Fans of Gentry Men's Clothing and the Trio restaurant in Kenwood soon will be able to shop and eat in one trip.

Trio's owner will open a new restaurant called Embers by late February in a remodeled strip center at 8180 Montgomery Road, about a mile away from Trio, which will remain open. By then, Gentry will have moved from its current Galbraith Road location to the new center.

The $600,000 renovation of the former Burnett Square center is almost complete, said Gregg Pancero, the Trio owner who bought the center in May. Tenants including Key Bank and Tuesday Morning will stay.

Open for dinner only, Embers will feature steaks and seafood, Pancero said.

"Kenwood's a great area, and we're excited about going in," he said.

Gentry owner Dan Braeuer said the new location is a new start for the store, with upgraded merchandise. He co-owns Gentry stores in Kenwood and Tri-County, and Stocks stores in Dayton and Hyde Park Square.

The company's 2003 sales were about the same as the previous year, but it was a struggle, he said.

"I advertised a lot in December," he said. "That drove the business the last three weeks."

The new store actually will be a bit smaller than the current Kenwood store at about 9,000 square feet, Braeuer said.

"My location is only good because of old customers that know us," he said. "If you were a Realtor, you'd call it a 'C' location. Now we'll be in an 'A' location."

Bet you didn't know ...

Fernando Aguirre could have been in Cincinnati before he started his business career, as an infielder for the Cincinnati Reds.

Well, that may be a stretch, but the new president and chief executive officer of Chiquita Brands International Inc. did get invited to a Reds tryout as a high school infielder and pitcher in Illinois.

He ended up at Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville on a baseball scholarship. He went from there to 23 years at Procter & Gamble Co. Last weekend, he crossed Sycamore Street to take the reins at Chiquita.

"Maybe it was destined that I had to be in Cincinnati," Aguirre, now 46, says with a laugh. "At the time I was young, and I really wanted my college degree, so I decided to stay in school."

Sell, sell, sell

Fifth Third Bank earned a little national publicity in December as part of Nasdaq's "Visionaries" advertising campaign.

As the largest banking company listed on Nasdaq, Fifth Third was one of 19 companies featured in the print ads, which ran in magazines such as Forbes, Fortune and the New Yorker.

More ads could be coming this spring. Other companies involved include eBay Inc. and Starbucks.

The ad features a Post-It note signed by Fifth Third CEO George Schaefer with the message: "There are 86,400 seconds in a day. On your mark, get set, go."

"They wanted to reflect our culture of hustle," Fifth Third spokeswoman Stacie Haas said.

E-mail cpeale@enquirer.com