taco Bell on Northside Drive East, directly across from Ruby Tuesdays. They hope to have the Krispy Kreme location open when Georgia Southern University students return in mid-August.

The Warehouse has new owners
        Patsy Bowen announced last week that she has sold The Warehouse to her granddaughter Emily Register and her husband Jeff. The Warehouse, a unique Statesboro tradition for the past 32 years, includes a 35,000-square-foot store that sells flooring, furniture, fabric, home accessories and more. The Warehouse is located at 8550 Highway 301 South.

Riggs Pharmacy sold
        Statesboro pharmacist and downtown businessman Sonny Riggs has sold his pharmacy located at 17 West Main Street to Fred's Pharmacy. Rigg's Pharmacy, a downtown landmark for 48 years, is now closed. Sonny has retired, but Kacie Cowart, a longtime employee of Rigg's, has joined the Fred's Pharmacy team at its store on Northside Drive, across from Food World. If you are a current customer of Rigg's Pharmacy, your files and current information were moved to Fred's Pharmacy.

Branch Landscape sold - TurfPros introduced
Statesboro businessman Jim Branch has sold Branch Landscape Management to Statesboro based business The GroundsMen, which is owned by Jason Lanier. Branch's new company TurfPros offers services for individuals and businesses who want to keep their lawns looking great year round. Turfpros specializes in fertilizer, aeration, weed control and pest free mosquito and insect control solutions. Visit www.turfprosga.com or www.thegroundsmen.net to learn more.
        Please email DeWayne at dgrice@statesboroherald.com or give him a call at (912) 489-9499.