Two Soda City vendors open brick-and-mortar shops in Chapin. Here’s where to find them

Two bustling small businesses in Chapin will become brick-and-mortar stores in the new year. Bart’s Crazy Good Coffee Roasting Company and Modern Companion offer niche items to satisfy either your pets or your taste buds.

Bart’s Crazy Good Coffee Roasting Company

Bart’s Crazy Good Coffee Roasting Company held a soft-opening Monday at its new location at 230 Columbia Ave., Chapin. Owner Bart Baldwin is still working on getting the inside of the store ready, so it is offering mobile pick-up orders only through a drive-through window.

The shop’s hours are 6:30 am to noon, but will expand as the store transitions in mid-January. To follow updates for the coffee shop, visit their Facebook page.

Before becoming a brick and mortar store, Bart’s set up a mobile coffee trailer at locations all over Columbia. After drinking his first cup of coffee only five years ago, Baldwin started mixing coffee flavors and discovered he wanted to roast his own brews.

Through unconventional roasting methods, Baldwin discovered some “crazy” blends. When he finally got approved to set up at Soda City Market, Baldwin lasted just a few months before the COVID-19 pandemic shut everything down. During that time, he partnered with Reconciliation Ministries in Columbia and roasted coffee for the recovery ministry to operate its own coffee business.

In October, Baldwin sold his trailer to Reconciliation Ministries and decided to use the money to open a retail coffee shop and roastery. Through traveling all over the Midlands during the pandemic, Baldwin had grown a following for his unique tasting coffee.

“It really is a better coffee,” said Baldwin. “The name’s not marketing, it really is crazy good.”

In the basement of the shop, Baldwin will roast coffee beans to be sold in bags upstairs and to be used for specialty drinks like the “Hug-in-a-mug” or the “Whatcha-ma-call-it” drink made with espresso, white mocha, Irish creme syrup and scratch-made cold-brew whipped cream.

Baldwin hopes to open several more shops in the Midlands in the next few years. To submit a mobile order for coffee, you can download the store’s app through Google or the Apple app stores.

Modern Companion

At the Old Lexington Town Center in Chapin, Modern Companion pet boutique will open in early March for customers to shop in-person for pet supplies and accessories.

Maddie St. Gelais, a self-described crazy pet mom, started Modern Companion as an online shop two years ago. She grew her business out of her house and into more than 60 retailers who carry Modern Companion products. St. Gelais is a regular vendor at Soda City Market in Columbia.

During the pandemic, St. Gelais said her online shop took off. In the new location, she will have around 400 square feet of manufacturing space on top of 1,000 square feet of retail space.

From screen-printed t-shirts for humans to doggie bowties, Modern Companion offers a range of products for animal lovers. Sixty percent of the material used is locally-sourced from small businesses, according to the company’s website.

After seeing how bandanas and dog scarves would fall off of her two dalmations, Domino and Blaze, St. Gelais started to sew her own dog accessories. Now her product line includes a large range of sizes and designs to fit most pets, and designs come in muted colors and modern prints.

Modern Companion will be located in the Southern Stitch boutique space, and Southern Stitch will move down a couple doors in the shopping center at 508 Lexington Ave., said St. Gelais in a social media post.

Through graphic design and social media branding, St. Gelais was able to reach the community quickly to sell her products while still working a full-time job and getting her master’s degree from Clemson.

The store will be sure to feature “insta-worthy” photo opportunities and “pup cups” to treat the furriest shoppers.

This story was originally published December 31, 2020 at 12:02 PM.