Coastal Crust | Grand Opening and Ribbon Cutting

are. Um, this is kind of overwhelming. Um, I've never done this before. Uh, so bear with me. Um, there's an army of people out here. I appreciate you guys being here and um, you know, caring about our small family ran pizzeria. Uh, this is uh, very humbling. Um, you know, we we started in Charleston. Um, I guess about uh, so right around 2013. Um, and we opened our mobile wood-fired uh, catering truck is how we started. We were bringing wood-fired pizza to people at their homes and at their venues uh, and it grew. We did well. We're very lucky and blessed that people enjoyed what we did. Um, so we took the next step and opened a brick-and-mortar um, in Charleston and one more after that and one more after that and um, and now here we are, you know, a a decade or so later uh, in Columbia. Um, and we're just again very very humbled and very feel very blessed to be here. Um, uh, we're very thankful that people care about what we do, that they enjoy what we do. Um, uh, I want to thank if if if there's anybody to thank, um, it would be my family. Um, especially my wife Shelley uh, who >> [snorts] >> uh, is absolutely incredible at uh, supporting me every day um, and making making sure that our home and our business uh, you know, has a good foundation so we can do stuff like this. So I want to thank my wife Shelley mostly. Um, >> [applause] >> um, uh, and then there's our leadership team. Um, we have an amazing group of people. Um, some with the some that have been with us for five, six, seven years, you know, some that have just joined us. Um, especially our our local crew here in here in Columbia. Chef Roderick and our GMs Kirk and Sarah are amazing people that help make this place happen. Um, you know, so if you come in on any given night, you know, please say hi to them and um, but uh, I guess the only other thing is uh, to kind of speak about what the essence of our business is, you know, what we want you to feel and see and you know, when you come in here. I've spoken to a couple reporters and it kind of keeps coming up, you know, these these common these common words, you know, what what we're trying to accomplish here. It's family, it's personality, you know, we're hoping that you come in the building and you feel that you know, from our staff, the food, the atmosphere. It's an incredibly cool space, you know, that huge development. Um, you know, kind of provided for us, you know, to to to make our own. So we hope you know, through all that, you know, you you really feel that sense of family and you feel that personality. And yeah, you know, tonight's the night you know, you know, from today forward we're open every day. I think we're only closed three or four days a year, you know, so you can come see us just about anytime. But again, thank you. Stick around and have a have a pie when we're done chatting, yeah. But I'll introduce Robert Hughes with Hughes Development. >> [applause] >> Thank you Brian and thank you all for being here today. It's a great day at Bull Street. We're getting to do this more and more out here at the Bull Street district and I appreciate everybody being out here today. Especially those from our team. I get the privilege of speaking and standing up here, but from Chandler and Pranali to Ashley and Randy and Danita. We have a tremendous team that's out here everyday on the ground creating this special place and everyone is enjoying so much and we're just so proud of it. When we have thought about Bull Street from the beginning, it was how do we create a a great place that welcomes everybody from the Midlands and and is is fun, is relaxing, is energetic and you do that by mixing the best in class national, regional and local tenants. And so I had the privilege of of eating at Coastal Crust down in Charleston one time, fell in love with it in Greenville. And I said, "Why is Coastal Crust not in Columbia?" So, I I started texting everybody I know, "Who knows Brian? How do I get in touch with Brian?" Um finally get his number, call him. We meet for We meet for pizza uh at one of his locations in the Upstate. And I said, "Have you ever considered Columbia?" And he said, "I love Columbia. I'm here all the time. Uh I love the city. Um what do you have in mind?" At that point, I said, "I think I got him, but I got to get him here." So, I get him to Columbia, we meet, we tour this building. And one of my favorite parts of this building, when you think about what we're trying to accomplish here, it blends the old with the new. The beautiful old Williams building historic facade on the front, the new glass box on the back that's home to Coastal Crust Pizza. You take a family-run business, and Brian's not lying when he says it's family-run. I can't tell you how many times I came down here, and I saw Brian and his kids and his kids' friends moving boxes around and loading stuff. I mean, this is a true family operation. But, it is done in a class A, first-class, world-class manner. The food is absolutely tremendous. And so, we're incredibly honored to have Brian and his family and his operation here. We think it's going to be a tremendous asset for Bull Street and for the entire Midlands. Uh we're honored to have all of you here. And And the other partner that we cannot ever forget as we as we talk about Bull Street and how far this project has come and the place that it is today is the city of Columbia. The city of Columbia um from council, and I see other elected officials here. Thank you, Councilman Johnson. If I've missed anyone, I don't see anyone else, but I'm sure there are. Um thank you for coming out here. This project um would not be possible without the great public-private partnership and support from the city of Columbia wanting to see more and more growth, more and more activity, more and more energy. Uh and no one epitomizes that more than the mayor of Columbia, Mayor Daniel Rickenmann, who I'm honored to introduce to give us some more remarks. Thank you. >> [applause] >> Well, good afternoon. I I Brian, just want to say thank you for your investment. I've been a fan uh for about a decade following them from Charleston. I don't talk about Greenville, sorry, Robert. Um because I'm in the capital city and we're so excited that you've landed here. Columbia is a home of small business. It's been the backbone of our community. That's the reason I stayed here after graduation to open uh my first business here in 1994. Why? Because what I saw through this community was this community supports small businesses, especially ones that are family run. And so here we have another example of of a great asset coming to Bull Street, but also complementing the businesses that are here, being part of our community cuz when Brian invests in a community, it's not just opening a restaurant and hiring folks, it's being part of that community and this is the type of businesses we want to attract and keep here. So thank you again for your investment. We're really excited about this. I've been waiting to have this pizza for a long time. I was kidding with Brian that I thought I had to send the Coast Guard out in Charleston to find him in the bay somewhere because he wasn't opening fast enough, but the day is here now and we're so excited. We're excited to have them here. We're excited for people to try this incredible pizza company that when you taste their food, you're going to taste the love, the care, and the personality that's built into that meal. And if you understand the restaurant business, what makes it successful is what you deliver to the table, how it feels, how people make you feel when you come in, the smells, the aromas, the smiles. That's all part of it. That's what you're getting here, the total package. So we're very excited with that. And with this, I think we're ready to do a ribbon cutting, right? >> Thank you. >> [cheering]