The Strudel Shop to host grand opening and ribbon cutting ceremony
January 24, 2022
The City of Columbia announced that The Strudel Shop will open in the Main Street District with a Grand Opening Ceremony to be held on Thursday, January 27 at 12 PM.
After outgrowing his original location in Charlotte, restaurant owner Kevin Kelly decided to expand his concept into a full service location in the heart of Columbia, offering handcrafted sweet and savory strudels, Neapolitan pizzas, and Horchata Vietnamese coffee. His new restaurant will be located at 1237 Washington Street.
“Columbia is by far the most welcoming city to start a business,” said Kevin Kelly. “Usually, I am hesitant to ask any government entity for help, but I hit some roadblocks and needed some assistance. Columbia Economic Development guided me through all steps to opening a business. Each department of the city government was very accommodating. I just want to thank you all for being such an amazing welcoming city.”
Sergio Aparicio, Columbia Economic Development’s Business Development Manager was able to assist Mr. Kelly in streamlining requirements to secure his business license approval. He was also able to assist by providing a roadmap with a variety of action items that maximized The Strudel Shop’s opportunities for growth including business-to-business connection, networking, and building a strong online presence with city partnerships to raise brand awareness.
“Columbia is excited to congratulate Kevin Kelly and the rest of the team at the Strudel Shop on their grand opening! We want to make Columbia the ideal place for businesses, like the Strudel Shop, to open and to grow,” said Columbia Mayor Daniel Rickenmann. “Now we can add excellent strudels to the list of reasons to come and join our community.”
In addition to opening up a restaurant, Kevin Kelly has also secured a partnership with the Cook School of Business at Columbia International University (CIU), the fastest-growing school on CIU’s campus with over 600 students in undergraduate and graduate degree programs. With this partnership, The Strudel Shop will leverage resources from CIU to create new internship and jobs opportunities.
