It’s been a long time since I’ve heard so much from so many about a business, but when the brand new Horizon Travel Plaza shut down apparently last weekend, the phone lines lit up.

The plaza had just opened up about two months ago, with a Backyard Burger franchise, an Italian eatery, a coffee counter with pastries, and gas pumps that initially had about the lowest prices around.

Piecing together what I’ve been told this week from official parties and unofficial callers, there were four locations around Georgia, all built around the same time, that closed suddenly last weekend. A story in the Cordele newspaper quotes an official blaming the closing on the economy. One reader this week had contacted the Backyard Burger company and said they told him the Valdosta franchise is once again up for grabs, and the four Georgia locations were removed from the company’s Web site this week.

City officials had no better luck than I did trying to contact someone at the company, located in Franklin, Tenn., and one gentleman said the place was emptied out in the wee morning hours. The signs on the door just say they’re closed, with no explanation.

One gentleman told me this week that for several days soon after they opened, he and friends thought they were running a great promotion with all grades of gas, including premium, being sold for the same low price. Apparently, he found out later it was a computer glitch on the store’s part. I don’t know if this contributed to their quick demise, but it most likely didn’t help either.

We see businesses come and go in this community, but I think the extreme quickness of this one caught everyone by surprise. Also, Backyard Burgers was a pretty popular place to eat, especially for the lunch crowd. It seems a shame to let a place like that go unoccupied, and although I didn’t find an ad for this location on the Internet, I found an ad for one of Horizon’s recently closed stores in Cartersville, Ga., for $4.5 million.

So if you’re interested, apparently the travel plaza already has a pretty loyal customer base.

Business Roundup

In response to my inquiry last week, I received a note this week letting me know that the Pita Pit is a new restaurant on Baytree Road in the new strip center near the university. It’s a franchise that will cater to college students and be open late nights with healthy food offerings. It’s not quite open yet, but should be soon.

Also, the new Magpies in the center next to Publix doesn’t look open yet, but according to the decor and writing on the windows, yep, it’s a coffee house.

And while it’s wonderful to celebrate all of the things in town that are opening, unfortunately it looks like we’ve lost a few. The new Valdez family restaurant on North Ashley Street appears to be closed as well as the pet store on North Oak Street Extension. That’s the second pet store closed this year, as the Pet Pagoda on North Ashley is also gone.

Back on the plus side of things, the new vineyard being established on Hall Road off Highway 41 N. is taking shape, with the lines of vines taking root and the buildings on the property being constructed as well. This means we will have two vineyards in our county soon.

I received a call last week from a gentleman in town who wanted me to find out what the construction on Madison Highway is going to be, and it’s going to be an expansion for Southern Builders next door.

The area next to Girardin’s is being cleared and roads cut through what were forested lots but no firm development plans for the property yet.