Open for Business: Smoke ’N Sizzle

Smoke ’N Sizzle
Nixa resident Chris Barr became a first-time business owner with the March 1 launch of barbecue supply store Smoke ’N Sizzle. The 210 N. Massey Blvd. shop in Nixa’s Fountain Plaza shopping center replaced The Nutrition Spot Nixa LLC, which Barr said shuttered. Barr, currently the lone employee of the 1,100-square-foot store, said he moved last summer to Nixa from Colorado, where he previously worked 15 years as an assistant manager at Sam’s Club in Fort Collins, Colorado. Owning the business via 1542 LLC, Barr said startup costs were roughly $45,000. He signed a two-year lease for $1,100 per month with Robert and Judith Martin. Smoke ’N Sizzle sells barbecue sauces, rubs, wood pellets, cookbooks and cooking accessories, such as gloves and knives. Barr said his shop also has Traeger-brand grills in stock, with plans to expand his inventory. Following other family members who had moved to the Nixa area, Barr said he sold his Colorado house with the goal of starting his own business.
Phone: 417-370-8996
Email: ifteenfortytwo@outlook.com

Full Throttle Distillery
A roughly 18-month renovation of a former flea market in downtown Branson resulted in the Jan. 26 opening of Full Throttle Distillery at 116 E. Main St. The Branson venture is the first in Missouri for the Tennessee-based company, which has four other Full Throttle locations in Colorado, South Dakota and Tennessee. Officials with the company, which is owned by David Greenberg, Michael Ballard and Todd Phillips, declined to disclose annual revenues or startup costs for the Branson location. Greenberg said the company closed on the Main Street property in June 2023 after purchasing it from Cadwell’s Flea Market owners Kenny and Beth Burgess. Renovation work started soon after with HCW Development LLC serving as general contractor and H Design Group LLC as architect. Full Throttle officials say the 9,000-square-foot venture is a restaurant, full-service bar, cafe, retail experience and live music venue all under one roof. Stephen Hastings leads the nearly 50-employee staff as general manager of the Branson operation.
Phone: 417-544-8855
Web: Branson.FullThrottleDistillery.com

Emery Sapp & Sons
Midwest heavy civil construction company Emery Sapp & Sons Inc. held a Feb. 27 ribbon-cutting ceremony to mark its expanded presence in Branson. The company’s 3,000-square-foot office in the Taney County city is at 175 Dawn Road. Megan Etheridge, senior communications coordinator for ESS, said the business has officially operated in Branson since the 2021 purchase of Tom Boyce Excavating. It previously leased space in the Ollis/Akers/Arney building on Buccaneer Boulevard. She said the lease was discontinued when ESS last year purchased the Dawn Road building from Tom Boyce to start renovating it for its new office. Etheridge said the new location will deepen the company’s roots in the community, allowing it to increase operations, project and administrative support. Office leaders are assistant vice presidents Chris Landwehr and Paul Moody, she said, adding the company employs 25 people in Branson. ESS’ projects in the Branson area include the Silver Dollar City resort and Phase 2 of Thunder Ridge Nature Arena.
Phone: 417-335-2589
Web: EmerySapp.com