Consumer Stories

Consumer Stories

Downtown eatery to reopen in July

Pineapple Ink Tavern has been closed for renovations and repairs since January, but owner, Allan Soto and his team are excited to show guests the changes they’ve made to the restaurant. Located at 1002 Broad St., the restaurant will celebrate its grand reopening on Wednesday, July 6. Pineapple Ink, which opened just before the pandemic began in 2020, serves a variety of entrees, including soups, sandwiches, salads, desserts, and drinks. Updates will include new artwork and a Cuban-inspired menu based, in part at least, on Soto’s Cuban heritage. “We are

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Consumer Stories

Evans entrepreneur hosts luxury picnics for any occasion

Like many business owners, Denise Vazquez has a demanding schedule. But Vazquez juggles not only a new business, but also a full-time job and full-time college class schedule. Vazquez, the owner of The Posh Little Picnic, an upscale home-based event planning business, hosts elegant picnics for a variety of occasions, such as baby showers, wedding showers, birthday parties, and anniversaries, as well as wedding proposals. She launched the business in early 2022, and demand for her services has slowly but surely increased. “People ask me if I ever sleep, but

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Consumer Stories

Local insurance agency sponsors collection to help school students in need

A behind-the-scenes need that many people often remain unaware of will be the target of a charitable cause in July. Jonathan English State Farm will sponsor its second annual Stuff the Bus event on Saturday, July 16 at the Walmart Super Center in Evans, starting at 9 a.m. The event will collect book bags and supplies for Columbia County middle school and high school students. English said people often think of the needs of elementary students but don’t realize that older students often face needs for school supplies as well.

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Consumer Stories

Business partners transform the historic home into an antique shop, event space

Two local business partners have taken on the onerous task of turning a 150-year-old house into an antique shop. Daniel Edwards and Kevin DeLaigle (or de l’Aigle, the family name’s original French spelling) are breathing new life into the DeLaigle House located at 551 Greene St., across the street from the Augusta-Richmond County Municipal Building. The four-story, 7,300-square-foot home was built in 1873 by DeLaigle’s great-great-aunt, Mary Clark DeLaigle, the widow of a Confederate Civil War soldier. It has been transformed into Edwards Mercantile & Company, which sells a variety

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Consumer Stories

Indoor cycling company to open Augusta location

If you’re feeling a bit stressed, you’re certainly not alone. But an international indoor cycling company wants to help you spin your cares away. CycleBar, which offers high-intensity spin classes for people of all ages and fitness levels, has announced it will open a new location in Augusta within the next year. The company offers various types of classes, including Empower, Xpress, and Connect, and on-demand workouts members can complete at home. There’s even a class called Cyclegives, which allows companies and groups to raise money for charitable causes. To

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Consumer Stories

Faith Friday: Cutting-edge faith transforms trash into treasure

Tim Fitzgerald II knows how to turn scraps into something special. As a former employee of a hardwood flooring company, he would salvage discarded pieces of quality, sometimes antique, wood. That’s when ‘one man’s trash is another man’s treasure’ became more than just a saying. “I started gluing them up and making cutting boards. With each one, the process and quality were improved until, after giving one to every one of our family members, my wife finally insisted that we should start a business,” he recalls. “In July 2013, we

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Consumer Stories

German copper recycler makes $340 million investment in Augusta plant but Riverkeeper asks for delay

A new metal recycling plant is slated to start construction this summer in Augusta Corporate Park in South Augusta, but the Savannah Riverkeeper has filed a petition with the Georgia Environmental Protection Division to delay construction and conduct another review of potential pollutants from the plant. Aurubis, based in Germany, announced the project last fall. The scope of the project includes a state-of-the-art multi-metal recycling plant (see artist rendering above) built on 150 acres, which would provide about 125 local jobs. Hiring for some of those jobs is expected to

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Consumer Stories

Business Lunch Review: Whiskey Bar Kitchen

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

Owners of Trinidad-inspired vegan restaurant to celebrate the grand opening

A mother-daughter duo is preparing to launch a unique restaurant concept in Augusta. Georgia Alexander and her mother, Diane Francis, will hold a grand opening celebration for Soca Vegan Kitchen located near Sprouts Farmers Market at 630 Crane Creek Drive, Suite 103 on Thursday, June 30. The Columbia County Chamber of Commerce will hold a ribbon-cutting at 4:30 p.m., and the celebration will begin at 6 p.m. Customers will be randomly selected to receive a T-shirt, and the first 200 customers will receive a coupon for a free entrée. No

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Consumer Stories

CSRA legal teams raise funds for a worthy cause

In the courtroom, prosecutors and defense attorneys usually have different goals. But local legal organizations recently teamed up to raise more than $33,000 to help Golden Harvest Food Bank provide 99,127 meals for hungry children this summer. These organizations, including the district attorney’s office for the Augusta Judicial Circuit; Durham Bray Law Firm, P.C.; Fulcher Hagler LLP; Richmond County Civil and Magistrate Court; and Attorney Nathan Jolles collected donations for the 11th annual Georgia Legal Food Frenzy fundraising competition April 18-29. “The local bench is committed to supporting the community

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