Welcome to Shelby’s

“This was the best decision I could have made,” said Hicks about opening the shop in the City-owned library. “There’s no way I could support a space this big in a normal corporate real estate environment.”

Hicks has about 2,400 square feet that includes the public seating area, a full-service kitchen and his small office.

“We dedicated 50 percent of the overall space to the service area and the kitchen,” said Hicks. “I knew we would do a lot of food and that prediction has happened.”

The beach shop is about the same size, but configured differently. It also has outdoor seating, something Hicks says is on the way once the permits are approved.

“We also want to get set inside before we worry about outside,” said Hicks.

Once school starts and vacations end, Hicks expects business to pick up. He’s making it through the summer months by selling a lot of iced coffee and food and he’s doing enough catering to stay busy. Hicks has 9-10 full-time employees and even mom works.

“She’s been down here every day this week,” said Hicks Thursday morning. “She’s on her way down here right now.”

Overall, Hicks said business has been good and he’s looking forward to improving where needed. He likes the diverse work crowd that can be found Downtown.

“The feedback has been good and we have tweaked a few things since we opened,” he said. “We have made some changes and I love the process of accommodating the different dynamics of our customers.”