A popular Rock Hill food spot burned down last summer. Here’s why it hasn’t reopened
At the corner of Ogden and Friedheim roads in Rock Hill, a more than 40-year-old convenience store looks almost the same as it did seven months ago when fire ravaged it from the inside out. Worse still for the owners, there’s no telling when it’ll look any different.
Surefire Neighborhood Market was one of Rock Hill’s trending food stops before the fire last July. After the fire, its owners vowed to rebuild. But months of paperwork wrangling paired with a growing customer base in Charlotte put those plans on hold.
“We’re always, forever grateful for what we were able to build in Rock Hill,” said co-owner Magloire Lubika. “Right now we’re trying to figure out what the next steps are.”
From kitchen to food truck
Lubika, along with his brothers Joel and Edric Lutuangu, serve food almost daily now at HopFly Brewing Co. on Mint Street in Charlotte. They moved from their kitchen at Surefire to a food truck, one they’d started parking at Slow Play Brewing in Rock Hill just before the fire.
The brothers still want to open another restaurant, perhaps more than one. They’re just looking at a wider area than just Rock Hill.
“At the moment right now we’re really trying to build our brand and an audience in Charlotte,” Lubika said.
His parents opened Jeman Express in west Charlotte, then Mama Yala in Rock Hill. Three years ago the brothers transformed what had been a Sunset Park area staple — the Mama Yala store went by several names since it was built in 1980 — into a spot that drew customers from across Rock Hill and beyond.
It wasn’t just neighbors or visitors to nearby Friedheim Park talking about Surefire Neighborhood Market.
City economic development leaders touted the revitalized store, as public officials recommended the Sunset Dog with homemade slaw or the Capital Dog on a pretzel bun.
Surefire expanded menu items from personal pizzas to the Retha Mae fried chicken sandwich, walking tacos and drinks. The store also added organic and fresh foods in a part of town with limited options for them. The brothers aimed to maintain their Sunset Park roots while showcasing the area too.
“We worked really hard not only to garner recognition in our community but outside the community,” Lubika said.
Fire insurance holdup on Rock Hill store
The biggest hurdle to reopening Surefire in Rock Hill hasn’t been the fire itself, Lubika said, but insurance woes related to it.
The brothers had to testify under oath in December, he said, when insurance professionals asked them more about company financial details than the fire. A clear explanation wasn’t given, he said, for how the fire started.
“I don’t think they really understood what we were creating in Rock Hill,” Lubika said.
The owners still don’t know how the insurance issues will be resolved at the Ogden Road site, or when. The brothers own another spot in Rock Hill, the former Green Street Superette less than a mile away from Surefire on Green Street. The plan had been to expand the Surefire model into both places.
Now, the fire and some break-in issues at Surefire have “really put a dagger in what our future would look like in Rock Hill,” Lubika said.
It’s no certainty that Surefire is done in Rock Hill. There’s also no guarantee it’ll return, as it seemed it would even shortly after the fire.
“There’s currently no plan for both spaces,” Lubika said.
Plans to grow the Surefire brand
The Surefire owners are looking at multiple storefront options in Charlotte. They’ve thought about Atlanta. They’d love to make it back at some point to Rock Hill.
Whether it was the word-of-mouth hot dog recommendations, Slow Play helping start up their food truck or long-time customers who reconnected up in Charlotte, Rock Hill is central to the Surefire story.
“The city misses us and we wish we could be there right now,” Lubika said.
The brothers continue to improve the brand.
In Charlotte, they’ve added a line of smash burgers, too. The brothers continue to hear from fans in Rock Hill, Lubika said, which lets them know they hit the mark of uplifting the Sunset Park community. There’s uncertainty ahead for Surefire, but it’s the kind mixed with optimism for what might await.
“At some point you lose hope and don’t know what’s next,” Lubika said. “But we just thank God that we’ve had this opportunity to pursue what we’re doing.”
This story was originally published February 24, 2025 at 5:50 AM.
