Cheapies Tires expands, opens shop in Belleville

After a two-year wait, Cheapies Tires opened its fourth metro-east location at West Main and 38th streets in Belleville.

The shop was open for business starting April 8, manager Brian Colley said.

Currently, tire sales, repairs and installation are performed at the Belleville location. Brakes work and oil changes are done at Cheapies’ other locales — two are in Alton and one is in Granite City — and Colley said the Belleville shop may also offer those services eventually. But it’s just tires for now.

Bait, tackle and hunting supply store opens

Rick Monroe, of Grafton, and his son Adam opened Jack’s Bait, Tackle and Hunting Supply last month at 105 N. State St. in Freeburg.

If the family name sounds familiar, it’s because they’re the Monroes, who formerly operated Monroe’s Welding in Grafton. Rick said they closed because business was drying up.

Fishing rods, lures, reels, tackle boxes, outdoor decor, camouflage hunting accessories, archery supplies, bird calls — you name it, it’s there.

Jack’s is open from 6 a.m. to 5 p.m. every day.

Picture Eye Gallery reopens

The Belleville business that frames photos, posters and needlework and sells artwork and vintage prints is back open after a 2015 car crash damaged the 108-year-old building that houses the business.

The building is at 948 E. Main St. at the intersection with Douglas Street. A westbound motorist on Main Street failed to negotiate the jog in the street on Feb. 25, 2015, instead slamming the car through barriers near the sidewalk, continuing through the yard and not stopping until most of the east wall of the building came tumbling down.

Owners Bob and Jill DeFrates also live in the building. Firefighters hauled them out through a second floor window because wreckage in the first floor blocked their way.

Hours are 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturdays.

Peabody Energy files for bankruptcy

St. Louis-based Peabody Energy filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection Wednesday, about a month after the coal company first confirmed such a move was possible when it announced it had skipped more than $71 million in interest payments.

Peabody is the largest privately-held coal company in the world, and it’s following the downward trajectories of rival companies like Arch Coal and Alpha Natural Resources, companies which already have gone bankrupt. Most of Peabody’s U.S. entities also declared bankruptcy, but some international entities are unaffected.

The company in 2015 clocked a net loss of more than $2 billion. At the end of that year, its total debt reached $6.1 billion. Steep drops in coal prices and overproduction of other energy sources — namely natural gas — have sent the coal industry reeling.

Trading of Peabody stock was halted Wednesday, but the company said its offices and mines would still operate.

Carrollton Bank opens O’Fallon branch

There’s a new tenant in a familiar building in O’Fallon.

Carrollton Bank opened its full-service branch at U.S. 50 and Green Mount Road in the building once occupied by Reliance Bank.

The bank has operated a loan production office in O’Fallon for six years, but with the expanded branch, the bank now is available to fill all banking needs.

It can also fill your belly: A grand opening barbecue is planned for April 30 starting at 11 a.m. at the branch.

This story was originally published April 17, 2016 at 9:18 AM with the headline "Cheapies Tires expands, opens shop in Belleville."