Consumer Stories

Consumer Stories

Real Talk Real Estate: The Ripple Effect: School choice, ratings and real estate

When someone decides to purchase a home, there are generally specific needs and principal requirements that narrow down the selection. One often underestimated element that holds the power to significantly impact property values and selection is school zoning. School choice and school ratings launch a profound influence on the lifestyle choice, purchase location and happiness of homeowners. In the ever changing real estate market, the concept of school choice has developed into a compelling force. Homebuyers are no longer merely checking off the wish list, they’re making choices that reflect

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Consumer Stories

Best of Business Lunch Review: Fat Man’s Café

Editor’s Note: Wes Hennings never met a meal he walked away from and is an opinionated eater! Each Thursday he shares the results of a business lunch he’s had with a colleague as a way to advise our business community on the good, bad, and tasty across the CSRA. He doesn’t let ABD or the restaurant know where he is going and his opinions are his own. He grades the restaurants he visits on a 1-5 scale with “5” being outstanding. We call this our “Real Business Lunch Review”. Food

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Consumer Stories

Local Vietnamese café celebrates first anniversary

When Lily Nguyen opened a café in Augusta last summer, she already had a loyal customer base who knew her from The Augusta Market, but business has increased exponentially ever since, thanks to its proximity to Augusta University and the downtown medical district. Nguyen owns Lily Coffee, Tea & Bread located at 1378 Laney Walker Blvd., Suite 101, which she opened on Aug. 1, 2022. The shop was formerly occupied by Humanitree House. Nguyen also sells boxes of Vietnamese coffee in her shop and provides them to Asian markets, including

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B2B Stories

Bumpers, bells, and buzzes coming soon to the CSRA

If you are a pinball wizard or grew up with Pac-Man or Donkey Kong video games, get ready for social gaming paradise. Radioactive Pinball Arcade will celebrate its Grand Opening on August 26th at 113 Laurens St., Ste 103, in Aiken. Owners, Eric and Erin Edwards are in the midst of working hard to make the arcade a special place to socialize and reconnect with some of the pinball machines and gameplay of your past. Let’s start with the heavy lifting and where 42 pinball machines and 30 arcade games

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Consumer Stories

Ongoing opportunities for employment

Editor’s note: This is Part 2 of a series of stories about the mega-hiring event hosted by the City of Augusta. For the second week, job seekers have a target-rich environment this Thursday at the Augusta Municipal Building. The City of Augusta is holding the second of three sessions of a mega-hiring event on August 10, from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. It will be in the Linda Beazley Room in the Municipal Building at 535 Telfair Street. This event will focus on service departments such as Augusta Utilities, Engineering,

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B2B Stories

Family-owned Ecuadorian coffee shop and bakery opens in Augusta

A little piece of Ecuador has come to Augusta with the opening of Relic Coffee Company’s location in the historic Summerville area. Located on 1504 Monte Sano Ave. in Augusta, the family-owned 100% Ecuadorian café and bakery had a soft opening on Aug. 6, which brought in many customers eager to support the new business. A grand opening is scheduled for Aug. 19. The shop has a simple menu of Ecuadorian-inspired coffees and pastries, all of which are served in-house. Cesar Schettini, owner of Relic Coffee Company, said the company’s

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B2B Stories

Local Chamber event to highlight ways to engage younger workers

One of the ways companies can engage and retain younger professionals is by offering them more money, according to Nate Lauger. Lauger, operations manager for the Augusta Manpower franchise, which serves both the CSRA and Greenwood, will facilitate a panel discussion at the North Augusta Chamber of Commerce’s Good Morning, North Augusta event on Thursday, from 7:30-9:00 a.m. in the Palmetto Terrace Ballroom, on the fourth floor of the North Augusta Municipal Building. The topic of the discussion will be “Understanding Young Professionals and Their Needs.” The panelists for this

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B2B Stories

Love of cleaning is catalyst for a young entrepreneur

A few years ago, Marie Kondo made millions from the concept of organizing, decluttering, and tidying up. While it wasn’t a new idea, people were drawn to her marketing that being tidy is a powerful reset and that your life begins after putting your house in order.  She started something that was more than a fad. The growth of the organizing and cleaning service industry is consistent. By next year, it’s anticipated that 80% of all households will use a house cleaning service, most likely because the number of dual-income

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B2B Stories

New spa owner is on a health and wellness mission

What propels someone to open three businesses including one that sells to 600 retailers across the country and around the world? Pain and suffering. You’re a senior in high school, enjoying the prom, pulling an all-nighter for final exams, and creating all those memories for that rite of passage. Now, imagine instead of having the time of your life, you suffer from debilitating headaches, fatigue, and brain fog, so harsh you can’t drive. “I went to doctors and specialists. I had MRIs, CT scans, and a multitude of tests but

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Consumer Stories

Faith Friday: Unoffendable (Part 1)

Brant Hansen is a syndicated radio host and podcaster heard by millions of people each week around the country. In 2015, he became an author and has since released four books. “Unoffendable,” our focus today, has been updated and re-released this year, along with some extremely helpful resources to foster more conversation about this important topic. There is so much useful content from this conversation that I’ll be sharing it with you in two parts. Let’s get started: Brant, you are a broadcaster. Was it ever one of your goals

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