Upper King Charleston

Charleston Encore Entrepreneur Event on Tuesday, April 16

On Tuesday, April 16th, from 8:45am - 11:45am the AARP and U.S. Small Businesses Administration will be hosting an "Encore Entrepreneurs" event for new and aspiring entrepreneurs 50 and over (all ages welcome).

Are you nearing retirement and exploring new opportunities? Or, are you wondering how you will manage once you retire? A growing number of individuals over the age of 50+ are turning to small business ownership and now is the time to explore the possibilities.

The event includes Mentor Matchmaking - connecting entrepreneurs to experts, resources, and successful business owners through one-on-one speed mentoring sessions- and two brief presentations on social media basics and the new health care law's impact on small business.

Join them at the Lonnie Hamilton III Public Services Building, Room B339 at 4045 Bridge View Drive in North Charleston, SC. Registration for one-on-one speed mentoring sessions opens at 8:15 a.m. and is done on a first-come, first-serve basis. Register at http://aarp.cvent.com/chas or by calling 803-765-7381.

Would you like to receive our King Street and Charleston Peninsula News each month? Click here to register.

Riverdogs Owner and Marketing Guru, Mike Veeck, Speaking Feb. 7 at Small Business Lunch at Halls

The King Street Marketing Group and Halls Chophouse are thrilled to present Mike Veeck, one of America’s and Charleston's most recognized marketing and promotion gurus, as the speaker for Small Business Lunch at Halls, Thursday, Feb. 7th.

Mike Veeck is the part owner of five baseball teams, including the Charleston RiverDogs, and is a consultant for one other. He has put fun back into baseball while proving his ideas are not specific to just sports. An advertising professional, Adjunct Professor at The Citadel’s MBA program, coveted public speaker, founder of the Veeck Promotional Seminar, and all around idea man, he will tell you how his "Fun is Good" philosophy leads to success in any business.

(CLICK HERE TO ORDER YOUR TICKETS NOW!)

  Mike will tell you why:
•Injecting fun, creativity and passion is so essential to business success.
•An understanding of customer service is the lifeblood of any business.
•An organization suffers when employees aren’t having fun at work.
•Having just a few people with the fun-is-good attitude can transform an entire workplace.

Veeck has spoken and entertained groups at companies such as the NBA, 3M, General Mills, and NASCAR. He has made appearances on 60 Minutes, HBO Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel, NBC Nightly News and ESPN Sportscenter, CBS Sunday Morning, ABC’s Nightline, National Public Radio’s Weekend Edition and Late Night with Conan O’Brien.

Mike began his baseball career with the White Sox and also worked for the Detroit Tigers and Tampa Bay Devil Rays. It is his inherited belief that anything is possible and no idea so silly, and that is how Veeck operates his ball clubs and businesses. Veeck has hired a dog and a pig to deliver baseballs to the umpire, a Roman Catholic nun to give massages, mimes to perform instant replays and locked out fans of the stadium to set an all-time attendance for the fewest people at a game.

Each month, Small Business Lunch at Halls features a distinguished speaker from the business, civic or political arenas upstairs at Halls Chophouse with an imaginative three course meal prepared by Executive Chef Matthew Niessner.

Tickets are $28 per person for the luncheon and parking. Doors open at 11:30 AM and lunch is served promptly at noon. Limited seating of 60 participants provides an intimate experience with each speaker. Click Here For ticket Information or call the 24/7 ticket hotline at 1-800-838-3006.

Halls Chophouse is located at 434 King Street in downtown Charleston. Parking, validated at the event, is available at the Visitors Center Garage on Ann Street between King and Meeting Streets.

Snooze - The iPhone Alarm Dock with a Big Snooze Bar

 Distil Union is a micro-collective of two industrial designers and one graphic designer who are dreaming up solutions to real-life problems. They're currently running a Kickstarter campaign to raise the funds necessary to deliver their first product, Snooze.

"We were tired of fumbling for our iPhone alarm in the morning, so we created Snooze – the bedside stand with a big snooze bar. It creates a home for your iPhone and cable, so no more knocking your iPhone off of the nightstand or turning your alarm off by accident. Snooze lets you easily quiet your alarm or incoming phone calls. Some call snoozing your alarm lazy, but we like to think of it as keeping the dream alive."

Snooze is available exclusively on Kickstarter in 6 handsome designs: Solid Aluminum, 3 wood varieties, and 2 rubber colors called "Pillow White" and "Shut-Eye Black." And now, Apple fans can pre-order Snooze for the new iPhone 5. Help Distil Union reach their goal on Kickstarter by July 26th and keep the dream alive!

Pastries, Bread, Desserts, & Treats at P.I.E. Bake Shoppe

From breakfast pastries, desserts and petit fours to artisan breads and pies, Paige’s Incredible Edibles (P.I.E.) will make you very, very happy. Owner and Executive Pastry Chef Paige Young is a graduate of the College of Charleston and the Notter School of European Pastry & Arts. You may have tried the delicious mini-tarts she cooked up for the Cooper River Bridge Run's Taste of the Race.

Just steps west of King & John Streets, stop by in the mornings for coffee and a croissant or in the afternoon for a mid-day treat. P.I.E. caters as well! Watch for P.I.E.treats at restaurants, weddings and catered affairs around town. 

P.I.E. Bake Shoppe is located at 5 Warren Street in the Upper King Design District of downtown Charleston. They're open Monday-Friday 7:30 am-4:00 pm, Saturday 9:00 am-2:00 pm. 843-720-SHOP (7467).

The Cocktail Club Nominated in Two Categories for the 2012 Nightclub & Bar Awards

 The Cocktail Club, an Indigo Road Restaurant Group concept, has been named a finalist in two categories for the 2012 National Nightclub and Bar Awards: Jasmine Beck for Bartender of the Year and The Cocktail Club as Cocktail Lounge of the Year.

The annual Nightclub & Bar Awards celebrate the nightlife industry’s top venues and talents across the country. Past winners have included Eastern Standard in Boston, Mass.; Webster Hall in New York City and Smuggler’s Cove in San Francisco, Cal. 

“We are incredibly gratified to see such a huge professional following for the 2012 Nightclub & Bar Awards,” says Megan Hernandez, Digital Content Director for Nightclub & Bar Media Group. “The finalists and winners highlight exactly the characteristics this competition applauds: quality, creativity, financial success and, of course, patron value.”

The finalists and winners will be featured on Nightclub.com; the winners will be chosen at the end of January and will have the chance to attend the Nightclub & Bar Convention and Trade Show in Las Vegas, March 12-14.

New Restaurant, The Grocery, Opens Downtown

Executive chef and owner Kevin Johnson has recently opened The Grocery in downtown Charleston. A veteran of such restaurants as Slightly North of Broad, Anson Restaurant, and the Inn at Little Washington, Johnson is serving up seasonal, ingredient-inspired cuisine with Mediterranean and Southern American influences.

Johnson has created a gathering place of warmth and familiarity, with a menu based on what is available from the local and regional farmers and fishermen he knows and has worked with for many years.Diner's are encouraged to share several small or large plates from the continually evolving menu, evoking a sense of community.

Current highlights include: Fried Oysters with Deviled Egg Sauce and Bread-and-Butter Pickles; Bouillabaisse of Fish, Clams, Shrimp and Squid with Grilled Bread and Aioli; and Pork Osso Buco served with a Ragout of Sea Island Red Peas and Cornbread.

The Grocery is located at 4 Cannon Street and is open for dinner Tuesday through Saturday starting at 5 p.m. For more information, please visit www.thegrocerycharleston.com or call 843.302.8825.

Halls Chophouse Among the Top 100 Restaurants in the U.S.

 Halls Chophouse was recently named one of the Top 100 Restaurants in the U.S. as part of OpenTable's 2011 Diner's Choice Awards. The list of winners is derived from more than 10 million reviews submitted by OpenTable diners for more than 12,000 restaurants in all 50 states and the District of Columbia.

The honorees span 34 states and Washington, D.C., “The restaurants on this list are wonderfully varied, but they have one overwhelming quality in common – each establishment is taking every opportunity to deliver a superb dining experience,” says Caroline Potter, OpenTable’s Chief Dining Officer. “Quality and consistency in the food, service and setting are the hallmarks of the very best restaurants, and all three elements can be found in abundance by diners visiting any of these honorees.”

Visit Halls Chophouse at 434 King Street today for an unforgettable dining experience. Click here to make online reservations through OpenTable .

A Gift from the City of Charleston: Free Parking for the 2011 Holiday Season!

From Black Friday through New Year's, park in City Garages downtown for two hours free! Click here to download 2011 Holiday Magic in Downtown Charleston Parking Voucher, print as many as you like and bring them with you each time you come downtown for shopping, dining and holiday fun. There's more! Many merchants offer parking stamps with your purchase or service:

Bits of Lace | Bob Ellis Shoes | Brooks Brothers | Caviar & Bananas | Christophe Chocolatier | Croghan's Jewel Box | Hampden Clothing | Lacoste | Phillips Shoes | Roberto Coin | Sugar Snap Pea | Sweet 185 and more.

Butterfly Women's Consignment Boutique and Cos Bar have onsite free parking for their customers.

Here's another parking tip: if you're visiting the Upper King Design District for evening shopping and dining, the Visitors Center Garage is just $2 for the whole evening after 5:00 PM. You'll also find valet parking at John and King, Radcliffe and King, Broad Street and East Bay and Cumberland Street just east of East Bay. 

You can ride the Carta DASH Trolleys all around downtown for free. It's just too easy to enjoy beautiful downtown Charleston this holiday season. Join us for the best shopping, the best dining, the best salons and spas, and Charleston WreathFest!

People Matter Comes to Upper King Street

People Matter, a human resource management software company currently located in North Charleston, Atlanta and San Francisco, will establish their new International Headquarters on Charleston's Upper King Street, bringing with them 265 high-tech jobs over the next two years as the project is completed.The newly developed property, leased and developed by PrimeSouth Group, will be located at 466 and 468 King Street.

Produced for restaurants, convenience stores, hotels, hospitality and retail, People Matter software assists in hiring, training, scheduling and motivating service employees."We transform the workplace with talent management solutions that catalyze the innate human drive to make a difference – because happy, engaged employees and managers lead to exemplary customer service."  Nate DaPore, President and CEO.

The project was unveiled yesterday in a Press Conference on a closed portion of Upper King Street. DaPore and other People Matter executives, Mayor Joe Riley, Chris Price, Ernest Endrade and Charleston County officials expressed thanks as they described the broad expanse of the project. A reception was held afterward at The Macintosh and upstairs at The Cocktail Club.

 

 

Explore Charleston's Haunted History with the Francis Marion Hotel's Wicked Good Fun Package

October is a beautiful time of year to visit Charleston, and being so close to Halloween, it's a great time to check out Charleston's haunted past as well. Book the Wicked Good Fun Package at the Francis Marion Hotel to go deep into the night on your choice of one of four different ghost walking tours by Bulldog Tours. 

Explore Charleston’s Pre-Revolutionary Dungeon on the Charleston Ghost & Dungeon Tour, get an uncensored look at Charleston’s past on The Dark Side Tour,take  a nighttime tour of one of the oldest graveyards in the country on the Charleston Ghost & Graveyard Tour, or get an inside look at Charleston’s haunted Old City Jail on the Haunted Jail Tour. Then, after your frightfully good time, relax in your guest room with luxurious European bedding and peruse your copy of the Francis Marion’s own ghost story with the hotel's signature Spooky cookies. Wicked good fun for all!

Your package includes: Overnight accommodations, (2) tour tickets per night (your choice of four different tours), Francis Marion’s Ghost Story, and Turndown with Spooky Cookies.

Book this package starting from just $199 a night! Book your stay at the historic Francis Marion Hotel today.