S.C. Textile Plants Reborn as Retail Store
January 8, 2009
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Two former Springs textile plants in Fort Lawn, S.C., got a new lease on life as a furniture retail operation, Wow! Home Furnishings, WCNC-TV reported Wednesday. Stanley Atkins, a Georgia businessman, bought the spaces, which opened in October as a 500,000-square-foot discount furniture store.
Springs' old Elliott and Frances plants now hold around $6 million in furniture and accents, and Wow! General Manager Tracy Nkem is drawing on former mill workers for her customer base.
"You can tell when they walk in because they start looking around, going through doors and looking for where they used to sit," Nkem said in the report.
Wow! hopes to pull dollars to Chester and Lancaster counties as a regional shopping destination.
"We'll be pulling from Columbia," Nkem told WCNC. "We're already pulling from Charlotte and from Myrtle Beach and that will be a domino effect for other businesses, because they're going to get busy and have to hire people."
Wow! opened in October with practically no advertising but they say they've seen steady business ever since. If Wow! gets busier they will hire more people down the road.
Springs' old Elliott and Frances plants now hold around $6 million in furniture and accents, and Wow! General Manager Tracy Nkem is drawing on former mill workers for her customer base.
"You can tell when they walk in because they start looking around, going through doors and looking for where they used to sit," Nkem said in the report.
Wow! hopes to pull dollars to Chester and Lancaster counties as a regional shopping destination.
"We'll be pulling from Columbia," Nkem told WCNC. "We're already pulling from Charlotte and from Myrtle Beach and that will be a domino effect for other businesses, because they're going to get busy and have to hire people."
Wow! opened in October with practically no advertising but they say they've seen steady business ever since. If Wow! gets busier they will hire more people down the road.
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