Fetch 501 dotes on dogs, wholesaler buys WA Bragg – The Augusta Chronicle
A brief look at openings, closings and other changes in Augusta-area business:
Fetch 501
MUST LOVE DOGS: A new store in downtown Augusta will be catering to active canines and their humans. Fetch 501 has scheduled a soft opening for June 14 at 501 Broad St. and a grand opening June 19, co-owner Tonya Boswell said Thursday.
The shop at the corner of Broad and Fifth streets is just a few hundred feet from Riverwalk and the marina – close to locations frequented by Fetch’s anticipated clientele.
“We’re right here by the Fifth Street walking bridge when it opens up, so we’re trying to market to all the activities that you can do with your pet,” Boswell said. “It’s great for the community to get outside, to have fun and especially have fun with your dog. We have lifejackets, we have hiking gear, we have swimming gear. We’re trying to hit every aspect.”
No opening date for the Fifth Street walking bridge has been released.
Previously: Fifth Street Bridge to close to become pedestrian-only path
More: Confederate heritage remains engraved on Fifth Street bridge
Jon Anderson is Boswell’s cousin and business partner. He founded Broad Street Barkery at 908-B Broad St. but a couple of years ago he sold that business, which now operates as Barkery on Broad.
Fetch will offer grooming services and fresh dog treats. Fetch will also offer boarding accommodations and dog-training classes, in a redesigned, modern-looking space most recently occupied by pawnbroker Mr. Pawn.
The building at 501 Broad dates to the 1930s, but newspaper archives show other businesses on the site from at least the 1880s. In 1918, amid the surging popularity of automobiles, Augusta Battery Service moved to the location, expanding to Augusta Battery and Tire in 1932.
Now Opening: Family Dollar could sell alcohol; Joe Dirt selling fireworks; ;Joe Dirt Fireworks to light up Augusta;
The corner stayed a service station through the 1950s and became Hartley Auto Sales in 1962, and Dr. Tire in 1977. Skateboard supplier Luck-Es Board Shop moved to the space in 1999.
In February, the building was purchased for $300,000 by a limited-liability company belonging to real estate investor and downtown development proponent Rafy Bassali.
W.A. Bragg and Co.
BRAGG-ING RIGHTS: A local wholesale plumbing and electrical distributor has been purchased by a Lawrenceville, Ga.-based company with branch locations in three Southern states.
Augusta-based W.A. Bragg and Co. on Mike Padgett Highway has been acquired by PDI as part of the latter company’s expansion plans, PDI announced June 2. Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
Bragg was begun in 1953 by World War II veteran Wallace Bragg in a small backyard warehouse. The company grew to operate locations in Augusta, Evans, Athens, Milledgeville, Pooler, Statesboro, Vidalia and Warner Robins.
Those stores will join PDI’s stable of locations in Atlanta, Alpharetta, Columbus, Lawrenceville, Lake Oconee, McDonough and Woodstock in Georgia; Nashville and White House in Tennessee; and Spartanburg, S.C.