From staff reports
The Fountain Island Blue Convenience Store, a new Black-owned business located at 1210 Seaside Road on St. Helena Island, held its Grand Opening on May 4, 2024.
The new store is owned by Beaufort businesswoman Sandra L. Mack, a licensed barber, author, and bail bondsman who hails from New Orleans. The grand opening was attended by dozens of people of all ages. It was sponsored by the Community Coalition Action Network of St. Helena Island (CCAN).
The Gullah Geechee Chamber of Commerce, a partner of CCAN, also supported the event, which provided free food and drinks, a DJ, giveaways, and a bouncy house for kids.
The store, located in a food desert on St. Helena Island, is one of only two Black-owned convenience stores on the island. It offers hot meals, lottery tickets, and a hand car wash, in addition to the usual convenience store products. During segregation, St. Helena Island had 14 Gullah-owned neighborhood country/convenience stores, according to Community Coalition Action Network of St. Helena Island co-founder Roy R. Brown, who was St. Helena Island’s first Gullah U S. Postmaster. The Fountain Island Blue Convenience Store operates at the site of the former Seaside Mini-Mart.
