When will Main Street's boutique grocery store open?

Owners of the Local Yocal coming to downtown Columbia's Main Street may have hit a few bumps in the road they didn't expect, but the boutique grocery store/bodega is still on the way and nearing completion, they say.

"We ran into some unforeseen issues with the building that delayed our completion dates but thankfully, we've been working with a great construction company and they've worked hard to get all of these things taken care of for us," said Local Yocal owner and Columbia attorney Amye Rushing. "We are now in the final stages of our store preparation including finalizing products and vendors so that we can get the store inventory stocked as soon as possible."

While Rushing isn't ready to announce an exact opening date just yet, she does anticipate opening "within the next month or two."

"Believe me, we're working as hard as we can to get open as quickly as we can," Rushing said.

Rushing and former Gamecock women’s basketball player Kelly Merrone purchased the one-story, former law offices of Harvey Golden at 1712 Main St. four years ago. Once open, Local Yocal will be more like a New York style bodega than a grocery store, functioning as a small grocery stores that features fresh produce and meats, beer and wine, baked goods, milk and eggs and other staples.