Gourmet cooking store with wine, craft beer and cheeses to open in Conway
A gourmet cooking store is coming to downtown Conway and hopes to be a community gathering place.
Succotash Gourmet Shop on Third Avenue hopes to open before July 1. It will offer grab-n-go meals, sweets, gourmet cheeses, craft beer and wine, kitchenware and specialty ingredients. It will also host cooking classes for adults and kids.
“We’re just excited to offer a place where friends, couples can come together and hangout. They can get to know each other better and get to know us,” owner Melissa Woriax said.
Melissa and Fred Woriax just moved from Columbia, South Carolina, to open the store. They both have worked in health care, and decided to move to Conway to start a business and spend more time together.
Family is important, and the store is going to be a place for people in the community to gather and contribute to the downtown Conway economy, Melissa Woriax said.
Located near Conway City Hall, the building itself was built in 1901 and was once part of a grocery store. The Woriaxs brought back the exposed brick to give the store a rustic industrial feel that highlights the history of the building.
Being new to Conway and first-time business owners, Melissa and Fred Woriax wanted to make sure to engage with the community during the process. They spoke with Coastal Carolina University business professors to make sure they’re not cutting any corners and talked with locals about what they should offer.
Supporting local businesses is important for the Woriax family, and they want to bring in local beer and ingredients. Fred Woriax said he also wants to sell fine wines, cheeses and ingredients from elsewhere to create a variety of products.
“We want to do quality work and offer quality products,” he said.
Cooking is something that brings the Woriax family together, even the kids get involved, Melissa Woriax said. And the business is aimed at giving the family more time together.
However, Fred Woriax will miss the opening due to deployment. He is a flight surgeon in the United States Air Force and will be away for several weeks. While she said she will miss him, Melissa Woriax said he will be there in spirit for the when the doors first open.
“I keep trucking when he’s gone,” she said. “You have to when you have a husband in the service”
This story was originally published June 14, 2019 at 3:35 PM.
