For Immediate Release

Contact: Bob Phillips or Keith Britt
Thompson & Company
(901) 527-8000
or
Andrew J. Groveman
Belz Enterprises
901/260-7278

 Java Blues To Celebrate Its Grand Opening Wednesday, May 13

MEMPHIS, Tennessee, May 12, 1998 – Java Blues, a purveyor of gourmet coffee and snacks, will celebrate its official grand opening Wednesday, May 13, in the Peabody Place Grand Lobby, 125 South Main Street.

Taste samplings of coffees, caribbean ice, and baked goods will be offered from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Don McMinn, blues guitarist, will play from noon to 1 p.m.

The regular hours of operation will be 6:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Monday through Friday and 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturdays. The shop will be closed on Sundays.

Java Blues is operated by Lifestyle Ventures, a Memphis-based entertainment and restaurant company, which leased 850 square feet in the rapidly expanding Peabody Place area.

"We plan to open several Java Blues in Memphis locations," said Steve Malvesta, vice president of marketing and development. "After that we’ll consider markets in other cities."

Lifestyle Ventures also has leased 5,000 square feet on the sixth floor of the same building. The firm manages the B.B. King Blues Club in Los Angeles as well as the one at 143 Beale Street in Memphis.

The primary focus of Java Blues is coffee, with a strong secondary emphasis on unique, high-quality breakfast and lunch food items. The outlet is designed to appeal to a wide variety of consumers who are in need of a quick, convenient refueling stop on their way to and from work, as well as the customer in search of a warm comfortable place to enjoy a late-morning muffin or an early-afternoon coffee.

Java Blues offers a variety of coffees, food, specialty beverages and retail items. The coffee offered will be the shop’s exclusive blend that is artisan roasted in a variety of classic flavors. The coffee is hand-roasted to order at high altitude (8,000 feet) specifically for Java Blues and shipped the next day to ensure maximum flavor and freshness.

Slow roasting at a high elevation insures a full-flavored, highly aromatic coffee. Hand-roasting insures a consistent, high-quality product.

Java Blues will offer a "Frequent Cupper Program" which qualifies customers for discounted refills with the one-time purchase of the shop’s specialty mug.

"The food portion of our menu will be equally as exciting as the coffees," said Malvesta. "We are working with City Bakery to offer a variety of muffins, bagels, croissants, and assorted pastries as well as several of our own signature sandwiches."

Malvesta said the lunch menu will feature several deli-style sandwiches, wrap sandwiches, specialty salads and dessert items such as brownies, cookies, fruit bars, and cakes. Java Blues will also offer Caribbean Fruit Ice, a gourmet water-ice product that is a cross between a sherbet and a sorbet.

Peabody Place is the country’s largest mixed-use development, providing apartments, retail, restaurants, entertainment and office space. Peabody Place includes The Tower at Peabody Place, The Gayoso House Apartments, The Apartments at Pembroke Square, Pembroke Square and 50 Peabody Place.

Belz Enterprises plans to break ground this year on the 250,000-square-foot Peabody Place Urban Retail and Entertainment Center, featuring a 23-screen movie complex, an IMAX Theater and retail space.

Headquartered in Memphis, Tennessee, Belz is a national leader in real estate development. The company owns and manages more than 25 million square feet of industrial warehouse and distribution centers, shopping centers, office buildings, mixed-use centers, and corporate campuses. Belz also owns a group of premier hotels including the Peabody Hotels in Memphis and Orlando, Florida.

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