I’m sorry to say that if you want to shop at Laura’s Family Goods, you’d better get out and do it in the next three or four weeks. Everybody who has kids loves this place, because it has cool stuff that you can’t get anywhere else, unless you want to spend hours of your life searching for it on the internet or in dozens of other stores among all the highly commercial brand toys. Maybe a few places have some of the same selection, but no place has all of it, and that’s why I’m sad to see them closing their doors.

Right now pretty much everything in the store is 30 percent off, and they plan on staying open until maybe mid-March. Dan and Laura Johnson, owners of the store, said they have had a very positive response from the community. I guess sometimes when you have five kids, a toy store and other responsibilities as well, something just has to give. Goodbye, Johnson family. See you in regular life.

Construction

You can see dirt work going on at The Village at Hendrix, where the next phase of The Village Square will be. This is of particular interest to those of us who don’t live in The Village, because it will have places for us to go and spend our money. I expect a Purple Cow to open there, and possibly a Sushi Cafe as well. If there is room for another place, I guess we should just go ahead and assume it will be a bank, right? Oh, come on, Conway. That was funny.

In other construction news, Cast Iron Skillet, the offshoot of Hole in the Wall Cafe that is locating in the former Back Yard Burgers building, has put up signs indicating its forthcoming opening. However, it looks like the work still has a way to go. I know a lot of people are going to be eagerly anticipating a second location, open in the PM, where they can get their skillet-fried cornbread. Yum.

Dunkin’ Donuts did not open on Feb. 12 as hoped (and I have the unfortunate handicap in this instant-messaging world of having to submit this information a few days before you will read it), but the place looked like it was getting very close on my last drive-by. I hope to be enjoying some blueberry coffee and some variety of pastry in less than two weeks. Fingers crossed.

That’s about it for today. Have a great week.

(Rachel Parker Dickerson is a freelance columnist/journalist. Send your questions and comments to rachelpdickerson@gmail.com)