Openings

Last summer, Courtney Stokes announced her beauty spa was leaving its location in Martinez. In January, Stokes began serving her clients in a popular Evans retail center. Stokes, a licensed esthetician, owns SUEDE Beauty Bar + Spa located at 609 Ponder Place, Suite A off North Belair Road. Her previous location was at 101 Maple Drive, Suite 5 next door to Salon Thirty Seven. SUEDE offers a variety of services, including facials, chemical peels, and scalp therapy. Other businesses in that center include HireQuest, Harmonie Medical, and the JANUS Research

A year ago, a Harlem Chinese restaurant was destroyed in a fire, but a retail chain with more than 19,000 stores throughout the U.S. is building a new location in its place. Construction is underway on a new Dollar General store on the site that was formerly occupied by China One, which was located next door to Smith Farm Supply at 170 East Milledgeville Road. Harlem currently has two stores: one is located down the street at 601 West Milledgeville Road, and the other is at 863 Louisville Road near

Brian Lynce wants his clients to understand they don’t have to be bodybuilders to reap the benefits of regular exercise. Lynce owns Breaking Chains Fitness, a personal training business located at 6690 Swint Combs Road in Harlem. He offers individual and small-group training, as well as high-intensity interval training classes, in a building located just outside of his home. Lynce celebrated its soft opening in Oct. 2022 and plans to hold the grand opening at the end of May. “I’m certified in personal training and corrective exercise,” he said. Corrective

Michelle Lemmons opened her Columbia County nutrition business in July 2022, but she’s celebrating the grand opening of that business this weekend. Lemmons owns The Vibe Nutrition located at 4446 Washington Road, Suite 6, near Shane’s Rib Shack in Evans. The business offers a variety of meal replacement shakes, fat-burning teas, protein coffees, and workout supplements. Her shake flavors include salted caramel, Almond Joy, and Captain Crunch, and all contain protein, vitamins, minerals, and greens. The grand opening will be held Saturday, from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., and include

The closing of two Evans restaurants last year created vacancies in the Plaza at Evans Towne Center, but Meybohm Commercial Properties is working to fill those vacancies, according to Jordan Collier. ABD contacted Collier, the company’s director of commercial development, for an update on the center located in front of the Columbia County Performing Arts Center at 7025 Evans Town Center Blvd. He specifically addressed the units formerly occupied by Roll On In, a sushi restaurant, and Stay. Social Tap + Table. “We have fully negotiated and executed a lease

Prior to becoming a business owner, Dusty Germo worked as an engineer at John Deere for 12 years and pursued various hobbies in his spare time, but he now helps his customers enjoy their hobbies. Since July 2022, Germo has owned the Augusta franchise location of HobbyTown, which is located near Furniture Outlet at 266 Bobby Jones Expressway, Suite 110 in Augusta. The 3,000-square-foot store has been open since 1993. He’s moving the business to a 9,000-square-foot building, which is currently under construction at 4107 Riverwatch Parkway, Suite 4 at

A well-known convenience store chain has opened a new location in North Augusta, while a Kansas-based fast-food restaurant is preparing to open its first-ever location in Aiken County. QuikTrip has opened at 930 Edgefield Road, the latest business to join the growth continuing in the area around exit five off Interstate 20. This is QT’s second location in Aiken County. It had an existing store off Bettis Academy Road in Graniteville. “We bring our signature commitment to quality and friendly customer service, and over 20 new, good-paying jobs to the

The grand opening of a new Martinez tea shop drew a standing-room-only crowd Sunday, as local residents lined up to sample its menu of Taiwanese drinks. Ding Tea, which has hundreds of locations throughout the world, now has a new shop next door to El Rey at 3830 Washington Road, Suite 27 in the West Town Shopping Center. The family-owned shop celebrated its soft opening on Friday, Feb. 17, according to its manager, Paul Phan. The owners, John Phan, Hung Nguyen, and Tim Nguyen, also own the Cho Ba Mien