Old Rolodex brings back the past

I started thinking about my Rolodex the other day.*

Blame The Wall Street Journal, which recently published a story on how the venerable Rolodex – the large rotary-wheel models in particular – are still used by many executives in this age of the BlackBerry.

The story rhapsodized that “the hulking, 6,000-card wheels that once signaled a huge network of contacts” are no longer manufactured, which I suppose means the Rolodex is now officially in the Pantheon of Banished but Beloved Products, probably between a box of Lawn Darts and a 3-gallon toilet.

The Rolodex sitting on my desk is a tray-style “Petite File Model No. S300.” It’s about 10 years old, and it’s starting to show its age.

Some of the cards are dog-eared, and most are yellowing around the edges from years of fingerprint oil and fluorescent lighting.

The content of the cards are even more telling. The first card in the tray – which was the Augusta Regional Airport card until it fell out about six years ago – is for David Stacks, who is listed as the marketing director for Augusta Sportswear. Mr. Stacks still lives in Augusta, but has not worked for Augusta Sportswear for at least four years (probably more).

I don’t know what happened to Frank Coleman and Andrea Hofelich, the people whose names are on the last card in the tray, but I do know they no longer work for the U.S. Chamber of Commerce in Washington.

“Those names don’t sound familiar,” said the person who answered at (202) 463-5682.
In the cradle of the S300, it’s perpetually 1998.

Bill Botham’s card still says “Jones Intercable” (it’s called Comcast now), Merle Temple’s card still says BellSouth (instead of Edgefield Federal Correctional Institution) and the number on the Augusta Mayor’s Office card will get you Larry Sconyers (who is now best reached at his barbecue restaurant).

I could go on and on with examples for hours (or at least until all my column space is filled) but I’m going to cut to the chase here: My Rolodex has been rendered obsolete by the source database on my computer, but I can’t bear to throw it away.

I guess … (insert heartfelt background music) … I’m just a sentimental old fool.

That, and the fact that it makes a better paperweight than a BlackBerry.

IT’S JUST A WALGREENS: There appears to be lots of interest in the development at 2744 Washington Road, mainly because the corner lot at the Stanley Drive/Alexander Drive intersection forms the bookend to Augusta National Golf Club’s land grab.

The site of the former Lone Star Steakhouse is going to be a Walgreens drugstore. Let me say that again: a Walgreens drugstore.

Believe me, I’m just as surprised as anyone that one of the Augusta National-linked LLCs didn’t acquire the property.

I can think of only two explanations for this: 1) The club didn’t want the property. 2) The price was too high.

Considering the 1.9-acre parcel sold for $1.9 million to Charlotte, N.C., developer Collett & Associates – the Mullins family’s partner in the Target-Kohl’s-anchored Mullins Crossing in Evans – I tend to believe it is No. 1.

C’mon; $1.9 million is a lot of money for Augusta real estate, but Augusta National could probably find twice that under its couch cushions.

A Walgreen Co. spokeswoman said the store will be a “typical” Walgreens: a 14,500-square-foot store with a drive-through pharmacy window.

FILLING THE BOX: Just down the street from the future Walgreens is the soon-to-be vacant Dillard’s department store in National Hills shopping center. The store is being consolidated into the company’s Augusta Mall location** sometime in January. A Dillard’s spokeswoman was unable to provide an exact date.

Finding a new tenant will be up to the shopping center’s owner, BT&R Enterprises, an investor group headed by Windsor Jewelers owner Donnie Thompson. Rumors are already flying that Mr. Thompson will move Windsor out of its existing store into the much larger building.

GO HOME, AND TAKE THE KLEENEX BOX WITH YOU: Just the other day a co-worker told me about a new word she heard: “presenteeism”. Apparently, presenteeism is a corporate buzzword that describes employees who come to work when they are ill and should be staying home.

A quick search on the dubya-dubya-dubya thing shows that a Cornell University study published in the Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine this year concludes presenteeism could account for up to 60 percent of employer health costs.

Expect the word to appear in the next edition of your company HR manual.

* When newspaper columnists have no actual news to write about – a common occurrence during the holiday season – they often rely on a personal musing (often of dubious interest to their readers) to help them fill space. My apologies in advance.

** The store was originally going to move to the proposed Village at Riverwatch project but, as The Chronicle reported last week, Dillard’s chose to back out of the project (did somebody say Chicago mob?) and has since been replaced by warehouse retailer Costco.