Friendly City Books hopes to open in Columbus in November.
Emily Liner, a 2004 Mississippi School for Mathematics and Science alumna, lived in Washington, D.C., for more than a decade before deciding to move back to the Friendly City.
For a few years, Liner has returned to the Mississippi University for Women campus to teach at Governor’s School. While in town last year, she realized she wanted to open an independent bookstore in the Friendly City.
“Last year when I was here, I realized that there wasn’t an independent bookstore, but I was looking for a local store to support,” Liner said. “I started to talk to friends in the area, and when the Books-A-Million did finally close in May it kind of felt like a sign.”
As of now, Liner is fine-tuning location details for her brick-and-mortar book shop and hopes to open downtown near Fifth and Main streets.
For now, she is also building her inventory to start an online bookstore that will be running by Oct. 1.
“For a lot of folks, when they have a book specifically in mind, they’ll go to Amazon and buy a book,” Liner said. “What I would like to do is recreate the experience of discovering new books that maybe you didn’t know about.”
For Liner, and many other avid readers, there’s just something about shopping locally for a book. She said there’s a lot of creativity and artists in the Columbus area, and she hopes to bring an additional creative outlet for those in town.
“I think that books take you places,” Liner said. “When I was growing up, my family didn’t have money to travel. Books helped me explore the world before I ever had the chance to travel abroad or visit other places. … I think that supporting that creativity and exploration and imagination is really important, no matter what your age is. It offers another opportunity to broaden your experience.”
Be sure to keep up to date with Friendly City Books with its website and Facebook page.
Moving to East Columbus, The Ranch House Dinner, 807 Alabama St., will host its grand opening on Saturday.
I know that might sound funny since the Columbus diner has been open since the 1940s, but this grand opening welcomes a new owner.
Sammy Sullivan purchased The Ranch House from Tim and Bethany Plowman a little more than a month ago.
Sullivan, a former education administrator, said he always wanted to retire and open a small restaurant. Call it divine intervention or the perfect storm, but a few years shy of retirement and in the midst of a pandemic, Sullivan saw the perfect opportunity to purchase The Ranch House.
“I have been taking culinary-cuisine style classes for years now,” Sullivan said. “… I was looking for something smaller. But with the pandemic happening like it did, it put The Ranch House at a price range I could afford. It allowed me an opportunity to get something like a landmark.”
The Ranch House is open Sunday through Friday from 5:30 a.m.-2 p.m. and Saturdays from 5:30-11 a.m.
After a little more than a month as a new business owner, Sullivan said the restaurant is operating well and welcoming regulars as well as some new faces.
“I’ve seen a steady growth in business and steady growth in customers,” Sullivan said. “We’re running pretty good, we’re doing well. The food is good, the service is excellent and the atmosphere is accommodating.”
Though Sullivan said he’s always wanted to open a restaurant, he wasn’t entirely sure what to expect. To say in the least, he’s been pleasantly surprised thus far.
“We have actually really enjoyed it and found it to be much more along the lines of what we wanted it to be,” Sullivan said. “… It’s better than we actually anticipated. I wake up every day excited to go to work.”
Be sure to head over there Saturday night from 3-7 p.m. to enjoy hamburgers, cheeseburgers and hotdogs for the grand opening. Sullivan will also have folks bringing in classic cars, trucks and motorcycles, so if you have a special ride you want to show off, bring it out to meet the new owners Saturday night.
In Starkville, there’s been some rumors circulating that two stores are preparing for closure. Those rumors have been deemed false. According to representatives from Tuesday Morning and Bargain Hunt, neither company has any intention of closing the Starkville locations.
Over in downtown Starkville, Magnolia Soap & Bath Company, 222 E. Main St., is officially open.
The soap store offers more than 50 scents of bath and skin products that are 100-percent plant-based.
Be sure to check out the new store on the block Monday through Saturday 10 a.m.-6 p.m.
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