Retail

B2B Stories

Broad Street is smokin’ with development

The off-market sale of a historic mixed-use building at 1246 Broad Street in Downtown Augusta has been announced. The property, home to upscale retailer Fireside on the ground floor and residential tenants upstairs, was purchased by an investment group represented by Meybohm Commercial. Downtown Augusta is currently experiencing a wave of new developments, including The Standard on Greene Street and the Lamar Building. These projects, along with upcoming streetscape improvements and the recently announced funding for a new James Brown Arena, are expected to increase foot traffic and make downtown living

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Consumer Stories

Preparations for new retailer opening this spring

New Poolwerx franchisee, Neil Gwynne will be dipping his toes a little deeper into the business waters around March 1st.  He’s now painting his Riverwood Town Center brick-and-mortar shop, “Mariner Blue” per the instructions of his franchisor. “I love having the backing of a company that’s been doing this for 30 years. I like being around pools and I like an honest day’s work,” said the former Amazon executive. Gwynne looked at other franchises but was impressed with the Poolwerx track record and their research. He says there are more

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B2B Stories

CSRA firm warns against online shopping out of U.S.

More than $37 billion in online shopping was spent during Cyber Week, the five days from Thanksgiving to Cyber Monday. Granted much of that lined the pockets of Amazon and eBay, but there are two other companies, Temu and Shein, both based in China, that spend heavily to promote online shopping. What is heavy spending? Try $10 million a day on Facebook and Google. Both companies offer products at extremely low prices. Who doesn’t like a bargain? Here’s the rub. Temu is owned by PDD Holdings which owns Pinduoduo, a

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B2B Podcasting

Ready to work

See how the Augusta Technical College is using a new platform to help students find jobs in today’s edition of BizBits with Mike Petchenik.

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B2B Stories

New shop will capture the spirit of Aiken

Like many visitors, Sarah Dodge and her husband came for the horses but fell in love with the community. Four years ago, after visiting friends in the Winter Colony, the dressage horse trainer and her farrier husband packed up their bags in Colorado and moved to Aiken. When she went looking for Aiken-themed products at the request of friends and family, she couldn’t find them. Her entrepreneurial skills took over and in a few weeks, she will open True Aiken. “I’ve always thought about opening a shop and I thought

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B2B Podcasting

Sparkling holiday shopping news

The weather outside was not frightful and the shopping was delightful for retailers between Black Friday and Cyber Monday. Mike Petchenik has a sled full of good news in today’s Biz Bits.

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B2B Podcasting

Small business holiday shopping kicks off with a bang!

If home is where the heart is, small businesses in the CSRA benefitted when the shopping season kicked off after Thanksgiving. Learn more about how local businesses fared in the Small Business Saturday Crawl from Mike Petchenik in today’s Biz Bits.

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B2B Stories

New CSRA nursery decking the halls of businesses and homes

They might be the new kid on the nursery and landscaping block, but Southern Carolina Palms in Aiken is ready with all things Christmas. Located at 22 Gunter Road, the business opened in July and now six months later, they boast of one of the largest selections of holiday decorations in the CSRA. “Most of our sales come from families looking for a Christmas tree, wreath, swags, or inflatables,” said Annaleyse Black who handles customer questions and deliveries for Southern Carolina Palms. “We have all of that, but we have

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B2B Stories

Robust sales report kicks off Christmas buying

Gloomy predictions for a less-than-healthy holiday sales season were dispelled by a report this week from the National Retail Federation (NRF). During the five-day period from Black Friday through Cyber Monday, NRF found a record 200.4 million consumers hit stores and websites. That surpasses last year’s 196.7 million and far exceeds the NRF’s prediction of 182 million shoppers. “We attribute that turnout to a number of factors certainly,” said NRF President and CEO, Matthew Shay. “It speaks to the way consumers are feeling, but also the deals that were out

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Consumer Stories

Help from Augusta & Palmetto expert on Cyber Monday

Fire up your computers and grab your credit cards. Today is Cyber Monday, a day when your Christmas shopping can be done from your couch while wearing your jammies. Cyber Monday was coined in Nov. 2005 by the National Retail Federation, a time when online shopping was still in its infancy. Since then, it has grown into one of the biggest shopping days of the holiday season. According to the website, www.blackfriday.com, in 2022, shoppers spent an estimated 11.3 billion on Cyber Monday. That compared to $9.12 billion. Bloomberg, in

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