Jacob Wilt
Jacob Wilt is a reporter for The Commercial Appeal covering dining, retail and real estate, with a beat that links where people eat to how local commercial space is planned, built and reused. He stands out by following the lifecycle of specific addresses, returning to the same sites as restaurants close, properties change hands and new operators move in. His work combines menu and neighborhood details with permit filings, investment figures and tenant mix, so food stories sit inside a clear picture of the surrounding business landscape.
Restaurant openings, closures and chain expansion
Wilt’s dining coverage centers on concrete movements in the restaurant scene: openings, closures, relocations and expansions by local institutions and national chains. He reported the permanent closure of Coletta’s Italian Restaurant’s Appling Road location, noting its 28-year run, the exact address and the continued operation of the century-old original Parkway restaurant.
He later returned to the same site to cover its sale to the Casa Mexicana chain, detailing how the former Coletta’s location would transition to a new concept while the Coletta’s catering business carried on elsewhere.
His fast-casual reporting tracks brands such as American Deli, explaining a new location at Hacks Cross Road, the range of menu items and how the opening fits into a network of existing county locations. Similar “What’s that coming” pieces document chains like Jack’s Family Restaurant moving into a former furniture warehouse, showing how everyday dining concepts slot into vacant commercial spaces.
Across these stories, he consistently anchors restaurant news in the specifics of site history, operator plans and the broader pattern of local chain growth.
Commercial development and retail projects
Alongside food, Wilt covers commercial development with a recurring focus on individual parcels and planned tenants.
His business pieces often start with a visible construction or permit notice and then explain what is coming, such as a tire vendor and repair shop planned near an interstate exit or a new Holiday Inn Express near a former IKEA site. He profiles retail projects like a Cork Barrel Wine and Spirits store planned near an existing music retailer on Poplar Avenue, drawing out how specialty retail fits into established commercial corridors. In Cordova, he has written about an audio-visual company, Production One, moving into an industrial park on Macon Road, describing the company’s shift into a larger facility and what it means for that cluster of warehouses and offices. His coverage of an international market called Grand Mart details the purchase and multimillion-dollar conversion of a former church into a large-scale food-focused marketplace with a bakery, bar, food court and tenant spaces, and positions it alongside an existing international farmer’s market.
These development stories use permit filings, investment totals and square footage to show how new businesses - from salons to markets to hotels - repurpose buildings and shape local commercial strips.
Community, civic and nonprofit coverage
Wilt’s portfolio also includes civic and community reporting that follows local leaders, elections and nonprofit work. He has covered a Democratic Party primary for a local district, naming the winning candidate and situating the race within broader political coverage for the area.
His story on runners racing across states to raise $100 million for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital highlights the logistics and fundraising ambition of a long-distance charity effort. In an article on Urban Roots of Tennessee, he describes how a youth-focused agricultural program grows produce while creating economic and educational opportunity, connecting food production to community development. He has reported on Leadership Memphis announcing its Executive Program class, listing participants and framing the program as a pipeline for emerging business and civic figures.
Across these pieces, he treats community organizations, political contests and charity campaigns with the same attention to names, numbers and structure that he brings to restaurant and development stories, showing how civic life, youth programs and philanthropy intersect with the local economy.
Beat geography and reporting style
Wilt’s bio notes coverage of dining, retail and real estate, including work across DeSoto County and nearby communities, which aligns with the range of locations in his stories.
His reporting style favors clear, short explanatory pieces that answer a direct question - often literally framed as “What’s that coming” or “What’s that moving” - for readers noticing new construction, signage or a closed restaurant. Headlines and articles repeatedly tie visual changes on specific streets to named businesses, ownership details and operational plans, so new projects are documented as part of a continuous reshaping of commercial corridors.
He frequently returns to the same addresses - such as the Appling Road site once occupied by Coletta’s - to track how a property’s use evolves from long-running institution to closure to sale and reopening under a different brand. Taken together, his work gives a ground-level view of how food, retail, hospitality and community organizations move through and remake existing spaces over time.
4 more food journalists.
Aaron Guerrero
Aaron Guerrero is head of the digital department at Miami’s Community Newspapers, where he pairs restaurant coverage with community-facing content. He focuses on how Miami-area restaurants evolve, celebrate, and experiment through new concepts, menus, and neighborhood-focused dining experiences. He reports on restaurant openings, such as an Italian food hall at Plaza Coral Gables, new executive lunch menus, and wood-fired Latin steakhouse brunches, explaining what sets each venue apart. He also covers awards, like a Wine Spectator honor for an Italian chophouse, and events that turn dining rooms into social hubs. His bylines extend to features on sports-themed gatherings, civic renamings, local visits to restaurant programs, sponsored community pieces, and official notices. His work is straightforward and descriptive, helping readers and local businesses connect around specific openings, promotions, and dining experiences.
Aarron Fleming
Aarron Fleming reports on how courts, jails and public safety systems work over time. He is a reporter at The Daily Memphian covering public safety, the local court system, suburban news and business developments in North Mississippi. His work follows trials, sentencing, appeals, plea deals and judicial decisions, including major cases tied to Tyre Nichols and rapper Young Dolph. He also covers jail conditions, inmate deaths, crime data, prosecution units, trafficking, shootings and public-order incidents. His suburban reporting examines cannabis businesses, restaurant openings and how commercial growth affects communities such as Olive Branch. Fleming previously covered education in the same newsroom. He uses clear, unadorned prose to explain legal steps, deadlines, institutional problems and the political, commercial and community effects of public-safety decisions.
Alana Al-Hatlani
Alana Al-Hatlani is a food writer and editor who treats recipes, restaurants, and food features as ways to explore culture, community, and the business of eating. She works on the food team at Southern Living, overseeing and contributing to print recipes and reported features. Her pastry-focused, restaurant-tested perspective comes from time in restaurant and bakery kitchens. She helps plan and write monthly food packages, including “The South’s Most Treasured Desserts,” and wrote “8 Summer Recipes Our Editors Make Every Year.” She also writes recipe tips, ingredient explainers, restaurant guides, and reported stories about workers, owners, and communities. Her subjects include regional specialties, dining scenes, kitchen basics, and food industries. Her work has appeared with OpenTable and Yahoo. She reports on the ground, explains techniques clearly, and connects specific dishes and places to larger stories about food and livelihood.
Alana Edgin
Alana Edgin is a business reporter whose strongest focus is food, restaurants and consumer-facing businesses. She works at the Lubbock Avalanche-Journal and has also had work syndicated across AOL and Yahoo News. She covers new openings, closings, expansions and franchise growth, along with retail, health, services, corporate news, data incidents, business support programs and sponsorships. Her reporting includes detailed roundups of new restaurants and businesses, coverage of El Pollo Loco’s opening, and stories on burger trucks, dessert shops, Vietnamese sandwich restaurants and gourmet markets. She also contributes to food and drink reviews, including fall coffee and jerky comparisons. Edgin reports with practical “what, when, where” details, structured comparisons and clear explanations of how offers, partnerships and business changes affect consumers and the local economy.