COVID knocked out his Fort Mill business. So he opened a ‘pandemic proof’ one instead.
Scott Valentine could’ve just poured himself a drink or two when business plummeted amid the COVID-19 pandemic. He went bigger.
On Dec. 2 Valentine opened Lazy Day Liquors. The 1,200-square-foot site is part of Stockbridge Commons, the Fort Mill shopping center near Tega Cay that’s anchored by a Harris Teeter grocery store. It’s the same spot Valentine ran a 9Round Fitness facility for three years.
“When COVID came and just kicked our butts,” Valentine said, “I decided to flip the script.”
Valentine said the kickboxing fitness gym lost three quarters of its members. Business wasn’t the same even when it was allowed to reopen. He’s still supportive of other 9Round locations, but saw a long and costly way back from the pandemic if he were to stick with that business.
“It’s a boxing gym,” Valentine said. “You do a lot of pad work, and have people breathing on each other.”
Valentine has a background in nightlife. He didn’t have much experience on the retail side of alcohol sales, but worked with people who did.
“I had enough contacts from the bar side,” he said. “They got me in touch with the right people.”
Valentine admits there will be a learning curve. Yet he believes a focus on top-shelf customer service and a party vibe atmosphere will keep customers coming.
“We’re just here to have fun,” he said.
There is strategy to the Lazy Day plan. The four-employee store sells beverages from a site where people already come for food and drink, with Harris Teeter nearby. Valentine said he believes the two stores will complement each other.
“They have lemons and limes, and all the stuff you need,” he said.
While he doesn’t want to think about the impact another business shutdown could have for friends in the bar scene, Valentine also considers how a liquor store is better built to withstand pandemic pressure than a kickboxing gym or other businesses might be. People confined to their homes and with holidays approaching, may even be more likely to do business with Lazy Day than under typical circumstances.
“In theory, it’s a recession-proof business,” Valentine said. “That went into our thought.”
Lazy Day Liquors is open 10 a.m.-7 p.m. Monday through Saturday at 833 Stockbridge Drive, in Fort Mill. So far business has been steady, the new owner said. A welcome change in a year that’s been anything but predictable.
“At the end of the day,” Valentine said, “we’re dealing with unprecedented times.”
This story was originally published December 8, 2020 at 10:02 AM.
