Recently in Businesses Category
A 2-page guide to restaurants in Jackson County is available online (click here), showing special longer operating hours as well as dates the restaurants will be closed during the Christmas season.
The guide was produced by the Jackson County Chamber of Commerce and the Jackson County Travel & Tourism Authority.
The guide was produced by the Jackson County Chamber of Commerce and the Jackson County Travel & Tourism Authority.
Paint brushes of all sizes (click photo to enlarge) await art students at downtown Sylva's Studio 598. The art studio, operated by Norma Smith, is located at 598 West Main Street (above Hollifield Jewelers). Smith also teaches art at Western Carolina University.
The smell of freshly roasted coffee... home-cooked local food... ambience and atmosphere in the heart of downtown Sylva. What could be better? For John Bubacz, nothing at all.
Bubacz (whose name is pronounced boo-bah-ch) is the proprietor of Bubacz's Underground, a cafe and coffeeshop that's making waves among local patrons. Its slogan is "World's Healthiest Fast Food."
The restaurant is a delightful combination of
At first Bubacz's Underground served only coffee and small pastries when it opened about 2 years ago, but it quickly became a full-service breakfast and lunch eatery.
John roasts his own coffee beans, using a roaster he recently acquired. He negotiates directly with farmers in Central and South America to get the beans shipped to America. Profits from the sales go immediately to the farmers, eliminating the share of profits that otherwise would go to distributors and wholesalers. In addition, he only buys beans that are organic and that meet fair-trade standards.
(Shown at right: John Bubacz with his coffee roaster.)
John hopes Sylva will become more aware of the importance of fair-trade and organic practices. "I do fair-trade because I want to see farmers in economically depressed regions of the world paid a fair price for their [coffee] beans," he said. "I do organic because the nutrition in non-organic products is inadequate and other methods of growing and creating food are environmentally destructive."
John's coffee roasting brings to Jackson County a mix of the old and the new, because he is partnering with Harold's Galaxy Supermarket -- one of the county's oldest businesses -- to carry his line of beans, which carry a "Signature Brew" label. Other businesses selling the beans include Papou's Wine Shop, the Harris Regional Hospital gift shop, Guadalupe Cafe, Jack the Dipper (all in Sylva), Mad Batter Bakeshop, and Cat's Nip Cafe (both in Cullowhee). Beans even can be purchased in bulk at the restaurant or at Jack the Dipper.
John came to Franklin as a boy more than 30 years ago, and has lived in Jackson County since 1990. After earning a degree in psychology, he worked in the mental health field for 13 years. But 8 years ago he made a jump into the food business, when he began operating the Whatcha Want? Bogega in Cullowhee.
(Shown at left: the restaurant's Mill Street entrance, at the back of the restaurant.)
Currently he employs 7 people, several of them full-time. His plans for the future include an espresso bar at his restaurant's Mill Street entrance and a full-size organic grocery store. One day, he says, he'd like to see a laundromat, bar and cafe in the same building.
Bubacz's Underground is open every day of the week, every day of the year, including Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year's Day. Monday through Friday hours are 7:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Saturday and Sunday hours are 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. (Extended evening hours will begin later this winter.) Free wireless internet and even a computer are available for customers.
The restaurant is located at 610 West Main Street in downtown Sylva, in the space occupied for many years by Hedden's Barber Shop, later known as Wimpy's (where Wimpy Hyatt cut hair).
Check it out!
(Shown below: John is busy with one of the unglamorous aspects of a restaurant business.)
Bubacz (whose name is pronounced boo-bah-ch) is the proprietor of Bubacz's Underground, a cafe and coffeeshop that's making waves among local patrons. Its slogan is "World's Healthiest Fast Food."
The restaurant is a delightful combination of- fast, friendly service,
- local, organic, hormone- and pesticide-free meats, dairy and eggs, and
- teas, coffee and juices.
At first Bubacz's Underground served only coffee and small pastries when it opened about 2 years ago, but it quickly became a full-service breakfast and lunch eatery.
John roasts his own coffee beans, using a roaster he recently acquired. He negotiates directly with farmers in Central and South America to get the beans shipped to America. Profits from the sales go immediately to the farmers, eliminating the share of profits that otherwise would go to distributors and wholesalers. In addition, he only buys beans that are organic and that meet fair-trade standards.
(Shown at right: John Bubacz with his coffee roaster.)John hopes Sylva will become more aware of the importance of fair-trade and organic practices. "I do fair-trade because I want to see farmers in economically depressed regions of the world paid a fair price for their [coffee] beans," he said. "I do organic because the nutrition in non-organic products is inadequate and other methods of growing and creating food are environmentally destructive."
John's coffee roasting brings to Jackson County a mix of the old and the new, because he is partnering with Harold's Galaxy Supermarket -- one of the county's oldest businesses -- to carry his line of beans, which carry a "Signature Brew" label. Other businesses selling the beans include Papou's Wine Shop, the Harris Regional Hospital gift shop, Guadalupe Cafe, Jack the Dipper (all in Sylva), Mad Batter Bakeshop, and Cat's Nip Cafe (both in Cullowhee). Beans even can be purchased in bulk at the restaurant or at Jack the Dipper.
John came to Franklin as a boy more than 30 years ago, and has lived in Jackson County since 1990. After earning a degree in psychology, he worked in the mental health field for 13 years. But 8 years ago he made a jump into the food business, when he began operating the Whatcha Want? Bogega in Cullowhee.
(Shown at left: the restaurant's Mill Street entrance, at the back of the restaurant.)Currently he employs 7 people, several of them full-time. His plans for the future include an espresso bar at his restaurant's Mill Street entrance and a full-size organic grocery store. One day, he says, he'd like to see a laundromat, bar and cafe in the same building.
Bubacz's Underground is open every day of the week, every day of the year, including Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year's Day. Monday through Friday hours are 7:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Saturday and Sunday hours are 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. (Extended evening hours will begin later this winter.) Free wireless internet and even a computer are available for customers.
The restaurant is located at 610 West Main Street in downtown Sylva, in the space occupied for many years by Hedden's Barber Shop, later known as Wimpy's (where Wimpy Hyatt cut hair).
Check it out!
(Shown below: John is busy with one of the unglamorous aspects of a restaurant business.)
A series of fortunate events has a brought a retail fabric store to downtown Sylva.
Jerry Szlizewski is now the proud owner of Mrs. S Fabrics, located between Main Street Apartments and Vance Hardware on Main Street in Sylva. But she said she couldn't have guessed she'd be sitting behind the counter of her own fabric store even as few as six months ago.
Szlizewski, who came to Jackson County several years ago from Indiana, took an entrepreneurship class at Mountain BizWorks in Sylva, for which she was required to create a hypothetical business. She decided hers would be a fabric store because she has a lifelong love of needlework and hand-stitching. The class required her to draft a mock business plan and then perform research to see what it would take to put the plan into action, so she talked with several people about fabrics. Many said they were very disappointed that Wal-Mart recently stopped selling fabric, meaning they now must drive 10 to 40 miles from home to buy needed fabric.
Not long thereafter, two things happened: Szilzewski passed a "For Rent" sign on a door on Sylva's Main Street, and while doing research for her class she came across a fabric store going out of business looking to cut loose its inventory. When those factors came together, Szlizewski said, it was an easy decision for her to open her store about a month ago.
Mrs. S Fabrics includes dozens of quilt patterns, fabrics, pre-cut bundles of coordinating colors, threads, manuals, books and notions. Beautiful quilts hang on the walls of the clean, cozy shop.
Szlizewski renovated an outdoor patio next to the shop, painting and decorated it with new furniture and a sign that declares it to be a "Sit-N-Stitch" area. She hopes to use the patio for social events, classes and regular quilters' meetings.
The shop sports an attractive awning on the front, partially funded by a "façade grant" from the Downtown Sylva Association.
Regular shop hours are from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Saturday. A class on appliqué technique will be held on Nov. 10 and 17 from 10 a.m. to noon.
For more information, call "Mrs. S" herself at 828-273-0344 or e-mail her at mrssfabrics@yahoo.com.
Jerry Szlizewski is now the proud owner of Mrs. S Fabrics, located between Main Street Apartments and Vance Hardware on Main Street in Sylva. But she said she couldn't have guessed she'd be sitting behind the counter of her own fabric store even as few as six months ago.Szlizewski, who came to Jackson County several years ago from Indiana, took an entrepreneurship class at Mountain BizWorks in Sylva, for which she was required to create a hypothetical business. She decided hers would be a fabric store because she has a lifelong love of needlework and hand-stitching. The class required her to draft a mock business plan and then perform research to see what it would take to put the plan into action, so she talked with several people about fabrics. Many said they were very disappointed that Wal-Mart recently stopped selling fabric, meaning they now must drive 10 to 40 miles from home to buy needed fabric.
Not long thereafter, two things happened: Szilzewski passed a "For Rent" sign on a door on Sylva's Main Street, and while doing research for her class she came across a fabric store going out of business looking to cut loose its inventory. When those factors came together, Szlizewski said, it was an easy decision for her to open her store about a month ago.
Mrs. S Fabrics includes dozens of quilt patterns, fabrics, pre-cut bundles of coordinating colors, threads, manuals, books and notions. Beautiful quilts hang on the walls of the clean, cozy shop.
Szlizewski renovated an outdoor patio next to the shop, painting and decorated it with new furniture and a sign that declares it to be a "Sit-N-Stitch" area. She hopes to use the patio for social events, classes and regular quilters' meetings.The shop sports an attractive awning on the front, partially funded by a "façade grant" from the Downtown Sylva Association.
Regular shop hours are from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Saturday. A class on appliqué technique will be held on Nov. 10 and 17 from 10 a.m. to noon.
For more information, call "Mrs. S" herself at 828-273-0344 or e-mail her at mrssfabrics@yahoo.com.
A new sign at Rick's Car Wash in Sylva proclaims, "We recycle our water!"Although the sign went up only recently, owner Rick Bryson explained that his car wash has used recycled water for 11 years. "Water's something we've all got to have, but we shouldn't waste it if we don't have to," he added. "It saves on water and it saves on the bill, and it just seemed like the right thing to do."
Bryson put up the sign because he said he is concerned that some of his regular or prospective customers might be hesitant to have their cars washed on account of the recent severe drought.
The ingenious system first collects used water from drains inside the car wash and then funnels it into an underground tank. There the water is tumbled through several filters, just as it would in a natural creek, Bryson said.
The filtered water is used in several steps during the car wash process: to keep the washing equipment wet, to clean the car's side panels and to wash the car's underbody. Fresh water is used when the car is rinsed and also when the car's interiors are cleaned or wax is applied.
Bryson says he is able to reclaim almost 50 percent of the water he uses.
The car wash, located just across from Zaxby's on Highway 107 in Sylva, is open from Monday through Saturday, 9 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Call Bryson at 631-3600 for more information.
Jackson County Magazine says: We applaud Rick Bryson for being a good neighbor by being a good steward of Jackson County's valuable but finite natural resources.
