South Carolina Resident Opens Restaurant Amidst Pandemic South Carolina Resident Opens Restaurant Amidst Pandemic

Sallie Walkup: Medical assistant Starreath (Star-Wreath) Dicks says it has always been her dream to own a restaurant.

Starreath Dicks: When I was in high school I worked at a place that was in my hometown called The Sub Deli. I worked there when I was in school, so I always said I wouldn’t mind opening up a sandwich shop.

Walkup: Dicks saved money each year and made her dream a reality when she opened “The Sandwich Shop” on June 27.

Dicks: It was a big family effort.
Walkup: Dicks says one of the largest hurdles of opening now has been competing with other restaurants for meat due to shortages at the chef supply store.

Dicks: Everybody saying ‘oh the truck is behind due to COVID’ or ‘the meat processing plant is down due to COVID.’

Walkup: While the meat shortages have caused the shop to close early some days, Dicks remains positive because of support from her family and community.

Sallie Walkup, N-C-C News.

WILLISTON, S.C. (NCC News) —The COVID-19 pandemic is a tough time to be a restaurant owner. Many restaurants have had to close their doors or cut back on staff, seating capacity and menu items. Opening a new restaurant in the middle of a pandemic sounds intimidating to most people, but that is exactly what one woman in Williston, South Carolina did.

Starreath Dicks, a medical assistant for the last 18 years, had always dreamed of opening her own restaurant. When she was in high school, she worked at a local restaurant called The Sub Deli. When the restaurant closed she no longer had a place to buy a tasty sub.

“I couldn’t get a good sandwich in my hometown,” Dicks said. “I had to drive 25 miles to get a good sandwich.”

Dicks saved her money to purchase the building and began renovations in May of 2020.  She opened her restaurant, The Sandwich Shop, on June 27.

“It was a big family effort,” she said.

Her husband, father, and father-in-law all helped with the renovations and her son and extended family members help prepare the orders.

So far, she and her family have been working 12 hour shifts. Although the long hours are exhausting Dicks knows they are necessary until more staff can be hired. These shifts include extra time spent sanitizing the tables and prepping the homemade goods.  One of her main goals is that everything is made fresh.

Unfortunately, the coronavirus has negatively impacted her business by limiting ingredients at the chef supply store.

“The COVID is messing up the beef industry, the turkey, everything dealing with the meats,” Dicks said. “It’s kind of hard to get meats.”

The meat shortages have caused The Sandwich Shop to close early on some days due to running out of products. Despite the closures, Dicks thanks God for the business being successful and always having a line of customers inside.

“I really do give [God] all the credit for what’s going on because of COVID-19,” Dicks said. “For my business to succeed and take off like it is and some people having to close they[sic] doors, I know it wasn’t nobody[sic] but God. We have been blessed since we opened the doors.”

Dicks said she knows God will continue to carry her on a successful path. She is confident that COVID-19 cannot stop her faith and will not prevent her from reaching her next goal of making The Sandwich Shop a chain for many others to enjoy.

The owner credits all of her successes to God and displays her faith openly in her restaurant.
The sign hanging in The Sandwich Shop represents the strong faith Starreath Dicks, the owner, has in God. She credits all of her successes to God and believes her business would not exist without Him.
© 2020 Sallie Walkup

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