Openings

Consumer Stories

Downtown art gallery relocates a few doors away

A downtown art gallery is moving to a new, larger location within the same block. The staff of Art on Broad Inc. has begun the process of relocating from 1028 Broad St. to 1016 Broad St. – the former home of Artsy Me.  According to a Facebook post, they’re painting and replacing tile in the new location. The gallery features a variety of creations from local and regional artists, including paintings, pottery, wood pieces, and jewelry. Art on Broad is open from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Tuesday-Friday and Saturday

Read More »
Consumer Stories

Retailer opens in former CSRA drugstore

Late last week a subsidiary of Dollar General opened “Popshelf”, a female-focused discount retail store that is stocking trendy seasonal and home décor items, health and beauty favorites, home cleaning supplies, household and specialty items, arts and crafts, party planning and more. It is located at 3510 Richland Avenue in Aiken in the former Walgreens building. Popshelf is similar to “Five Below”, a discounter in the Mullins Shopping Center in Evans, where the majority of items sell for less than $5! According to a news release this is the 15th

Read More »
Consumer Stories

CSRA husband and wife team opens junk business!

With the intent of cleaning up their part of the world, The Junkluggers of the CSRA are opening for business this week. Robert and Kedryn Evans of Aiken, have joined one of the fastest growing franchise operations in the country, with a territory that includes Aiken and Augusta (and Columbia County) and dozens of zip codes between and around them. The relatively new national franchise has operations in 29 states and Washington, D.C. The concept is that you have junk, there are probably lots of things that are “cluttering up

Read More »
Consumer Stories

Military family settles in CSRA, opens retail/production center

The busy holiday pet season is helping to spur on Bretta Farina’s puppy pet-collar growth plan, accelerated by hard-working women. She’s just moved into a 2500 square foot space at 261 Meredian Drive in Grovetown across from the Wal-Mart near Gateway Square. DC Lawrence Real Estate represented Farina’s Puddle Jumper business in the lease. Farina will be opening part of the space as a retail store and using leftover space for production. Farina’s husband is a military veteran and they moved to Augusta so he could accept a position with

Read More »
Biz Sectors

New female-focused businesses part of downtown Augusta growth

Brianne Martin and Danielle Harmadi – a pair of sisters originally from Wisconsin – recently launched their own business in downtown Augusta. Martin and Harmadi (see photo above) opened Freshwater Design Co. – located at 1022 Broad St. – on Thursday, Aug. 5. Freshwater sells a variety of handcrafted leather and acrylic jewelry and accessories, such as bracelets, keychains, and earrings, as well as drinkware, pennants, and wall art. “We are a studio and shop,” says Martin. In the studio, the sisters and their staff create these products for their

Read More »
Consumer Stories

Popular Mexican restaurant to relocate from Augusta to Martinez

Evan Luda lives off Fury’s Ferry Road in Martinez and is excited at the prospect of a local Mexican restaurant relocating to that area. ABD has learned the rumors are true—Mi Rancho Mexican Restaurant – located at 3064 Washington Road next to Chick-fil-A – will soon relocate to 407 Furys Ferry Road in Furys Ferry Plaza – the former home of St. Louis Original Hamburgers. The burger restaurant has been closed, and the building has remained vacant since 2014. A construction worker at that site stated Mi Rancho will move

Read More »
Consumer Stories

New store added to Columbia County’s paint palette

Columbia County already has several paint stores, but a new one just opened in Evans. Alta Paint and Décor – a family-owned Benjamin Moore store located at 4467 Washington Road near Walmart – will celebrate its grand opening on Tuesday, Aug. 31 from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the store. The celebration will include a free lunch, product demonstrations, and prizes. Alta sells a variety of paints, stains, color swatches, and even flooring, as well as blinds, drapes, and shutters from Hunter Douglas. Their services include color consultations and

Read More »
Consumer Stories

Grand Opening of $1.7 Million Evans restaurant is today!

If practice makes perfect, then Slim Chickens franchisee Jim Bennett should feel pretty good about today’s grand opening at the corner of Washington Road and North Belair in Evans. On Tuesday, Bennett and his team served hundreds of complimentary meals from a limited menu to friends and family as a way of providing needed training for its new staff. Other than a brief outage of a Point of Sale (POS) system at the beginning of the dinner hour, dozens of customer service employees took orders and served hungry volunteers. Meals

Read More »
Consumer Stories

Both Doc’s Porchside locations now open for business

Bryan Hensley misses the wings at Wild Wing Café, but he just discovered Redneck Egg Rolls at Doc’s Porchside. Doc’s replaced Wild Wing’s two CSRA locations in Grovetown and Augusta, which closed July 31. Hensley visited the Grovetown location, which opened Monday, Aug. 16, at 5147 Bluegrass Trail near Kroger. “Doc’s Porchside has the great atmosphere and a variety of awesome foods, including Redneck Egg Rolls,” – a unique combination of pulled pork, pimento cheese, and collard greens, he states. The Augusta location at 3035 Washington Road opened on Wednesday,

Read More »
Consumer Stories

Local business makes impossible product… possible with expansion efforts

Imagine a hamburger made from plants that looks and tastes just like one made from meat. While that may sound impossible, Angel Everett and her husband, Danny, have developed a 100% vegan burger. Everett – co-owner and director of Dawg! That’s Vegan – founded the business in February 2021 to offer customers a healthy alternative to the traditional hamburger. “We use beets to make it look red and coconut oil for fat,” says the U.S. Army Reserve veteran. “We cook all of our ingredients in olive oil.” They even add

Read More »