Food, movies still available on holiday

Wal-Mart will close. Kroger will close. All liquor stores are closed. Even the 24-hour IHOP will close. On Christmas Day, only a few businesses in the Evans area will remain open.

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Two are restaurants within a block of each other. The Waffle House and the Huddle House in Evans will be open for the full 24 hours of Christmas.

All Waffle House restaurants are open Christmas Day, but in Columbia County only the Evans Huddle House will be open; the other Huddle House restaurants in the county will close for the day.

Huddle House waitress Lauren Brower is taking on a four-hour shift for the holiday.

"I don't mind because I've heard we'll be real busy, so hopefully I'll make a lot of money," she said.

Huddle House isn't the only business that plans to be busy on Christmas Day. For Evans 14 Cinemas, Christmas is "one of the busiest days of the year," said Assistant Manager Matt Crunk. "We are open because there is money to be made for being open."

The theater is busiest at night, Crunk said, so it won't open until 3:30 p.m. Working holidays is no surprise to movie theater workers -- management warns new employees that the theater will remain open for 365 days a year.

Movie rental stores Blockbuster and Movie Gallery are open. Store hours for the Martinez Blockbuster are from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. The Evans branch opens at noon and closes at 10 p.m. The three Movie Gallery stores in Evans, Martinez and Grovetown are open from 1 p.m. to 10 p.m.

The Evans Starbucks in Mullins Crossing will open during the latter part of the day from 3-9 p.m.