Candy shop owner wants to open new Murrells Inlet vegan spot — with public funding
The owner of Sweeties Homemade Ice Cream & Sweets of Georgetown wants to open a new location in Murrells Inlet, but it won’t be a typical expansion.
The new location would feature a vegan and vegetarian restaurant in addition to offering the treats he has been selling on Front Street in Georgetown for the past 16 years. Skip Yeager’s plans also include a coffee shop and a small bakery for plant-based products.
And he wants you to pay for it.
Yeager is using a type of crowd-funding vehicle to raise the necessary funds to establish the proposed new restaurant, which he envisions being named Sweeties Vegan Cafe. He has his eyes on a location that he wants to purchase but doesn’t have an anticipated opening date because he isn’t sure how long it will take him to raise the funds. He declined to divulge his fundraising goal.
He is selling VIP gift certificate cards in increments of $200, $500, $1,000 and $1,500. Those cards will grant the buyer/investor 50 percent off each future purchase, the investor will pay 25% of the purchase price, and the card will cover 25% of the cost until its value is expended. Cardholders will also receive free products, in some cases for the life of the business.
Some cards will be active for three years, and some for five years or more depending on the amount of investment. They are also good for between one and four people, depending on the amount of investment.
Under the concept, VIP card holders will be repaid more than their investments via discounts and freebies, and cards will be accepted at both Sweeties locations.
Yeager doesn’t want to incur debt that could encumber his success and growth. He has already used the concept once at Sweeties to raise $10,000 toward the purchase of a new $20,000 ice cream maker. So he has reason to believe it will be successful on a grander scale.
“It will cover our costs, plus a little cushion. Otherwise we have all that interest going to a bank. What we’re doing is we’re spreading that interest and paying it back to the customer through a discount,” Yeager said.
“With a bank you’re going to be charged interest, you’re going to have fixed mortgage payments, even with a landlord you’re going to have fixed rent payments,” Yeager continued. “That will have an effect on how we run the business. It could mean as much as a dollar more per meal. You’ve got to raise the price.”
Yeager expects the Murrells Inlet location to include an expanded ice cream parlor and products like dairy-free and soft serve, and the current homemade candy products will expand to include more dairy-free offerings.
Products developed in Murrells Inlet will also be available in Georgetown, and vice versa.
Yeager believes the plant-based movement is growing and there will be a demand for a complete dining experience at affordable prices.
“There is very, very little in the area for vegans,” said Yeager, who is a vegan, along with his wife. “You can go to a restaurant to get a salad or you can get a pasta, but you’re sitting beside people who are eating meat.”
Yeager and his wife Cindy Hedrick purchased the then three-year-old Sweeties candy store in July 2006 when they moved from Lexington, N.C., to open SC-CARES Coastal Animal Rescue & Educational Sanctuary, which closed in 2019. They began making their own ice cream in 2008.
Yeager wants the Murrells Inlet restaurant, ice cream parlor, candy store, bakery and coffee shop to have delivery, drive-through and curbside pickup.
This story was originally published December 4, 2021 at 7:00 AM.
