SPEAKER_06 1:45

Hello everyone. Welcome back to another episode of the Hilltop Glove Podcast. Today we had the pleasure of speaking with Mr. Brian Thomas. Brian is the owner and CEO of your dollar store LLC, located in Columbia, South Carolina, at 3017 Farrell Road. On June 12, 2021, Brian opened his business with a vision for providing a service to a community that was lacking a source of fresh fruits, vegetables, and everyday household needs. Since then, the store has begun partnering with FoodShare South Carolina, a nonprofit to launch an outdoor fresh fruit and vegetable sale every Wednesday, serving nearly a hundred people at its produce stand. It offers fresh and locally grown groceries to downtown neighborhoods that do not have easy access, such as Booker, Washington Heights, a lower-income neighborhood that has seen grocery stores closing in the recent years. Inside the store, there are an array of breakfast items and cleaning supplies, including peanut butter, toothpaste, and laundry detergent. Essentials designed to to make the essentials designed to make the store a one-stop shop for people with limited resources who may not have their own transportation. Brian believes everyone takes a different road to be successful, and he wanted to pattern himself after his parents. Eventually he hopes the dollar store can expand beyond the current space, small space, to fill an entire building and offer a full grocery selection to the neighborhood. Thank you for joining us today. How are you?

SPEAKER_02 3:15

I'm doing great, and thank you for having me on the show today.

SPEAKER_06 3:19

How did you like your intro? Because some people like, wow, I do all that.

SPEAKER_02 3:23

Oh, intro, I'm all I'm simple, so you know That's good to hear.

SPEAKER_06 3:29

No, but thank you for what you're doing. Yeah, when the store first opened up, it got a lot of publicity for the neighborhood, for the community. What was that like for you?

SPEAKER_02 3:38

Well, it came out of surprise, actually. It grew lace because the whole concept again was it was a family business that my mom and dad started back in 1989. So when I was working part-time at a a competitor and the coronavirus had just kicked in, and I was seeing people, you know, by the toilet tissue off the shelves and the noodles and everything, right? I mean, everybody was cleaning the shelves off. So all of a sudden your sources disappeared. Yeah. Yeah. And I'm sitting back, you know, I'm in my mind like, I can do this. You know, we already have a building. Why not take advantage of this building that my family have and start my own dollar store, right, during this pandemic, because I know there's a lot of needs, you know, essential items. So I went ahead and I invested my own money pretty much and jumped head first into it, and here we are today, almost two years later, in June, it'll be two years. So thankfully, all the customers who uh supported me along the way have helped me progress to this point.

SPEAKER_06 4:34

That's amazing.

SPEAKER_02 4:35

So, how are things going for you? It's going good. Yes, sir. Things are going, it's picked up tremendously to be honest with you. When I first opened up, I was just basic, I just had three rows high as four as my shelves. Right. Now I'm on four rows high. I've thought I had manager refrigerators in the in the store. Now I got freezers, I got commercial freezers, commercial coolers. I have a lot of ton of support from these big corporations as well. So the name of few: Prisma, DHEC, Healthy Blue, Food Share, Food Trust. So they've been observing me since day one when I set up my fruits and vegetables outside. Um, so one of the doctors came from uh Prisma, which is one of the rehab places right across from my store. And he came and talked to me one day about how can he help me, you know, help build what I'm starting here for supporting, because it is a food desert. So being able to provide something for a community that that was lacking, the all the main grocery stores got taken away. So just being able to provide for that community has been just making my heart smile because I see those people coming in all the time, and it's easier access for them now.

SPEAKER_06 5:37

Yeah, because I I live at the very end of Faro Road, like towards like Killian and stuff. And I'm like, once you take Faro Road, there's really no grocery store. And I'm like, okay, so the closest one is five points, right? And that can't serve everybody, right? Even the North Main area.

SPEAKER_00 5:53

North Maine is the same way. Like what's like, you know, because my my wife works out at Columbia College. There's there's not anywhere to eat. Like, there's a wing place at a gas station, but like you gotta come all the way down, and then I think the closest grocery store is that Uncle Willie's. Well, on Main Street, that's still like that's still a long ways.

SPEAKER_02 6:10

Oh my god. Yeah. Yeah, you got Uncle Willie's, which is another. As a matter of fact, when Uncle Willie's before she even opened up, she came to my store and she's a fellow Sharonrock. Oh, Claire Sharon Rock's gonna give a little shout-out real quick to Sharon Rock's. But yeah, so Krista Williams, she came to me and just kind of like picked my brain a little bit before she even opened up Uncle Willie's as for how to get started. So I gave her some advice, and here she is today as well, thriving and doing doing good.

SPEAKER_03 6:32

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 6:33

But yeah, so like you said, there's no uh main grocery stores. You got Piggly Wiggly on North Main Street, you got the food line on 29th road. Like the food line thinking Fire Points or Publix on Girlby Street. But if you don't drive, how are you gonna get to these places? And also the other need, another concern for that area is diabetes. It's number one in South Carolina. So that zip code, 29203, is number one in South Carolina.

SPEAKER_06 6:57

I did not know that.

SPEAKER_02 6:59

Yes, and South Carolina is number one.

SPEAKER_00 7:01

Because there's nowhere to eat except fast food. Exactly. You got churches and you got zestos. That's it. That's the only thing to eat on that side. Lamere, I guess, the biscuit cat, but that ain't.

SPEAKER_02 7:15

And also, too, just add on to that, so like I said, there's no health places to eat. And then the stores that are in the community, that you know, my competitors, I wanna don't even want to say the names, but we we all know who they are around here. But you can we can get canned goods anywhere and junk food anywhere, but if you come to your dollar stove, right, um, you can get fresh fruits and vegetables, squash, peaches, plums, um, collard greens, okra. A lot of people love okra. So, but yeah, so that provides a fresh source of fresh fruits and vegetables instead of just canned.

SPEAKER_03 7:43

Right.

SPEAKER_00 7:43

Because processed, right? Right, right. And that and it that is a much better, and like that is the old way, like that used to be how our grandmothers cooked. Exactly. You know, and that used to be, you know, like, and you hear about families where they had like 12 kids and shit, and it's like, yeah, it's because they they cook big meals of rice and beans and collars and like and it, you know, and it fed a lot of people, and it's good calories, and like, you know, it's fine.

SPEAKER_02 8:09

Feel jill, right? Right, right. Go back for second and thirds and fourths. Right, right. Yeah, so that's kind of like what I kind of hang my hat on because even meat. So I came out with the I started doing the fruits and vegetables first. I was gonna do it initially by myself, but then I had a customer come into my store. I'm gonna give her a shout out, Ashley Booker. She's like a co-op through the city. So she's already in like the food service type environment. So she said, Well, I'm gonna I got some people I want you to meet, which was Food Share, you know. And so Food Share came out, the representatives came out, and we just had a powwow type meeting, and we shook there on that after that meeting was over with, we was like, you know, we're we're partners now. So they got me going as far as the fruits and vegetables stand. And so ever since October of 2021, after I opened up in June, I've been going full goals for fruits and vegetables every week, every day. Um, I have an account out there at the farmer's market with the Sin Brothers. So every Tuesday I get a uh a fresh delivery, every Tuesday comes in. So I just set up every day, I sell out every day, or you know, sell my fruits and vegetables every day, and then every Tuesday another uh fresh load comes in. So nothing's gonna be hanging over. Now some things carry over now. Right, right, right. Food share, they they educated me on, you know, they teach you the ins and outs, what uh temperatures certain things can be in, you know what I'm saying? So they they they will educate you. So I appreciate um Gabe and Miss Uh Beverly Wilson, old major. I'm not leaving somebody out, but just want to give Food Share a shout-out.

SPEAKER_00 9:29

Yeah, Food Share is a great project. Um and you know, if you can't make it to their main distribution point, a lot of people have like kind of co-ops in their office. Like I know my day job and my wife's day job both have them, where like somebody in the office goes and picks up like 10 of them and comes back to the office, and that's right, and that's how we do it. Right. Yeah, and it is, it's it's you know, great fresh food, and it's uh it's cheaper than you can get at the grocery store. Yeah. Exactly.

SPEAKER_02 9:57

I mean, you know, we you you can go get five, you can get a burger, fries, and milkshake and coke for five dollars, but right, you know, you take that same five dollars and get you a fresh cabbage, fresh squash, you know what I'm saying? Right, make you a real meal.

SPEAKER_00 10:09

And you know, sometimes it's stuff that I don't know what to do with. Some you know, they gave me some kind of a root vegetable the other day, I didn't know what the hell it was. For real. But you know what? You Google it, and guess what? You chop that thing up just like potatoes and you fry it, or or whatever. You can mash it too. You just treat it like potatoes, and we did it as delicious. Google it. You know, and that's what you do. You yeah, you just you just hit the internets and it tell you how to do it.

SPEAKER_06 10:32

So I was supposed to go through this at the beginning of the episode. But uh, what was it like growing up in Columbia, South Carolina?

SPEAKER_02 10:38

Growing up in Columbia, South Carolina, it's I've seen a lot of growth. You know, people say South Carolina's a backward as state. You know, we'll uh let's just keep it real. Sometimes. You know, well, it's like I say it has grown. Yeah. But just for growing up, yeah, because we, you know, we were always lads for getting new things, or, you know, it you know, other cities, other states had these things before we got it. So we had to watch other cities and states when people rock the new shoes or get the new whatever it was, new gear come out, or whatever it was, you know. But growing up, I had it, I had a good life, you know, growing up. Like I said, my dad is a contractor, so he built our house that I that I grew up in. I have an older brother and two older sisters, so I'm the youngest out of four. Went to Sarah Nance. So, as a matter of fact, so the the elementary school that I went that I went to from grade school is in that Booker Washington Heights neighborhood. So it's called Sarah Nance. It's no longer active, it's like a community center now, but from kindergarten through fifth grade, so I went there. I used to walk those streets every day to my grandmother's house, who lived in Booker Washington Heights neighborhood at that time. Now, my the house I lived in was on the outskirts of Columbia. So I'm not sure if you ever heard of Coon Store Road.

SPEAKER_06 11:43

Sound familiar.

SPEAKER_02 11:44

It's way on up Fairfield Road, if you take that route, or way up North Main Street. If you ever heard of Tiffany Gardens, so it was up that way.

SPEAKER_04 11:52

Okay.

SPEAKER_02 11:52

Anyway, so but I was zoned to, now back then in elementary school, back then it wasn't no zoning, you know what I'm saying? Right. I'm I'm born in 75, so so from 80 to whatever, 85, it wasn't, you know, it wasn't no zoning back then. So you can go live over here and go to a school over there, right? But I went to Sarah Nance, which is in that community. So I just walked those streets, and back in my childhood, it was the the the store was called Mr. Drill. So when school was out, we'd walk those streets, get our little penny candy, our penny cookies, right? My little snacks, and I'll go to my grandmother's house and you know, of course, play, you know, wait for my mom to get off of work and come pick us up. So now, and there's a school right next door to my store called Daniel's Christian Academy. And so when I had my vision to open my store, that was part of my vision because I know it was a school right there. And so when I first opened up, it was more snacky type stuff, like candy and chips and drinks, right? Because I knew the students was gonna come over. I had them built a relationship with the owner of the school, Daniel, Mr. Daniel, or Dr. Daniel, I should say. And so they were like, yeah, we can't wait till you open up. So now, and his concern was his students, before I opened up, they were crossing the road to go to the family dollar that's a catalog corner to my store. And they would have to cross that busy road. So for safety reasons alone, you know, I if you if it's been over in that area, it's constant traffic. Yeah. So their concern for their students was, you know, having them cross the street, deal with cars or strangers out there, you know what I'm saying? So now they can they wouldn't have to cross the road at all. They can they have they can come around the back gate, come to my store, there's no crossing the road, no nothing. So they it's the safety is um is taken care of now as far as that part of it. So they come two, three, four times a day, get the chips, drinks, candy, you know. They I see hot dogs now on Thursdays and Fridays. So they look forward to Thursdays and Fridays for their chili dogs, you know. You got chili, you got onions, you know what I'm saying? So they look for the whole nine yards. So, but I feel so good knowing that their safety is is, you know, and the parents trust me, you know. So I feel very good just having them in my hands when they're in my store. So so yeah, when I first started, it was more snacky. Then I started seeing adults come, you know, come to the store. Because when I first opened up, when you first started a business, you have no customers, you know what I'm saying? You're you're trying to get the first customer to come through your door, right? Right. So I knew I had the store, the school next door. I said, I said I must build my store snacky around them. So I was only open, y'all, three days, and I saw a lady come through the door, and I thought it was a customer, and it was a state newspaper. So they was, she was like, Well, do you mind if I get an interview? So the state newspaper came to this, the dollar store back then. And to add to the store, like you said, when we first opened up, my initial name of the store was called the Dollar Store. But I was a sole proprietor, I wasn't an LLC yet. And so when I applied for LLC, they said I was too, my name was too similar to the dollar store.

SPEAKER_03 14:40

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 14:40

And I was like, well, I never saw a dollar store around here before. I saw Dollar Tree, Family Dollar, Dollar General.

SPEAKER_00 14:46

Right, it's a generic term. Yeah, it's a generic term.

SPEAKER_02 14:49

But actually, it is a it is a not here, right? Just in general, there are some stores called the dollar store. But anyway, so that's how I ended up changing my name from the dollar stove to your dollar stove, LLC. So people love the stove part of it, so I couldn't let that part go. You know what I'm saying? It's like the stove, you know what I'm saying?

SPEAKER_03 15:06

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 15:06

And if you if you like, say you uh ask your wife, you know, if she in the store right now, you say, where you at? You know what I'm saying? She won't say, I'm at the store. Yeah, right. Or if you ask, you know, anybody in your family, your friend, whoever, where you at? I'm at the store. So I just kind of like that's that name just rung. It rings bell. So so you went when you come to your dollar store, you come to the store. I get people to pull over all the time. They say, Yeah, I know STO aparthy. You know, that's that's our people right there. You know what I'm saying? So they'll pull around, do U-turns, everything, just to just to come support the store.

SPEAKER_00 15:36

Nice. Mm-hmm. Nice. So I mean, it sounds like, you know, like one of the questions I was gonna ask you was why you chose to go like this independent route rather than getting a franchise for a bigger thing. But it sounds like the stuff you're doing is stuff that a franchise wouldn't do.

SPEAKER_02 15:52

Yeah, I actually did check into the franchise for one of those competitors, and they said they didn't franchise. Oh, okay.

SPEAKER_00 15:58

So I was like, well, so they're all corporate stores and choose where it's gonna be, and if it's not the right spot, it's not.

SPEAKER_02 16:05

Right. Um so I was like, yeah, that's why I was like, I got we already have a family business.

SPEAKER_00 16:09

Why not go ahead and take put one foot, you already got one foot in this in the door and just make it this thing that needs to exist in the community. It sounds like it's very community focused. You're talking about having hot dogs and you know, having farmers market kind of style out there, like like sounds like a spot that everybody stops by and hangs out at.

SPEAKER_02 16:29

It's it's called the one-stop shop. Some people come there, they they they don't know what's in there until they come to the store. They think it's just uh they end it. Oh yeah. And just the funny part of the story, too. So when I was I was called the the dollar store, right? So about 50% of the people that come to the store, they say they think everything is a dollar, literally. You know what I'm saying? So I'm like, no, everything's not a dollar. That's just the name of the store.

SPEAKER_00 16:50

It's not like that anywhere anymore. Yeah, exactly, right?

SPEAKER_02 16:54

So I explained to them, no, it's the same concept as this, you know, XYZ. And then so they like, oh yeah. So then, but then when they come in, they say I have body oils. I got I sell meat, so you can get onion sauce, you get liver pudding, you can get you can get chicken wings, I sell turkey wings, I sell fish and seafood. So you can come, it's it's like a full-blown grocery store, you know. So you can come and make a whole get a whole meal, the meat, you can get your vegetables, the rice, you can come get your soaps, you can get dove products, you can get boiled peanuts, like you said, the chili dogs on Thursdays and Fridays, you can make a copy or print something off while you're there. So it truly is a one-stop shop. So I shouldn't have named it one, the one-stop shop. Um But yeah, so when people come in there, they are you know surprised that I do have as much in there in that space.

SPEAKER_00 17:40

And so you mentioned that like you came from this industry of working in retail, uh essentially, but it's it's specifically you know, grocery. And what I know is always different when you're working for a place, and then all of a sudden when you're doing it, all the things that they have figured out that you were annoyed by before, all of a sudden like, oh crap, that's why they do that. It's because I gotta have, you know, but like what challenges like snuck up on you that you were just not thinking were even gonna be a thing.

SPEAKER_02 18:18

So, yeah, as you learn and growing and building your business, yeah, you are learning. I'm still learning. And and I took a class, an entrepreneur class back in last February, whatever it was, through the city, the OBO, Office of Business Opportunity. So shout out to them too.

SPEAKER_00 18:32

Okay, that might be something to check out. Yeah, I might need to take that.

SPEAKER_02 18:35

Yeah, man. They they're you'll learn a lot. You know, things that you think you'll know, you probably are correct on those things, but they're gonna fine-tune you.

SPEAKER_00 18:42

Right, well, and tell you details and specifics and you know, it's different knowing generally well, you gotta get a paperwork, but I don't know what it's called.

SPEAKER_02 18:49

Exactly. So, like you said, we when you're working at the outside world, your competitors, you know, just growing the store, you know, you know, getting your vendors. You know, I use my stores as a platform for local vendors. So I'm proud to hang my hat on that as well. So, because I know if they go through Walmart or these other stores, they're gonna got, you know, the red tape, right? Right. Mainly application for this and application for that, and you may get denied 99% of the time. So I I am proud to say that I use I use my store as a platform for a lot of local vendors that are born here in Columbia or in South Carolina in general.

SPEAKER_00 19:21

What kind of stuff? Like the oils and soaps?

SPEAKER_02 19:23

Yeah, body oils, my sea moss, my candles. Shout out to Q Burrow candles. What else I have? Candles, body oils, oh yeah, soaps, so a lot of natural soaps, like sea moss, turmeric.

SPEAKER_03 19:34

Cool.

SPEAKER_02 19:34

I know I'm leaving some stuff out. Oh yeah, my like tumbler cups, you know, so you can get any kind of cups made.

unknown 19:39

Nice.

SPEAKER_02 19:40

And what else I have? Oh yeah, your bracelets and which you were asking about earlier. Yeah, so that that's that's local.

SPEAKER_03 19:45

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 19:45

So yeah, so I have about maybe about six, seven, eight local vendors that's here from Columbia, South Carolina, with Cyclone in general. Um, that I um use my store as a platform. And other vendors are, oh yeah, I have one that uh has a book or a journey or a diary type book. So yeah, so I have about eight or nine, ten maybe vendors that's locally here from South Carolina. And I'm proud because people come into this, into the store and they they go straight to those items, you know. And so I promote them real hard because they are local, and I do want, you know, and I tell people all the time, for our communities to grow, you got to buy local. I mean, this is a local dollar store. It's not the competitor, they're not some big chain store that's in, you know, California somewhere, New York. You know, this is from Columbia, South Carolina. 29203 area, you know, zip code. So be proud to hang your head on that because our dollar has to circulate in order for our communities to grow. Um so, so, you know, going to the local beauty salon, the local meat market, the local car wash, the local whatever clothing store, you know, and then come to the local grocery store and that dollar stays in the community. So that's how the community grows. So you want your dollar to circulate 15, 16, 17, 18 times because other communities, dollars circulate that many times. And just to be real with you, in the black community, it circulates about three times at the most. So that's not enough. You know, other others are in our communities and the dollar goes there and it's and it stops. So just to have the black dollar, just just just keeping it real here, the black dollar got to circulate for our communities to grow, okay? But as far as our local vendors, yeah, I'm I'm very proud to have them locally here.

SPEAKER_06 21:19

Now, I have a friend that does seasoning with with no salt, and she would like to, you know. Rang on. Okay. I'll definitely tell her.

SPEAKER_00 21:28

Yeah, we were just doing this interview to enjoy. Yeah.

SPEAKER_06 21:30

So I'm so glad we interviewed you.

SPEAKER_02 21:33

Okay, cool. I'm all for promoting our local vendors.

SPEAKER_06 21:36

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 21:36

Entrepreneurs, yeah.

SPEAKER_06 21:37

Okay, perfect.

SPEAKER_00 21:39

That sounds sounds like amazing stuff you're doing. There definitely is a need for it in our community. I think there's a need for it pretty much all over the place as different places, as the property values are changing because of gentrification or revival. I mean, that's that's what happened in Maine, Maine. It's like there used to be a grocery store right down the side of Latmore Manor, and it closed down as they started. You know, and now it's it's like uh an auto park store. It's like an O'Charlotter. Exactly. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 22:09

And that's gonna be the same thing you're trying to do on the Faroe area 29203, 29204. On that, yeah, that whole Faro Road, Fairfield Road, North Main Street area. Yeah, so that's why it's important that you know voting is important because people who in office are controlling all those, you know, pieces that fall, those dominoes that fall. It's not thought of just on the fly, you know, it's a process. So it's this thing's always always pre-planned.

SPEAKER_05 22:33

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 22:33

And what I do hang my hat on too, I do a self-EBT, snap benefits. Oh, good. So, you know, for that area, a lot of them are on snap benefits. So if it's something that can't afford cash-wise or debit card, credit card-wise, I do a self-EBT. So all your food and any kind of types of groceries. Yeah. Good food. Mm-hmm.

SPEAKER_06 22:51

So what's your busiest day?

SPEAKER_02 22:53

My busiest day, every day is different. I would say my busiest time, I think, you know, you have peak times of the day. Right. So my hours are from 9 to 7, like 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. each day, right? Mondays through Saturdays, and then on Sundays it's 9 a.m. through 3 p.m. I would say between 10 a.m. through 3 p.m. is my peak hours. So, you know, older people, elderly people like to get out early.

SPEAKER_06 23:18

They get at the grocery store early. They want first pick.

SPEAKER_02 23:22

That's what I want to do. I want to get that done.

SPEAKER_00 23:23

So I get back to the house and chill. Yeah, exactly.

SPEAKER_02 23:25

They want their okra, they want their squash, they're gonna get dinner started at noontime. You know what I'm saying? So I would say every day is kind of busy because where I'm located at, I'm in the middle of a lot of businesses. Yep. So Prisma, I have the Ronald McDonald House, I got Grace Medical Park, the Salvation Arm.

SPEAKER_06 23:43

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SPEAKER_07 23:47

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SPEAKER_02 24:26

You got a Boston Thompson funeral home. You have um the DHEC, you got DSS. So there's a lot of businesses. So it's a lot of buzz throughout the week. Now on the weekends, it's more locals. You know, the walk, the walk ins or just people just out walking. You still get the traffic, but it's gonna be less of a buzz because that that corporation, that, that that work traffic's not there. So I would say during the week is more busier. Okay. On the weekends, it just may be a little bit of anybody may go.

SPEAKER_04 24:57

Right.

SPEAKER_00 24:59

So what advice would you give to other people that are thinking that they need to see some kind of a community store in their area? I mean, I know there's a lot of routes people go with. Other places they're doing co-ops and that kind of thing. And but but like at a certain point, we can't just rely on like corporations to look at a map and decide where the best dollar is gonna be at. What a good question.

SPEAKER_06 25:25

That's exactly what they're building lately.

SPEAKER_02 25:27

A million car washes, million car washes, vape stores. I mean, you can see what's popping up all over the place. Right.

SPEAKER_00 25:33

Because the because uh because like somebody's looking at numbers or or or running some kind of AI algorithm on it and saying this is the best place to do that. And it doesn't work like that because it's not people there going, well, nah. You know, you gotta actually be in a community. You can't do it from Google Maps. That's not how it goes.

SPEAKER_02 25:48

Yeah, that's a that's a great question. I would say, you know, see what your community needs are, you know, see what's you know, like you said, if you live in a community or you're from that community or you've drone through that community over the years and you you're familiar with that community. So you can't like just, you know, just visually, visually see what's what's there. I always tell people, because I get asked all the time, how did you get started? Well, you know, how did you, you know, how how what made you get started? You know, how you know is the biggest question. How? I always tell people, don't be scared, first of all, because we we're scared to test the water, right? Yeah. We're afraid that we're gonna fail or we ain't got the money, the financial support. And I'm gonna tell you how I got started, y'all. I used that stimulus check money when they was on give out that stimulus check money, whatever it was. I used that. I used some of my tax money I had. It was all that was around the same time, right? And whatever little money I had saved up. So I didn't go get no loan from a bank because one of the things you don't want is an overhead. Yeah. So when you do get that loan, yeah, you're gonna be able to get all the stuff that you may want to get to get the business started, but now you gotta pay that loan back. So if you can use as much as of your money as you can to get started. Now, if you need a loan, go get the loan. You know what I'm saying? That's where the OBO is gonna come in at the office of business opportunities. Shout out to Britt. I know all of them, Aisha, Melissa Lindler, she done she's moved on, she's helping out Jennifer Clyburn now.

SPEAKER_03 27:05

Okay.

SPEAKER_02 27:06

So, yeah, so the OBO is where you want to go as for these loans and grants. They got programs, they got classes you can tell you, you can they're gonna get you right. So, what you were saying earlier, yeah. Go get with them.

SPEAKER_00 27:16

Yeah, yeah. That's in Columbia, but your local cities probably got them too, because this is the thing that communities do. We just have to know to look for it. Right, right.

SPEAKER_02 27:23

Oh, yes, a lot of hip out here, trust me. And you go through the city, you know, the county may have certain programs, or the city may have certain programs, depending on where you live at. But yeah, so the I would say don't be scared to jump into the water. I tell people it's like it's like a puzzle, right? You go to the store and you buy a puzzle in the box. You dump that puzzle out. You don't know where to start at, do you? Right. You gotta find about two, three, four pieces that may match, you know what I'm saying? And hope they even fit, you know what I'm saying? But you gotta start somewhere. So just start. You gotta start. And if you don't start, you're not gonna be able to finish if you don't start anything. And so get your notebook and write down the thing, like a checklist. So when I first got started, I had my little notebook and I was writing down as I was going what I was needing to do, and I was I was checking it off. So, like, so like then when it's time for the inspection for the fire department or the fight, you know, they even come do the inspection, right? So you gotta make sure all that's in order, because if not, they're gonna, you know, you're not gonna pass the inspection. Or if you are dealing with, if you have a grocery store and you and you're looking to sell or incorporate snap benefits, you got to make sure you meet all the qualifications for that. You know what I'm saying? Because they're gonna come do an inspection, right? Um, get your business license, get your retail license, you know, get all your license in the other way. Right. And make sure, and what's very important is that Department of Treasury, because if you don't pay those taxes, they're gonna come and they will pay you a visit. They will pay you a visit. And and they're gonna tell you what you need to do, and if you don't do it, man, they're gonna shut you down real quick. So, Department of Treasury is real important. So it's people overthink it too. I think they need this boatload of money. I need a million dollars, I need a hundred thousand. Man, you don't need a get what you have, start with what you have, and then let that grow. You know what I'm saying? Right. And let it guide what you like.

SPEAKER_00 29:09

You said you started with snacks and stuff because you knew snacks would sell.

SPEAKER_02 29:12

Yes, yes. And then you figure it out from there. Right. And like my aunt told me, you ain't got to sell no a thousand items. Now in my business, I'm a reach, I'm in retail. So I got a variety of stuff, like from snacks to drinks to natural products to, you know, fruits and vegetables. You can just sell a hot dog. You don't need a variety, you can sell one item. True. You know what I'm saying? You don't have to have a store to sell uh a boatload of items. Right. So yeah, so you gotta find your passion. Have a passion for whatever whatever it is that you're doing. So this is your passion, right? The podcast or interviewing people, right? It's just your passion. So it should come easy for you. Don't it's not a job.

SPEAKER_06 29:47

We're able to teach it to people now because we started, it was horrible. We forgot to hit record.

SPEAKER_03 29:52

Yeah, but now over the time, over the years, you know, you make mistakes, right?

SPEAKER_06 29:57

Grown so much. So you're right. It's one one stepping stone to the next. Right.

SPEAKER_02 30:01

That's it.

SPEAKER_06 30:01

It's all about your open, having an open mind.

SPEAKER_02 30:04

Gotta have an open mind. You gotta be willing to, you know, accept the failure, the good, the bad, the ugly, the, you know, it's a process. You know, have a plan. Don't go in there, we got no plan out there. I'm and I'm saying go in here first, but at least have a plan when you're going in here first. Do you research? Yeah, do you research, yeah. But I'm just saying don't be afraid to go to to get started.

SPEAKER_06 30:23

Do you see a change in the community since you have opened the store?

SPEAKER_02 30:26

I do, because people are saying, we're glad, we're happy that you're here now. We'll we didn't have, you know, once the the big chain stores did shut down or whatever, they didn't have nowhere to go, you know, besides the competitors who are only going to sell canned goods and you know, your basic, you know, package type items, right? Processed foods. So I get told all the time how happy they are, how they're in walking distance, they can just walk here now. So, and I accept EBT so they can use all their options if they don't if if they don't have the cash money or EBT or create a debit card type situation. So, yeah, I get told all the time how happy they are that I am here locally in the neighborhood now. And that makes me feel good because I know that that what I'm doing is actually benefiting and helping out this community. So I just want to keep building onto what I have now.

SPEAKER_00 31:16

Yeah, absolutely. And I mean it's gonna be like there's health benefits that aren't gonna show up on somebody's stats for like decades down the road. But like, you know, eating fresh food in a community is like that's a that's a big deal. If you if you think about trying to live off of what you find at your at your typical corner store, it's not healthy.

SPEAKER_02 31:39

Yeah, it's not, man. And I was gonna say like how the zip code 29203 was number one in South Carolina, South Carolina number one in the nation, it's right as far as diabetes.

unknown 31:48

What?

SPEAKER_02 31:48

Yeah, we're number one. No, diabetes is killing the hell of a lot of people. We're the number one. Yes. And so that's why these corporations that I mentioned earlier. So Prisma, shout out to Dr. Humphreys, Dr. Kumar. See, I got relationships with these doctors because as my thing. And I got a I read an email today from Dr. Humphreys at Prisma Hospital because they applied for a separate grant than the one I applied for. So they're a finalist for that grant. So they they he said they got about 4,500 diet, they have a program that's specializing in diabetes and diabetics. He said they got about 4,500 diabetics. They're trying to channel about a third of those diabetics to my store because they know I'm I have fresh fruits and vegetables. Here it is. Yeah. Here you go. Yeah, there's your stores. They literally came into the store. Dr. Humphreys came to the store. I know there's a uh I know there's another Dr. Humphreys. I can't remember.

SPEAKER_05 32:43

First name.

SPEAKER_02 32:44

Yeah, so I don't want to give the wrong first name out. But Dr. Humphreys, but yeah, so they literally took measurements to help me get new freezers and new coolers and everything because uh it's finna get that much more uh traffic finna be coming through.

SPEAKER_04 32:58

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 32:59

So yeah, so it's big out here, y'all. The the health is not funny, but I see people on wheel in wheelchairs and on crutches and you know, barely making it around there. And that's because of diabetes.

SPEAKER_04 33:13

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 33:13

So Food Trust, we had a nine-week course. They my store got chosen, another store got chosen, had a nine-week course for so for nine weeks, each week we talked about eating healthier, incorporating your fruits and vegetables and grains and how to read your serving size, how to read the the labeling.

SPEAKER_05 33:31

Yeah, the nutritional fact.

SPEAKER_02 33:33

Yeah, because we're getting something saying serving size, one eating one per, you know what I'm saying? Right. We 10, 20, beating the whole bag. Yeah. The whole package. Right. We only supposed to have like two or three. And though that's and all that sugar content, you see? All that flour, all that sugar. So anything that you can go natural, and shout out to all my people that come and get my sea moss, because I do sell sea moss sources.

SPEAKER_00 33:54

Talk to me about sea moss.

SPEAKER_02 33:55

Oh man, sea moss has 92 essential minerals that's in it, right? Okay. That you add into your body. And so you you straight up eat it? You're gonna eat it. Now it comes in the raw, the raw form.

SPEAKER_00 34:05

So Yeah, I've seen it in the bags at the like the head chops and stuff. And I know people put it in the lotions and the oils sometimes, but I wasn't sure what you did with the raw moss.

SPEAKER_02 34:15

The raw moss, they're gonna wash it, they're gonna drain it, they're gonna soak it. Uh-huh. It expands, they're gonna put it in the blender, get it into that gel form. Okay. And then they're gonna, you know, for those who know how to put the f the fruit flavor to it, like mango, strawberry, whatever, right? Like fruit, then you have a little taste to it.

SPEAKER_00 34:32

Okay, so it makes like a like a like a pudding kind of thing. Like a gel, like an applesauce.

SPEAKER_02 34:36

It's like an applesauce type type texture. Now, I also have seat moss lemonade, because a lot of people, yeah, you can drink it. You can drink it. I got seamous gummies. I got seamous capsules. So I got all versions of the seat moss. So I have, and I got an herbalist that's finna, we're gonna have a class. So if y'all are interested, we're gonna she knows everything from A to Z as far as the herbs. And so if y'all interested, come on by. Yeah, and herbs and plants and things.

SPEAKER_03 35:02

That's it.

SPEAKER_02 35:03

Sour stock, Maureen.

SPEAKER_05 35:05

I love Sour Salk.

SPEAKER_02 35:06

I got all that at the store.

SPEAKER_05 35:07

Instead of having to order it, oh my gosh, I'm I'm coming.

SPEAKER_02 35:09

And let me throw this address out there real quick. 3017 Fair Road. Here's my address. 3017 Faro Road, Columbia, South Carolina, 29203.

SPEAKER_00 35:17

Come by and look at stuff, actually see it. Don't Amazon it, see if it's local first.

SPEAKER_06 35:23

How can the community support you more?

SPEAKER_02 35:25

Just come on out. You know, like I said earlier, just come on out to the address. I just mentioned 3017 Fair Road. I tell people all the time, every penny count, every nickel count, quarter, every dollar. I don't keep you just coming in and get a bag, a bag of chips and a soda, that counts. But you ain't got to spend $25, $100, you know, whatever. Spend a dollar, you know what I'm saying? That's how the community, the community can support. Yeah. Because, or if you can't buy it, spread, tell your friend, tell your neighbor, tell your church members. They can come and spend that dollar. You know what I'm saying? So just word them out, spread the word about the store and let them know that you can come and get fresh fruit and fresh vegetables. You can come shop and get a whole meal, you know. And also, too, I got this there's a big value too on laundry detergent. You can get a twenty a five-gallon, twenty-five dollars ties and games, y'all. Five gallons liquid. So instead of nickel and diamonds, so there's so many benefits to come to the store. So just by coming to the store.

SPEAKER_06 36:18

Yeah. That's one question I forgot to ask you. When did you make your first dollar?

SPEAKER_02 36:22

Yeah. I probably made my first dollar probably right before I opened on June 12th. So there's in my in the same building, there's a florist. So shout out to Brides and Blooms flower shop. So Miss Christine, before I really officially opened, she bought something. And I got I use that dollar as my first dollar is in my little frame. Yeah, yeah. Yep. So that was my first dollar.

SPEAKER_06 36:45

Wow. So are there any partnerships you are you look to partner with in the future or any businesses? Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 36:53

Yeah. What you got coming up?

SPEAKER_06 36:54

What current projects do you have coming up?

SPEAKER_02 36:57

Well, right now, like I said, the partnerships I currently have or look for oh yeah, I got Oak Health is finna partner with me as well. I just met with them. They're they deal with um seniors and Oak Street Health.

SPEAKER_06 37:11

That's where I work at with uh James Patrick. Oh, right. Working at Oak Street Health.

SPEAKER_02 37:14

So you know Valerie?

SPEAKER_06 37:15

No, I think they they have new people now, but we were doing just uh the workout and walking with them in the community, stuff like that.

SPEAKER_02 37:22

Oak Street Health, yeah. So we're finna partner up as a matter of fact. I just met with them literally on Thursday. Cool. So shout out to Oak Street Health or what else is going on? Oh, yeah, shout out to Rich and One because Erica Staley, she's really huge as far as organizing. She's they have a thing called a peace walk. So they organize it in that and they go all over in Rich and One. And just, you know, stop the gun violence. They'll just stay with their start at one point, they'll walk, you know, throughout their community, just spreading the word of peace, or you know, stop the violence type stuff. So shout out to Erica Staley at Rich and One. So that's another partnership that you know that people don't know about either. So I give I give approach all the time. Oh yeah, it's it's so many. I mean, I do I literally get I know I'm leaving out one right now. I can't think of his name of the name right now, but they deal with Medicaid. Shout out to Baki, you know what I'm saying? And I hate I can't think of the name of the organization right now. Appleseed, South Carolina is the name of the organization. Oh, yeah. Appleseed. So shout out to Baki, because they they would come as well. So what these organizations do as well, so they would do vouchers. So like Appleseeds of SC, for them for those who came out, you didn't even have to even sign up for nothing, but just for coming, they did a voucher. So if you came or you came, you got a $25 voucher to come shop at the store. So I look forward to working with anyone that's trying to uplift and build a community. That's who I look forward to working with. Because, you know, we can't do it alone. We do need help out here. I'm just trying to do my little two stands and do my part.

SPEAKER_04 38:47

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 38:48

It's a lot of work out here.

SPEAKER_00 38:49

But it seems like you're doing the work, man.

SPEAKER_04 38:50

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 38:55

Trying to connect with you on it.

SPEAKER_06 38:56

Now, do you have a team or is it just you or are you looking to expand?

SPEAKER_02 39:00

I am looking to expand. So I just hired my parts because for a year and a half, probably. It was just me.

SPEAKER_06 39:06

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 39:07

Seven days a week. Burnt out. Yeah. Literally burnt out, right? So I was like, how can I get my part-time in here? Because you got to find somebody you can trust, first of all, right? That's the that's the number one thing. Find somebody you can trust. Find somebody that's gonna have your energy, that's gonna be able to bring, like somebody come to the store. Hey, we got some ain't side just back here, we got some liver putting over here, we got sample, we got some candle, it's gonna upsell, right? You gotta have somebody that's good personality. So that was my, I think you asked me earlier what's one of the challenges. So one of the challenges is trying to find the part-time help. Yeah. Somebody you can trust, right? So right now I got my son and my daughter, so when you're saying who, you know, who's at the store. Yeah. So my son is there now. And so he's holding the fort down. O'Brien Thomas, shout out to my son. My daughter helps out, Amari Thomas. I do have another young lady who helps out. She's been a little sick lately, so we're trying to work through that. Yeah. But yeah, so trying to build my team. I do have consultants that I reach out to. I have, oh yeah, of course, you gotta have your lawyer. That's part. When you go through that class or whatever I'm telling you about, you gotta have your lawyer, you have your legal, you gotta have your bookkeeping is very important. If you ain't got no bookkeeping, tax time, you're gonna you're gonna be overwhelmed, you're gonna be lost, you're gonna miss out on whatever it is.

SPEAKER_06 40:18

You need to be straight panic attacks.

SPEAKER_02 40:21

Yo, man.

SPEAKER_00 40:22

Like, like, can't breathe. Yes. Let it is so much worth it to let somebody else handle the taxes. Oh, man. Yeah. Unless you got an inclin for it.

SPEAKER_02 40:32

I gotta give a shout out to Gwen Tidwell, One Touch. That's my bookkeeper. I don't wanna have to worry about nothing, y'all. You know what I'm saying? She does every single thing. Payroll, she does the tax. When I do have to pay taxes, she does all that for me. You see what I'm saying? So getting a good team, you gotta have all those three main things on your bookkeeper, lawyer, consultant, and some backup support. So you don't have to work all the time. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. That's it. But starting out, you have to be the face of the business. You know, and what's that like?

SPEAKER_06 41:02

Because the most people like to hide behind their business um and have the just the brand. But people want to know about you and your journey.

SPEAKER_02 41:09

So it was Well, I was told if you want to you can have an okay business, alright business, and they'll be there sometimes. If you want to have a successful business, you gotta be there all the time. And um you got to be there every day. You know, if you know you hear stories all the time about these CEOs of of these companies, they work 16, 17, 18 hours a day. So you gotta put the work in, put the time in. Once you get used to working every day, you get a little break here and there, right? You know, somebody spell you here and there, right? So, but once you get used to it, your body gets used to it, your mind get used to it, then it's it's normal now. But you don't want to run yourself into the ground because you can get burned out. So, yeah, get you some part-time help. Somebody can come in and work, you know, four hours, five hours, six, you know, whatever, you know, your schedule may be. Some businesses close on Sundays, but in my profession, in my world, if I'm closed, guess what? They're gonna go to my competitor. So I'm I have to be open on Sundays. So that's why I'm open seven days a week because I have to be there. If not, they're gonna go to my competitor. So do what you gotta do to start out the first year or two. I wouldn't do that seven days a week by yourself for like three years, you know, you know, 10 years down the road. You're like, you're gonna be like, man, I'm looking at 80 years old, we're only 34.

SPEAKER_04 42:19

You know what I'm saying?

SPEAKER_02 42:20

So yeah, get your get your good team, you know, as I as I just mentioned, and that's gonna definitely make your job a whole lot easier.

SPEAKER_06 42:26

And I can definitely introduce you to my friend that does the vegan food. She probably wants to do some workshops. Yeah, yeah. So I'll send her your way too.

SPEAKER_02 42:36

I'm like about 80% vegan. I still eat some seafood here, you know what I'm saying? It's hard. It's hard. Amazing box meals. Just ready to go. Oh, man. They're great. Definitely. I'm looking forward to who that is. Come on, buy the stuff. Okay, please do.

SPEAKER_06 42:51

Well, this is a good episode. How can everybody find you on social media? Again, do the the address and how they can get in contact with you.

SPEAKER_02 42:59

So basically on Facebook, it's not up on the my business name yet. Everybody's like, well, when are you gonna get it changed over? But I wasn't really a big Facebook person to begin with. So prior to Facebook, I probably had like five pictures on it. Well, you can go to Brian, look up Brian Thomas. So B-R-I-A-N Thomas, T-H-O-M-A-S on Facebook.

SPEAKER_03 43:19

Okay.

SPEAKER_02 43:19

And all my, you know, the store information is on there. I post nearly every day what I got in the store, what fruits and vegetables I have. On Instagram, I I believe it's the like T-H E underscore dollar stow S-T-O. And dollar is spelled D-O-L-L-A-R, by the way. Okay. Some people might want to leave the R R.

SPEAKER_06 43:38

Right.

SPEAKER_02 43:39

So, yeah. So, and then TikTok.

SPEAKER_06 43:42

It's a lot. Trust me. I we I feel overwhelmed myself. Yeah. And I'm a millennial.

SPEAKER_02 43:46

Like, I got an account, but I had one of the students, you know, make an account for me. So I don't even know what that means the name of it. And then I learned that. So when I was going when I first opened up, I had a lot of like city officials. You meet these people, they're gonna come to your store. Like say when you're doing good, you ain't gotta go look for nobody. They come to you. They're gonna find you. So when I met like these people running for a city council, mayor, and all this kind of stuff, a lot of times when you read their stuff on Facebook, they're not like Trump when all these people they got people doing all these stuff for them. They not put the trunk out there. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 44:19

All right, so some media intern doing it, some kid that's like 18, 19 years old taking a class. Exactly.

SPEAKER_02 44:26

So yeah, so Facebook, Instagram, come on by the store, yeah. 3017 Faro Road, Columbia, South Carolina, 29203 is where you can find me. 9 and 7 are my hours, Monday through Saturday, and then Sunday's 9 and 3.

SPEAKER_06 44:39

Okay. Do you want to give any shout-outs to anyone? I mean, you you shouted out everybody who helped you. Yeah, it's a lot to where you are, but I'm leaving a lot of people out.

SPEAKER_02 44:47

It's okay. Just shout out to my mom and my dad and my family because um without them even starting this thing, this business back and having that vision back in 1989, yeah, I wouldn't even be here. Yeah. So shout out to my mom and my dad just for being there and starting this thing. Man, thank you to all the customers that I've seen that have come to the store and walked through that door every single day. And that's what I feel the most happy about is that not only am I providing for a community, but I see new customers every single day. And the word, so I've like, I always tell people that come to the store, spread the word for me now, you know what I'm saying? Tell your mom, tell your sister, tell the church members, whoever. And they do this, you know what I'm saying? So I get the mom or the uncle, the the sisters come back, the brother come back. Yeah, my they told me you know about your store, so you know, so that word of mouth works.

SPEAKER_06 45:32

We have referrals, testimonials.

SPEAKER_02 45:35

Having good product work, so make sure you got some good stuff in your store, you know what I'm saying? So people can come get because you know if you got something bad, now they will this is good, somebody can talk about you. Well, yeah, you can get drilled through the you get drilled now, too. But yeah, just just just you know, stay focused on the task at hand, you know, just stay in focus.

SPEAKER_06 45:52

Okay. Well, thank you. This was a good episode.

SPEAKER_02 45:54

Thank you for the opportunity.

SPEAKER_06 45:55

We will definitely be stopping by and collaborating with you and spreading the word. That's the that's the day, the word of the day. Spread the word. We want to thank everybody for tuning in to this episode, and we look forward to hearing from you, seeing from you soon. Tell someone you love them and enjoy your day. Thank you.