Several people have asked me what's going on - or going in - at the former Rising Star Gymnastics, at 320 E. St. Patrick St.

I talked to Jim Meier, who does real-estate development with Bill Gikling and other partners.

He said there's a lot going on, but as yet, nothing going in.

The partners recently bought the building, originally a Safeway store. He said they are renovating the building and looking for a tenant.

"We're just going to spiff it up, and hopefully rent it out," he said.

The building covers 20,000 square feet. Meier said they are looking for one tenant, maybe two for the building.

I'm not sure what happened to Rising Star.

Dacotah FCU branches out

Other people have been curious about the new wood-frame building under construction at 2990 E. Highway 44, just down from the KOA Kampground.

It is the future main branch of Dacotah Federal Credit Union. The 800-member credit union is made up primarily of workers at the GCC Dacotah Cement Plant in West Rapid City. The current main office is near the cement plant at 501 St. Onge St.

Teresa Peregrine, manager and chief executive officer of Dacotah FCU, said the St. Onge branch will remain open after the new credit union is finished.

"They're a great bunch of guys and I would never, ever think of leaving them," she said.

But like other credit unions, Dacotah now has a community charter, which means anyone in the community can become a member. She said the credit union picked the new location because it is close to the fast-growing Rapid Valley neighborhoods. "We felt the Valley wasn't being served like it should be," she said.

Peregrine said the new main branch should be done in November, possibly December.

Dacotah Federal Credit Union has been chartered since October 1950.

Mystic Arts opens on West Main

In Europe and beyond, the Black Hills are well known as a spiritual place, said Eric Surcouf. That's what attracted Surcouf and his wife, Patou Surcouf, to South Dakota.

The couple - he's French, she's Sicilian - recently opened Mystic Arts, a new retail store at 2050 W. Main St., near the Indian restaurant Curry Masala.

"Ever since we came to America, our goal was to get to the Black Hills. It is so spiritual," he said.

Eric described their shop as a seller of earth-centered spiritual books and supplies, as well as a variety of metaphysical and New Age products for the mind, body and spirit. It has jewelry, crystals, statuary and a variety of herbs and types of incense.

They also have a Mystic Arts store in Spencer, Iowa.

Hours are 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. and 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. weekdays, Saturday from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. For more information, call 791-1090.

New shop is All About Pilates

Melanie Cruse and her mother, Jill Bunkowske, have started a new business inside the newly expanded Prima School of Dancing. And there's little doubt about what type of business it is.

All About Pilates is, well, all about the method of body conditioning named after its developer, Joseph Pilates. Theirs is a particular style called Stott Pilates.

Stott Pilates, they explained, combines the original Pilates exercises with some of the newest scientific research into exercise and body mechanics.

They teach mat Pilates as well as reformer Pilates, which uses specialized equipment and goes beyond mat Pilates. All About Pilates will have two professional "reformers," Jill said.

Melanie said one primary benefit of Stott Pilates is that it gives you longer, leaner muscles with less bulk and more freedom of movement. It's also easy on the joints and can be customized to suit everyone from physical rehabilitation patients to dancers and elite athletes.

Melanie has been a teacher at Prima, 3401 Sturgis Road, for three years. Jill has been a fitness teacher and trainer for 30 years.

For more information, call 430-1418, or stop in this weekend for the open house. It will be Saturday from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. and Sunday from noon to 4 p.m.

Talking Business appears Thursdays in the Journal. Contact Dan Daly by telephone at 394-8421, by fax at 394-8463 or by e-mail: dan.daly@rapidcityjournal.com