Obama store suffers blow to business as groups try to clean up community in Columbia
After being targeted by law enforcement as well as religious and community groups, the Obama gas station has suffered a major blow to its business.
The convenience store/gas station at 5831 North Main St. in Columbia is no longer allowed to sell beer and wine, the Richland County Sheriff’s Department said in a news release.
After being petitioned to deny the Obama’s off-premises beer and wine permit, the South Carolina Administrative Law Court approved. As of Sept. 9, alcohol is not allowed to be sold at the store, according to the release.
The sheriff’s department called the Obama store “a nuisance business ... that significantly contributed to the decay of the community.”
The process to take action against the Obama store began in early 2020, when Gwendolyn Singletary, the executive director of the Wiley Kennedy Foundation, reached out to the sheriff’s department, according to the release. A coalition that also included neighborhood leaders, local churches, county and city council members, and residents petitioned the South Carolina Department of Revenue to deny the renewal of the Obama’s off-premises beer and wine permit, the sheriff’s department said.
Based in Columbia, the Wiley Kennedy Foundation’s website says its mission is to “strengthen and grow the economic and education base,” of area residents in Richland County, and those across South Carolina through “business development, training for under served groups, housing and education/life-long learning.”
During a lengthy hearing, members of the coalition testified about seeing public drunkenness, prostitution, vagrancy, and threatening behavior from individuals coming and going from the Obama Store, according to the release.
The testimony emphasized the negative impact on the community.
The court said the permit was denied because of the “public protests, because outstanding taxes had not been paid, because a principal had not been disclosed, and because the applicant or its principals or its employees did not have good moral character.”
Messages seeking comment from the owner of the Obama Store were not immediately returned.
“This business has been a strain on law enforcement and the neighbors who live around it,” Richland County Sheriff Leon Lott said in the release.
Sheriff’s deputy Major Harry Polis testified that over a two year period, the sheriff’s department was called to the Obama store 770 times. These calls were for robberies, assaults, carjackings, resisting arrest, fights, shots fired, suspicious persons, civil disturbances (with and without reports of weapons), drunkenness, disorderly conduct, prostitution, indecent exposure, loitering, vandalism, and pointing or presenting a gun, according to Polis’ testimony.
The move comes three years after the Obama’s sister store on Farrow Road changed its name at the urging of residents in the nearby Booker Washington Heights neighborhood. The stores were named after former President Barack Obama.
“This is going to be a major step in getting our community cleaned up and built up,” Singletary said in the release. “We love this community and we have built lasting partnerships between law enforcement, faith-based groups, homeowners and business owners that will continue to help us bring back the decency to this area. We want to attract new businesses and families and ensure it (is) a safe and desirable place to live.”
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This story was originally published September 14, 2021 at 2:52 PM.
