Some Clemson businesses cope with the 'painful blessing' of progress

In the now-shuttered Clemson Confectioneries at 405 College Ave., notes from patrons, employees and locals are sprawled across the bakery and sweets shop's pale pink walls.

"Let them eat cake."

"Let the locals live!"

"P.S. We needed Bake and Cook and Clemson Confectioneries MORE than more student housing," Clemson students.

The store's owner, Brandi Lindoe, was one of nine business owners whose leases were terminated in October after their landlord sold the 405 College Ave. shopping center that once housed her sweets shop.

The shopping center will be demolished starting Jan. 27 to make way for a 400-bed student apartment complex, according to Wesley Cotter, Director of Communications for Gilbane Development Company.

On Jan. 10, all nine businesses had to vacate the property.

'It has been kind of horrible'

"I would love to say it's been easy. Like, I would love to say that," Lindoe said of her three-month long scramble to find a new space. "But to be honest, it has been kind of horrible."

Lindoe is relocating to Patrick Square off Issaqueena Trail, but that location won't be ready until fall 2020, she said. When Lindoe's shop reopens at Patrick Square, it will be under a different name. She said "Clemson Confectioneries" had too much pain attached to it, so they're starting fresh.

For now, Lindoe and her fiance will take commissions and sell baked goods and specialty coffee out of the Hampton Memorial Library in Easley. The library location is open Monday through Saturday.

"It's kind of like our limbo location so at least we're open somewhere," Lindoe said. She said the library location will remain open once their Patrick Square shop opens in fall 2020.

The move has been a financial and emotional strain on Lindoe, who is also planning her March 2020 wedding. She said she invested about $80,000 bringing the 405 College Ave. location into compliance with city standards.

"All of that is gone. I'm not going to see a cent of that."

But as she's spoken to the other business owners affected, Lindoe said she realizes she's not alone.

"My heart breaks for everybody."

Two other businesses at the shopping center will be moving to Patrick Square, as well.

The three businesses – Clemson Confectioneries, Allstate Insurance and Stretch Zone – are the only former 405 College Ave. shops staying within Clemson city limits.

Mayberry's, Blue Heron move out of town

Standing in the 100-year-old building she recently bought with her husband in downtown Seneca, Kelli Reece looked at the stacked up tables, hanging tarps and holes in her walls and began reciting The Rolling Stones.

"How's it go? 'You can't always get what you want. But if you try sometimes, you just might find, you get what you need,'" Reece, the owner of Mayberry's Soups and Salads, said with a laugh.

For Reece, the lease termination at 405 College Ave. was "a painful blessing."

Relocating to Seneca was tough, she said, and she's paying out-of-pocket to upfit the new space, but most of her customers came from Seneca, in the first place.

Plus, she said doesn't have to deal with the traffic along U.S. 123 or College Ave. in Clemson, anymore.

Mayberry's will open sometime in March across from Ye Olde Sandwich Shoppe. There will be more dining space, including window seating, in addition to historical features like tin ceilings and the original hardwood floors.

"We learned a whole lot from being in Clemson. And those are valuable lessons that you can only learn by living them," said Reece, who opened the first Mayberry's in Brevard, NC ten years ago.

One of those lessons? She is not leasing her new downtown Seneca location—she bought it.

"I didn’t want to take the chance of dealing with another rotten landlord."

Shaun Chastain learned the same lesson after having to look for a new space for the Blue Heron Restaurant & Sushi Bar. A longtime locals' favorite, Chastain told The News and Independent Mail in October that he only looked for new spaces within a few miles of 405 College Ave. so regulars wouldn't have to travel far out of the way.

Chastain and his staff ended up in Pendleton at The Islander's location on the historic square. The restaurant will open mid-January, manager Mike Pitts said.

"It is what it is," Pitts said of the move. "But we're definitely excited about our new building. It's going to be amazing."

Pitts said the restaurant will still keep its dual-purpose concept: an upscale dining room with a separate bar area with television screens. Although the menu won't change much, Pitts said they will be adding a weekly farm-to-table pizza night that will feature local products from the Pendleton and Anderson Farmers Markets.

Other 405 College Ave. tenants, Bake and Cook Thai restaurant and Vapehalla, a vape shop, will remain neighbors in nearby Central, according to Vapehalla manager Kevin Cox.

The shops will be on W. Main St. in Central beside Pancho's Mexican Restaurant.

Cox said Vapehalla is waiting on approval from the city to open, which should happen within the week.

Bake and Cook should be open by mid-February, according to a sign left at the previous location.

"It was rough finding a place. We tried to stay in Clemson, but with all the new construction down there it was just too expensive," Cox said. He said they looked at commercial space in recently constructed apartment complexes in downtown Clemson, like 114 Earle and U Centre, but the prices were "too high for small shops."

The owner of Simplicity Salon, who declined to speak on the record, will not be relocating her business after having to leave 405 College Ave. The five stylists who worked at Simplicity will be relocating to salons in Pendleton, Anderson and Clemson.

Sarah Turner, one of Simplicity's stylists, has relocated to Designory Hair and Makeup Studio just down the street on College Ave.

Ana's salon, which was located next to the Blue Heron, is moving to Seneca. It will be renamed Dream Salon.

Zoe covers Clemson for The Greenville News and Independent Mail. Reach her at znicholson@gannett.com or Twitter @zoenicholson_