The Columbus pOpshelf location is officially closed.

Dollar General, which opened the first pOpshelf store in 2020, announced the company would close all 45 pOpshelf locations earlier this year. Hoping to snag a few last minute discounted items, I stopped by the store this past weekend only to see a sign posted announcing its permanent closure.

Also in Columbus, Benton’s Maintenance and Mechanical is celebrating its new location next month. Owner Andrew Benton said he’s moving operations from his office on Yorkville Road to his new building at Chubby Drive next month. The ribbon-cutting for his new location will be at noon May 10 at 248 Chubby Drive. The event will be family-friendly with food, live music, raffles, inflatables, snowcones and more.

“We have outgrown our building with business operations and growing our team from 15 to 25 employees,” Benton said. “Our sales have grown exponentially in the past couple of years. We would like to thank our customers for allowing us to grow and trusting our process of answering the phone, showing up on time and doing a quality job.”

In addition to a new location, Benton added that he will open MC Climate Control Storage by September of this year at the same location on Chubby Drive.

MC Climate Control Storage will offer various sizes of units, such as 10-by-12, 8-by-20 and 10-by-20-foot.

Over at 1512 Tabernacle Road, Kelvin and Sons BBQ and Soul Food is hosting a grand opening this Saturday from noon to 7 p.m. A flier says Kelvin and Sons specializes in Carolina Style BBQ. Another flier notes they will be open Fridays and Saturdays moving forward.
They can be found on Facebook.

Easter weekend is among us and I hope you all enjoy the weekend with your family. Main Street Columbus is hosting the Easter bunny in downtown Columbus 11 a.m.-1 p.m. Saturday at the corner of College Street and Fifth Street South at Leadership Plaza. Bring your camera, family and friends for a picture with the Easter bunny.

Moving over to Starkville, there’s some sad news.

I noticed on Martin Luther King Drive, my go-to mechanic appears to have closed shop. Danny’s Automotive, 405 Martin Luther King Drive, has an empty parking lot, the office has been cleared out completely and the phone number has been disconnected. I tried reaching out, but I haven’t heard anything yet.

Enjoy your weekend with your family and I’ll see y’all next week.

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