Looking for a better class of clientele.
Via The State:
A Columbia community is saying goodbye to Obama.
Obama the gas station, that is.
The landmark convenience store and fueling spot on Farrow Road is changing its name at the urging of nearby residents. The new name also comes with other changes, after community leaders protested the renewal of the business’ license to sell beer and wine. To one community leader, the changes are a step toward the revitalization of the Booker Washington Heights neighborhood.
“We want an atmosphere of peace, and that means working together with everybody,” said says Regina Williams, president of the Booker Washington Heights neighborhood association. “We already have disparity. That’s why we’re trying to revitalize it [Booker Washington Heights].”
But why insist on renaming the station, which was named after Barack Obama when he was president? The neighbors believe loitering at the store and the choices inside weren’t quite presidential enough.
“I’m not sure Obama or even our current president would approve of options that are not beneficial to a neighborhood,” Williams said. “Or with any person in authority. … Is it a place the governor would stop in and enjoy?”
Another Obama gas station on North Main Street with the same owner is keeping its title and look.
Williams says she was working with the former owner of the Obama station to address loitering issues and to try to increase the availability of staple goods like fresh fruits and vegetables. But when a new owner took over the convenience store in January, she found the talks less productive.
When the new owner, Josh Saleh, bought the business, he had to renew the beer and wine license with the state Department of Revenue, said Larry Marchant, an attorney for Saleh.
While the Department of Revenue found that the convenience store met all the statutory requirements for an alcohol permit, a protest was filed by Saint John Baptist Church in March against the store receiving the license. The church is across the street.
The pastor of Saint John Baptist, the Rev. Jamey O. Graham Sr., had no comment for this story. The church, founded in 1908, has been a cornerstone of the Booker Washington Heights neighborhood.
Williams, however, says the community wanted the store to address issues of people hanging out and drinking on the premises, which caused trouble in the neighborhood, and to restrict times when beer and wine could be sold out of respect for the church’s worship hours.