Video summary
The video captures the celebratory ribbon-cutting ceremony for the grand opening of Lavender Café, an event hosted by Kina Ginyard from the City of Columbia's Office of Business Opportunities. The gathering brings together local leaders and community members to honor Shireen Harvin, the café's owner, as she officially launches her new small business. Councilman Sam Johnson opens the proceedings by welcoming everyone on behalf of Mayor Rickman and the city council, noting that while he may not be wearing lavender today, the spirit of the occasion is deeply felt in his heart. He praises the unique atmosphere of the café, highlighting how it successfully brings a sense of community and global inspiration to Columbia, South Carolina, fulfilling Shireen's vision of creating a space where people can gather and appreciate one another.
Following the councilman, Lasha Berlon from the Richland County Office of Small Business Opportunity speaks about the vital role small businesses play in the local economy. She emphasizes that organizations like OSBO exist specifically to advocate for and support entrepreneurs as they transform their dreams into brick-and-mortar realities. She extends congratulations to Shireen and her team, noting that their handcrafted beverages and genuine hospitality are bringing a calming experience to Northeast Columbia. Even though District 9 Chairwoman Jessica Mackey could not attend in person, she is acknowledged as being thrilled about the café becoming a part of her district, underscoring the widespread community support for this new establishment.
James Martin, the operations consultant, briefly shares how the business came to fruition just a few months prior with minimal resources, expressing pride in helping Shireen realize her vision for a community-centered meeting place. Finally, Shireen Harvin takes the stage to give thanks to God, city officials, and her family, explaining that the café was inspired by her travels to places like France where she cherished the culture of sitting down for conversation. She details how the café is themed around South France to encourage relaxation and interaction, featuring strategically low tables in the back to foster dialogue while offering high-quality local products such as teas from the Charleston Tea Garden and coffee from Loveland and Endo.
Shireen further explains her commitment to using only homemade ingredients or those she personally sources, ensuring that even the lavender used in her South Carolina-themed drinks is grown locally rather than imported. She dedicates a special prayer area called "Hester's Prayer Area" to honor her mother, who passed away from breast cancer and inspired her journey into coffee. Despite expecting a quiet opening, Shireen expresses overwhelming gratitude for the love and joy the community has already found in the café, crediting her husband and son for their crucial support in building the business. The event concludes with music and applause, celebrating not just a new coffee shop, but a thriving hub for connection and local pride.
Read the full video transcript
through today's ribbon cutting for
Lavender Cafe. My name is Kina Ginyard
with the city of Columbia's office of
business opportunities and we want to
thank you all for taking the time to
come out today and celebrate this ribbon
cutting of another great small business
here in our city. I'm going to go down
the line of speakers as uh follows.
First, we'll have Councilman Sam Johnson
from representing the city of Colombia.
Then we'll have Lasha Berlon from
Richland County Office of Small Business
Opportunity and Mr. James Martin who is
the operations consultant for Lavender
Cafe. And finally, the owner, Miss
Shireen Harvin, RZoo. Councilman
Johnson.
>> Good afternoon, everybody.
>> We down south. This is like church. So,
we got the spiritual uh uh words of
comfort on the walls in there. I need a
I need a better call and response there.
Good afternoon. Good afternoon.
>> I was going to suggest that y'all go
inside and get some caffeine. [laughter]
>> On behalf of Mayor Rickman and my
colleagues on city council, uh it is my
distinct honor and privilege to welcome
you uh to the ribbon cutting for uh
Lavender Cafe. Uh make no mistake about
it, I may not have on lavender today,
but it's in my heart.
Uh this cafe once you step foot in it
you notice uh that it is unique. It is
different. Uh it is like no cafe that
you have ever stepped foot in in
Columbia, South Carolina. [snorts] Um
and I want to start off by acknowledging
uh Miss Shireen Harvin or Zoo just the
vision. Um, I asked I've had the honor
of doing a few of these ribbon cutings
at this point and I always asked the
business owner, "What was your vision?"
And when she shared with me her vision,
her desire to open this small business
in this spot and be able to capture uh
her world travels uh what she's seen in
uh in places like France and bring it to
Columbia, South Carolina, I just want to
say thank you. Uh I'm a big believer
that the two most important words in the
English language are just that. And so
behalf of on behalf of Colombia, I want
to say thank you uh not only to you uh
but in my notes here uh thank you to
your mom. Um so uh as somebody who was a
mama's boy uh my greatest influence uh I
can appreciate that she was your
greatest influence. Uh and so
when you think about uh one of the other
comments that you made to me was you
wanted a place that folks could gather a
folks that a place where folks are able
to get a sense an appreciation for
community. And as somebody who now
serves as an elected official, I can
appreciate that we need community. This
is a special location for me as someone
who grew up in the northeast uh who went
to uh the greatest high school in South
Carolina, if not the entire state and
country. Um Spring Valley High School,
this sense of community, this growing
area is going to love this this
establishment, this place, uh this quite
frankly this community. And so, uh,
without further ado, I want to, uh,
recognize, uh, my colleagues, uh, over
Richland County by way of Hopkins, uh,
[snorts] Miss Lasha Brilland.
Lasha,
>> thank you for that introduction
[laughter]
and thank you all for being here today.
I am honored to be representing the
Richland County Office of Small Business
Opportunity where our entire focus is
helping small businesses just like
yours, Shireen, and uh making sure that
we are supporting them with their
launches, their growth, and their
thriving capabilities in Richland
County. I also want to recognize the
city of Colombia at large Councilman Sam
P. Johnson. Thank you so much. and the
city of Columbia Office of Business
Opportunities, Kina, for always serving
as vital pillars in our community.
And although um Chairwoman
Jessica Mackey, who represents District
9, is not able to join us today, she is
definitely thrilled for Lavender Cafe to
be a part of her district. And I'm
pretty sure that she is celebrating
right here as as well as you are.
Most importantly, a huge congratulations
to you, Shireen, on your fantastic
milestone. Your travels and all that
you've been able to accomplish is going
to show through the growth and success
of your business. Small businesses like
Lavender Cafe are the absolute backbone
of Richland County and our economy, and
it's why our community spirit continues
to grow. Seeing this cafe open is
exactly why Osbo exists. To advocate
for, support, and celebrate local
entrepreneurs as they grow from a dream
into a brickandmortar reality. Northeast
Columbia is getting something truly
special with these hand handcrafted
beverages. Shireena and her team aren't
just selling beverages. They are
bringing a unique, calming experience
and genuine hospitality to our
residents.
To Shireen, her family, and the entire
Lavender Cafe team, Osbo is proud to
stand with you today. Congratulations
again, and we wish you many years of
overwhelming success.
[applause]
>> James,
>> good evening everyone. I'm a horrible
public speaker, so I'll probably make
this very fast. Um, but I'm I'm honored
to be here today to assist with opening
up Lavender Cafe with Shireen. Um, just
a few months ago, we sat next door with
literally a bottle of wine and two
laptops and went through everything we
needed to make this a reality. So to see
um a community- based place that is
really meant for you know uh meeting and
trying new things, taking people on an
adventure or an experience in a cafe is
really an honor to work with you and do
that with. So uh I'm proud to be here
and I'm happy that you're here and
congratulations on all your success.
>> Thank you. [applause]
>> Hello everyone. Um, just want to say
thank you to the city officials and uh,
city of Columbia for allowing me the
opportunity to open the cafe. Uh, just
want to talk a little bit quickly about
the cafe and first I want to give honor
to God. I prayed on this cafe from the
time I saw it and I reached out to the
the leasing agent to the time that I
opened it and God has been leading me.
He I feel he's told me to open this for
whatever reason and I'm hoping that
people are blessed and have great
conversations and get prayed over from
the cafe. The idea behind the cafe was
my son and I, my family, we travel a
lot. And one thing I loved about South
France is the culture of people sitting,
having conversation, actually meeting up
and just having that sense of community.
And that's something that I wanted to
bring to this area because I just moved
here about two years ago, but my
family's from South Carolina originally
and there was no coffee shops in the
area. And I know there's a great place
for all the brick and mortars, but I
wanted something that we can come to and
just sit and have community and doesn't
have to be necessarily alcohol. well
based even though our bars around us are
really great. Support them. But I wanted
a place where people can come and have
great tea, great coffee, great matcha. I
want to talk a little bit about the
cafe. I themed it around South France to
give that feeling of come in and relax.
Um the the back of the cafe is spec
strategically low tables so you have no
choice but to talk. It's not very laptop
friendly in the back but the front is.
And I wanted people to have good quality
South Carolina products. Like our tees
are from the Charleston Tea Garden. I
went there, did a sampling, brought
their tees here. So if you get black,
green or mint tea is from South
Carolina. Um, our coffee local as well.
We switch between Loveland and Endo,
which are two great products. And I know
our our coffees, depending on the
recipe, you'll get either one. And also
to our matchas, which is not local, but
it's real good quality matcha. Every
ingredient that we put in our products
are homemade. If I can't buy it, I'm not
selling it. We have pistachio. If I
can't make the pistachio, I'm not
selling it. So everything you're getting
down to the lavender blueberry is actual
blueberries that I went to go buy an
actual lavender that I got from North
South Carolina. All the lavender in the
cafe, even though it's souththemed,
comes from South Carolina. And that was
important to me because I wanted to
showcase South Carolina lavender because
we have some really great lavender
fields up north. So I'm just excited to
be here. This has been a prayer every
step of the way. Um [clears throat] my
mom inspired me for coffee. That's why I
have the Harvin prayer area. It's called
um Hester's prayer area and gratitude.
Leave your prayers, leave your
gratitude. Sometimes people need to see
that they same thing they're praying
for, you got a success for. So that's
what that area is back for. But she
inspired me so much. So I had to
dedicate that area to her. She died when
I was very young of breast cancer. So I
definitely wanted to pay homage to her.
But I just want to say thank you for
everybody. The support has been
overwhelming. I thought I was going to
open a little small cafe and it'll just
be quiet and it's anything but. And I'm
so blessed and so thankful that people
have taken what I've envisioned and
found some joy and love in it. So I just
want to say thank you to everyone and my
husband who this is mom and pops as it
get half the cafe he built. So I have to
give him credit and thank him so much
because I would not have this cafe if he
wasn't supporting me. So I just want to
say thank you to him and my son. So
thank you [laughter]
[applause]
>> [music]
[music]