Owens Outfitters, a sporting goods store in Starkville, closed last month.

The store opened in Starkville at Middleton Court in 2019 before transitioning to Highway 182 a couple of years later. The company served the archery, ammo and sporting goods needs of Starkville for about five years before it officially closed permanently.

Heading over to 395 College View, Mississippi Ice should finish all construction by the end of this week. Owner Mark Leblanc first opened Mississippi Ice in Brookhaven more than a year ago, and after seeing the daiquiri shop’s popularity, he decided to open a second location in Starkville.

Since Mississippi Ice is opening at College View, Leblanc said the bar will be in the “leisure and recreation district,” meaning you can enjoy a drink to-go and peruse the Cotton District. I don’t know about y’all, but Starkvegas is starting to feel a lot like one of my other favorite cities (who dat), and I couldn’t be more excited.

Leblanc does not have a definite opening date and is waiting for final inspections, fire rating and the last few details.

“We’ll be completely done by the end of this week. We’re just waiting on the permits,” he said. “… It’s something that is hard to get excited about until everything is complete, but we feel really good about bringing something different to Starkville that people can really enjoy.”

Once open, folks can check out live music on weekdays, daiquiris to-go, cajun poboys, seafood and more 3-11 p.m. Tuesday through Thursday, 11 a.m. to midnight Friday and Saturday and 11 a.m.-8 p.m. on Sundays.

Moving down Highway 12, Shep’s Cleaners expanded to Columbus this week. Shep’s was established in Starkville in 1947 by Shep Crigler. He later sold the business to Billie Taylor, who eventually passed it on to his daughter. In 2019, Kylie and Zak Holloway purchased Shep’s after Kylie had worked there for many years.

The Holloways opened Monday in Columbus at 1702 Sixth St. N., the old Shelton’s Cleaners building behind Burger King.

“We are so excited to serve the Columbus area,” Kylie said. “We decided to open a location in Columbus because Zak is from there, and we wanted to expand our customer base. We offer dry cleaning, laundry, pressing, leather cleaning and same day service as well as pick up and delivery.”

Check it out 7 a.m.-6 p.m. Monday through Friday.

If you were like my family, we were hit with a bunch of hail a couple of weeks ago. We’ve seen an influx of roofers and auto repair folks traveling our way and giving us estimates and offering their repair services. National Dent, with a permanent location in Pearl, has set up shop at the former Danny’s Auto Shop at 405 E. Dr. Martin Luther King Drive. Specializing in paintless dent repair, folks can call (601) 415-8318 for free estimates and more information.

See y’all next week!

Former Dispatch reporter Mary Pollitz writes weekly about interesting business news. Have a tip? Send it to [email protected].