Hardware store will branch out to Evans
A hardware store in Thomson is branching out to Evans to open a second store.
The new Culpepper Lumber Co., at 4532 Washington Road in Evans, will open by late October.
photo by J. Scott Trubey
Culpepper Lumber Co., family-owned and -operated since 1953, is finishing construction on a 38,000- square-foot facility at 4532 Washington Road, just west of the Wal-Mart Supercenter.
Construction should be complete in time to hold a grand opening in late October, company President Lem Brooks said.
The new store, like the Thomson location, is affiliated with Ace Hardware and will feature hardware and building materials, Brooks said.
"We're excited about coming because of the excitement we're feeling from the community," he said.
The new store features a 17,000-square-foot showroom, a drive-through building material pickup area and a garden center.
Brooks said his company is hoping to hire between 15 and 20 employees for the new location. Most will be full time, and applications and rsums are being accepted at the Thomson store, at 816 Augusta Road.
Brooks said he hopes to have employees hired as soon as possible to be ready for the store's opening.
In other county developments, two restaurants opened in recent months in the new retail strip on South Belair Road, south of Oakley Pirkle Road. Kyoto Japanese Restaurant opened Sept. 6, featuring steaks, a sushi bar and cooked seafood.
It is the first restaurant for owner Helen Cheng, who worked at Chinese and Japanese restaurants in Richmond County.
Cheng, who has lived in Evans for 20 years, said she has seen the growth of the area and felt her location was perfect to catch the lunch crowds that would otherwise have to drive a great distance to reach a restaurant.
"This is a very nice neighborhood around here and I like it because it's the first exit from I-20 on the west side," she said.
Two doors away, in the same building at 194 S. Belair Road, Las Lomas Mexican Restaurante opened almost six months ago.
Owner Jose Cabrera, who has lived in the area 10 years, said he also picked the location for his first restaurant to capture the lunch crowd.
His restaurant features lunch specials daily and karaoke on Thursdays and Sundays.