The former Benson's building has the advantages of visibility – it's right between Kohl's and Sears – and it's near the new courtyard wing of the mall, he added.

Mosser's has been steadily enlarging its shoe lines in recent years, and is carrying such brands as Ecco, Dansko, Finn Comfort, Merrell, Keen, Ugg and MBT in footwear, along with Vera Bradley handbags and accessories and Brighton jewelry and accessories, Piercy said.

The new store will have slightly expanded hours and will be open from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Saturday. The store will remain closed on Sundays.

Mosser's, which has been in business since 1941, also has a store in Springfield and a new store in Chicago called Ecco Shoes that opened this past spring, Piercy said.

Music school expands programs

Champaign School of Music is adding new teachers and has expanded its private-lesson options in piano, violin, viola, voice, flute, clarinet, saxophone, trumpet, French horn, trombone and guitar. The school has also added weekend hours for Suzuki violin lessons for young children, director Holly Hutber said.

Other new features are a new kindergarten keyboard class for 5-year-olds; a beginning piano class for kids ages 6 to 9; a new piano prep class for kids ages 3 to 5 on Saturday; and new bimonthly composing, performing and music history classes.

For more information, call 359-0541 or call a toll-free information line at 877-491-1992. The Web site is http://www.champaignschoolofmusic.org/.

Used car business expands

Pekin-based Advantage Auto Sales has added a used-car lot in Champaign at 710 W. Anthony Drive.

The company's Urbana lot at 1804 N. Cunningham Ave. opened early last year, and its new Champaign site is the former location of O'Brien Hyundai of Champaign.

Advantage Auto Sales is a "buy here/pay here" used-car business that offers its own financing, says Paul Noerenberg, a sales representative in Champaign. It has other locations in Pekin, Peoria, Peru and Springfield.

The Champaign lot has about 13 cars, but will eventually have an on-site inventory of 50 to 60 cars, Noerenberg said. All the locations together have about 250 used cars that can be viewed on Advantage Auto Sales' Web site and transferred to other locations for customers who want to buy them, he said.

The cars range from about 1994 models on up to about 2002 models, he said.

Successful Operation of Syn-Fuel Powered Electric Generator for the China Market
HOUSTON--Sept. 18, 2006--  Generator Set Utilizes Automotive Engine Technology to Cost Effectively Produce Power from Syn-Gas Produced by Coal Gasification   

Synthesis Energy Systems, Inc. (OTC: SYMX) ("SES" and Quantum Fuel Systems Technologies Worldwide, Inc. ("Quantum" today announced the successful operation of the world's first engine generator using synthesis gas or "syngas" as fuel. The engine generator set, a 125 kW Kohler engine based on a General Motors 8.1 liter V-8 block, successfully, and repeatably produced stabilized power. The syngas used as fuel was identical to syngas produced by the U-Gas(R) coal gasification technology developed by the Gas Technology Institute and licensed to SES.
"Successful operation of the generator set is a major step forward in the cost effective utilization of Synthesis Gas," stated Timothy Vail, President and Chief Executive Officer. "The operation of an automotive engine as well as power production from gas created by our proprietary U-Gas(R) technology demonstrates the flexibility to use syngas in a wide array of applications, including power generation."
Earlier this year, SES awarded a contract to Quantum's team to develop the world's first syn-fuel powered generator set under a contract engineering/development program. Quantum is the industry leader in the development of automotive systems based on hydrogen fuel. The combination of SES' knowledge of the gasification process and Quantum's hydrogen engineering skills made the successful outcome possible.
"We are excited to have achieved this important milestone together with SES," said Alan P. Niedzwiecki, President and CEO of Quantum. "We strongly believe that innovative approaches, such as these synfuel power generators based on Quantum's advanced fuel system technologies, will play an important role in the world energy market."
ABOUT SYNTHESIS ENERGY SYSTEMS, INC.
Synthesis Energy Systems, Inc. is an energy technology company that deploys proprietary environmentally responsible technology to efficiently gasify low value fuels to replace high cost energy and chemical products sold to major global markets. With its proprietary U-Gas(R) technology (licensed from the Gas Technology Institute), SES can turn waste coal products into high value synthesis gas for use in power and chemical applications. SES technology performs this gasification without the harmful emissions normally associated with coal fired energy production. SES currently has offices in Houston, Texas, Shanghai and Beijing, China. More information can be found at http://www.synthesisenergy.com/ or by calling (713) 579-0600.
ABOUT QUANTUM FUEL SYSTEMS TECHNOLOGIES WORLDWIDE, INC.
Quantum and its subsidiary, Tecstar Automotive Group, are leaders in powertrain engineering, system integration, and manufacturing of packaged fuel systems and accessories for specialty vehicles and applications including fuel cells, hybrids, alternative fuels, hydrogen refueling, new body styles, mid-cycle vehicle product enhancements and high performance engines and drive trains for OEMs and consumers of aftermarket parts and accessories. Quantum also designs and manufactures hybrid and fuel cell vehicles.
Quantum has product commercialization alliances with General Motors, AM General, and Sumitomo. Quantum's customer base includes General Motors, Toyota, Opel, Hyundai, Suzuki, Ford, DaimlerChrysler, AeroVironment, and the U.S. Army.