Fresh Market to open Oct. 28

The Fresh Market will open its newest location at 5901 Mills Civic Parkway in West Des Moines at 8 a.m. on Oct. 28. The specialty grocer is part of the Mills Crossing shopping development. The West Des Moines location is the second Iowa store for the company, which aims to provide quality food and customer service with a distinctive atmosphere. The 25,000-square-foot store will have a bakery, full-service meat counter, fresh seafood, a large organic section and more.

Longview Golf Centre in Urbandale to close
The Urbandale driving range housed under a large white dome is set to close Oct. 23. Longview Golf Centre owner Sue Frampton has a contract to sell the golf center and 81 acres of surrounding farmland to a real estate developer, though the buyer was not named. The sale should be finalized by the end of the month, and while Frampton said she doesn’t know what the buyer will build there, it will not be a golf business. Longview has provided a location for winter golf practice for almost 20 years. The dome is 60 feet tall and 250 feet long and is the only golf dome in Iowa, located at the corner of N.W. 100th Street and N.W. 54th Avenue, where Urbandale, Grimes and Johnston meet.

Local meteorologist launches craft beer tour business
J.D. Peterson, a meteorologist for WOI-TV and owner of Atelier Hairspace hair salon downtown, is adding a new venture to his resume. Peterson recently started Iowa Brew Tours, which is a mini tour bus that takes people on tours of local breweries. The bus seats 14 and begins its tour at El Bait Shop in Des Moines. It then includes a beer tasting at each stop, brewery tours and a free pint of beer at El Bait Shop at the end. The cost is $55 per person and includes four to five pints of beer. Food is available for purchase at some stops. The tour’s breweries currently include Confluence Brewing in Des Moines, Firetrucker Brewery in Ankeny, Exile Brewing in Des Moines and 515 Brewing Co. in Clive. The Iowa Brew Tours bus is available for private parties and corporate outings as well. All tours are available Thursday evenings, Friday and Saturday afternoons and evenings, and Sunday afternoons. Call 512-2781, visit www.iowabrewtours.com or find it on Facebook.

Cozy Café gets new owner
Steve Britton, a former manager of the Machine Shed and Cracker Barrel, purchased the Johnston Cozy Café at 8385 Birchwood Court from owner Mark Linebach. Britton had been general manager of the Johnston location previously, and Linebach has been forced to close or sell several of his Cozy Café locations across the metro. Britton plans to revamp the menu and debut new and upgraded items on Nov. 1. The restaurant seats about 200, and Britton plans to keep the same name for now. Linebach opened the Johnston restaurant in December 2013, the third Cozy Café location in the metro. He eventually operated eight locations until a few weeks ago when he sold one in Urbandale and one in Waukee due to financial issues. He is still looking to sell other locations. Cozy Café is open 6 a.m. to 8:30 p.m., Monday through Friday; and 7 a.m. to 8:30 p.m., Saturday and Sunday. Call 270-8000.

Student housing planned near Mercy College
Des Moines-based Newbury Living plans to buy and renovate Mercy Court, a student dorm and senior housing complex located at 921 Sixth Ave. downtown. Frank Levy, Newbury’s president, plans to turn the five-story building into about 80 student apartments for the growing Mercy College of Health Sciences. Mercy College has 789 students this year, up 25 from last year. It offers one-, two- and four-year programs, including a new four-year nursing program in which enrollment is expected to keep growing. The deal currently in the works has an affiliate of Newbury Living buying Mercy Court from Mercy Medical Center, but Mercy would retain a land lease on the property. Levy said his company is working with Mercy to find new housing for the 30 senior residents currently living in the space, but says they can stay in the building if they want to. There are about 20 students living there currently. CV