A fast-casual chicken restaurant will be opening in Starkville this spring.
Slim Chickens, which has more than 70 franchise locations across the Southeast, will open its doors in the former Abner’s Chicken building on South Montgomery Street that closed in June after 18 years of business.
The restaurant specializes in hand-breaded chicken tenders, buffalo wings and homemade dipping sauces.
Slim Chickens franchisee Ricky Bagwell was responsible for expanding the Slim Chickens brand into Mississippi in 2017, when the Ridgeland location opened. However, Bagwell said his entire family has close ties to Starkville and Mississippi State University, which is why he wanted to bring the restaurant to the college town.
Bagwell said he graduated from MSU, as did his wife and children.
“We all just really have a love for the Starkville and MSU community,” he said.
The basic footprint of the building will stay the same, Bagwell added, but both the interior and exterior will undergo a complete remodel before opening in April.
In downtown Starkville, two new businesses are coming soon.
First, a coffee roastery just received its certificate of occupancy, according to Jaqueline Posley in the Starkville Community Development Department.
The People’s Cup MicroRoastery, owned by Blair Edwards, will be sharing a space with The Pop Porium, which is located at 119 E. Main St.
All coffee beans sold from The People’s Cup are sourced from fair trade farmers, from places including Guatemala and Peru, and roasted locally in Starkville.
Also, a West Point cosmetology school is relocating to Starkville.
Rena Williams, owner of Creative Cosmetology, first opened the store in West Point in 2009.
Williams’ cosmetology school is a full-service school and salon that teaches hair styling, nail technology and facial cosmetology.
The new shop will be at 119 Douglass L. Conner Dr.
Elsewhere in Starkville, The Physicians and Surgeons Clinic, which operates an internal medicine, pediatrics and OB/GYN clinic in Amory, will be opening a Starkville location, at 100 Brandon Road, in March.
A shoe-shining store, Sidewalk Shine, also received a certificate of occupancy from The Starkville Community Development Department. Sidewalk shine is located at 403-C Russell St.
You can help your community
Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 43 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.