Consumer Stories

Wedding cake artist delights customers with unusual flavor combinations

Kelsie Mellott, owner of Hey Honey! Cakery loves to experiment with unusual flavor combinations, such as jalapeno cheesecake, made with cheesecake filling and jalapeno jam. While that may sound strange, many of her customers have raved about the taste. “I enjoy creating different things,” Mellott said. “We sell unique cakes.” Mellott opened Hey Honey! Cakery, located in Furys Ferry Station at 229 Furys Ferry Road, Suite 129 in Martinez, on Jan. 29. But before that, she ran the business at home for eight years while also working as a stay-at-home

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Consumer Stories

Local retailer expands, due to inflation

If you’re a parent, you’re familiar with this common scenario: you buy your kids clothes, and a few months later, they need new ones because the old ones no longer fit. With the current inflation rate at 8.5 percent, parents want to pay less for kids’ clothes. Many have turned to consignment shops, such as Kid to Kid, for not only clothing but also toys and baby items. Shannon Unger owns two Kid to Kid stores in the CSRA: one in National Hills and another on Washington Road near Goodwill

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B2B Stories

Mondays with Rick: Coping with inflation without hurting your customer base

  Dr. Rick Franza, Dean of the Hull College of Business, discusses a different, timely business topic each Monday in this column. This week, he provides tips on how businesses can cope with inflation without hurting their customer base. The interview has been edited for clarity and impact. ABD: Briefly, what is causing inflation, which is currently at 8.5 percent, the highest in 40 years? Rick: It’s a money supply issue – too much money has been pumped into the system. I’m not an economist but I think that’s the

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Consumer Stories

Local entrepreneur blends food and crafts to grow business

Angie Hood is shaking up the CSRA catering world. Charcuterie boards typically contain a variety of meat, cheese, fruit, and crackers. But Hood adds her own signature dishes, such as homemade Brussels sprouts and bacon bite-sized pizzas and stuffed dates with honey, paprika, and goat cheese, to her boards. The owner of Blooms, Boards & More, launched her home-based business one year ago after being laid off due to Covid. She also makes other foods, such as cheesecakes and pound cakes, as well as vegetable wreaths and fruit platters. “I

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Consumer Stories

New business coming to busy Martinez intersection

A new structure being built at the corner of Furys Ferry and Evans to Locks roads will be a liquor store. The building is being built by Peter Patel, who also owns several Dunkin Donuts franchises in the CSRA. The liquor store will be owned by Sam Patel. Duckworth Development is overseeing the construction of the building. There was no information available about the planned opening date of the liquor store.

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Consumer Stories

SRP FCU Brings Easter joy to elderly care residents

The staff of the SRP Federal Credit Union Branch in Barnwell, S.C., decided they wanted to do something special for the disabled and elderly in their rural community for Easter. To do so, their team visited the local Barnwell Pruitt Health Residential Facility with a small gift for each of the approximately 45 residents. The SRP team members visited the residents on Wednesday to deliver Bunny Boxes filled with plush chicks or bunnies, a toothbrush, hand sanitizer, facial tissues, hand cream, chocolate eggs, and a chocolate bunny. Some of the

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Emma Myers

Emma Myers transforms youthful enthusiasm into care for the elderly

Name: Emma Myers Company/Title: Savannah River ProHome Care/Director of Operations Years Served: 8 Contact info: 706-814-5906 or 815-351-1098 Emma Myers was fortunate enough to know from an early age that she loved working with the elderly. At 27 years old, she has an intensity for helping people that usually comes with age. Myers graduated from Lee University in Cleveland, Tenn., with a degree in Health Care Administration. She worked in assisted living facilities there and in Chattanooga before moving to Augusta to join her family in 2019. When Covid changed

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Shawna Woodward

Free Access: Real News Real Estate: Why rent prices have increased

It’s no secret that our real estate market has been steadily increasing in price and demand for the past few years. In that time, our rental market has also skyrocketed to what it is today. MHP Augusta has a substantial rental portfolio that we manage, so I have watched this change at a hands-on level. I’d like to give my input on the situation, and why I think there has been such a drastic change in the market. There are a few things that have happened to get us to

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