AC repair inPooler, GA

POOLER, Ga. (WTOC) - Christmas is just hours away and many people are getting their last minute gifts today.

“Just procrastinating. I’m the world’s biggest procrastinator. That’s with everything,” said David Frazier of Savannah.

Last minute shoppers didn’t have any problems getting into the stores in Pooler - getting through most lines in 30 minutes.

And when it comes to delivery delays, people we spoke to say they were not impacted by any shipping shortcomings.

One family we spoke to even says waiting until the last minute to get presents is a Christmas tradition.

“I like the hustle and bustle. I like the busyness, to be nice to people when they’re in a bad mood,” said Bobbie Fronek from Waltsboro, South Carolina.

“We found everything we needed, we were looking for new Jordans for our kids,” said Chris Turner of Fairfax, Virginia.

Thankfully, many shoppers say they weren’t impacted by any shipping delays. Today was more for tying up loose ends.

“You try to do as much as you can as early as you can, to prevent that from happening, so it worked out. You still have those stragglers, those ones who say ‘don’t forget about me for Christmas!’ So those are the ones I’m making up for right now,” said David Frazier of Savannah.

To avoid any complications, one family says they mail out their gifts after the holidays are over.

“Basically, everybody knows I’m going to send them after the year. After New Year’s, so nobody has a problem. And everyone is like ‘okay, we’ll be waiting for them’,” said Bobbie Fronek, a shopper from Waltsboro, South Carolina.

Shoppers say wait times at the outlets varied by store today, but that they were able to get through most lines in 30 minutes.

“Be patient, everybody has to wait in line at some point or another,” said Keosha Turner of Fairfax, Virginia.

Patience, and some holiday cheer, are what these shoppers brought with them to finish their Christmas Eve shopping.

“Merry Christmas, everyone! Be nice to people. It’s a busy holiday,” said Fronek.

Definitely an important message for this time of year. Now the next step for these shoppers? Wrapping the presents they purchased today to get them under the tree before tomorrow morning.

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$15.4 million will be used to provide K-12 teachers with grants to assist with classroom expenses.

MACON, Ga. — This week, Governor Brian Kemp announced that Georgia schools will receive $47 million in federal relief funds, and a chunk of that money will go to K-12 teachers.

$15.4 million will be used to provide them with grants to assist with classroom expenses.

Jordan Ramsey is an eighth grade social studies teacher at Miller Magnet School.

Ramsey usually dips into her own pockets to make sure her students have the items that they need and for her classroom to be enjoyable.

"A lot of the things that you see in my classroom were bought with my own money or with my family -- they make a lot of donations," Ramsey said.

She has spent even more since the pandemic started because she noticed her students don't have supplies that they might usually have, "But on top of that, we are also going through a lot of hand sanitizers, a lot of Lysol wipes. The district provides some of that cleaning supplies and hand sanitizer, but we go through it so much, I like to have my own in my room," Ramsey said.

Rutland High School Principal Wendy Pooler says it's common for educators to buy their own supplies.

"Everybody knows that teachers come out of their pocket each and every school year during the school year," Pooler said.

Those expenses can start to pile up.

Governor Brian Kemp's announcement will go a long way in providing teachers like Ramsey with classroom grants to cover those expenses.

"This would be incredible. It's never happened before. We use our own money to prepare for the year, so having that money would allow me to get paper, and pencils -- we go through a lot of that during the school year," Ramsey said.

"We welcome those funds for teachers to be able to purchase items that some parents may not be able to donate to the schools. The money that he is allocating for K-12 education is welcomed and extremely needed," Pooler said.

The rest of this money will go towards the Teacher Pipeline, students' mental health needs, improving outcomes for students with dyslexia, and supporting the need for more commercial drivers, just to name a few things.

Principal Pooler says these funds will allow school systems to meet the needs of students and families and serve them in the way that they need.

This is a press release.

Low Country Cancer Care (LCCC), is pleased to announce the opening of their new cancer center in Statesboro, Ga., located at 1601 Fair Road, Suite 900. This new clinic is the fifth LCCC location, making it easier for patients to have access to the highest quality cancer care close to where they live.

Other locations are in Savannah, Hinesville and Pooler, Ga., and Bluffton, S.C. The team consists of seven providers including four medical oncologists, one physician assistant and two nurse practitioners. LCCC offers a comprehensive range of treatments for patients diagnosed with cancer and blood disorders.

In 2020, LCCC joined the American Oncology Network, LLC (AON), a high-growth medical oncology provider with a focus on supporting the long-term viability of cancer treatment in community-based settings. The LCCC and AON partnership helps provide the best cancer care with additional services including in-house pathology and specialty pharmacy, access to a care management team and financial assistance programs to help navigate insurance coverage.

AON Chief Executive Officer Todd Schonherz said, “Low Country Cancer Care and AON believe every patient deserves access to affordable yet high-quality cancer care in the communities where they live.”

LCCC is committed to providing the community with innovative cancer care that is based on research, evidence-based medicine and focused on the whole person. Cancer patients will now have access to a diverse range of services for diagnosis, treatment, clinical trials, survivorship and patient support, giving them unparalleled access to comprehensive, integrated cancer care, close to home.

“Dr. Negrea and I are pleased to provide medical oncology and hematology services in Statesboro, so we can serve patients close to their home. Our decision to expand to better serve patients in this area continues the vision we share with AON of positively impacting patients’ lives,” said Low Country Cancer Care Medical Oncologist Dr. Rohit Bishnoi.

AON President & Chief Development Officer Brad Prechtl, MBA stated, “This expansion makes it the fourth clinic we have opened in Georgia, showing our commitment to offering patients access to the latest advancements and cancer treatments right where they live.”

SAVANNAH, Ga. (WSAV) — The green banner that reads “MASK UP” is displayed once again at Savannah City Hall.

The city reinstated its mask mandate amid a rise in COVID-19 cases and the emerging omicron variant. Mayor Van Johnson made the announcement at his weekly press conference Wednesday.

The mandate is effective immediately with no end date in sight, Johnson said. The mandate applies to city-owned buildings only, but Johnson did encourage businesses to require employees and customers to wear masks.

“Just in the last 10 days, the CDC estimates that the omicron variant is now the predominant strain in the United States, and there’s no reason to expect we will not experience the same thing here in Coastal Georgia,” the mayor said.

This move comes a day after Atlanta reinstated its mask mandate for all persons in a public place to wear a mask or cloth face covering when indoors. This order includes private businesses and establishments.

“So we’ve been fortunate to have escaped the huge surge so far, and now is the time for us to do all we can do to mitigate the oncoming wave,” Johnson said. “We know it’s coming, so we need to prepare proactively for that to happen.”

Chatham County reported 63 new cases Wednesday, raising the daily case average to 36, according to the Coastal Health District. The community transmission index — which totals the number of new infections per 100,000 cases in the past 14 days — ballooned to 136. The last time it exceeded that was on Oct. 22.

The percent positive of tests was 4.4% — indicating a low level. And while hospitalizations are rising rapidly across the Peach State, Chatham County is not mirroring that. On Wednesday, 20 patients were hospitalized with COVID-19 across the area’s three hospitals.

Johnson urged anyone who is unvaccinated to get the jab immediately and encouraged those who are eligible for booster shots.

“Prior infection recovery is very poor protection versus omicron,” Johnson said.

Currently, 58% of Chatham County residents are partially vaccinated, with 53% fully vaccinated, according to the Georgia Department of Public Health’s vaccine dashboard. The CDC ranked the Peach State’s vaccine distribution 45th in the country.

Johnson says all future events — such as the city’s New Year’s Eve fireworks — remain on, but if infections, hospitalizations and community spread continue to rapidly rise, those events could be canceled and capacity limits might be enforced.

“We control this, so we can have a little inconvenience now, and be better later, or we can do like we want to do and we suffer the consequences, our entire community suffers,” Johnson said. “Hence, why it’s so important for our business community to go ahead, and let’s get with the program, let’s work together, let’s require these masks to help people to be safe.”

The city of Savannah has rotated between a mask mandate and an advisory since the start of the pandemic.

As recently as mid-November, the city downgraded to an advisory. The city’s mask advisory — first put in place in early June — simply encouraged residents to wear masks while indoors.

“This is a period in which our community can decide very clearly where do we want to go,” Johnson said. “We can go to the path of liberation, we can go to the path of restriction. And then that’s totally up to us.”

The channel is embracing wine and liquor more as sales rise due to the pandemic.

NATIONAL REPORT — 2021 was a spirited year for wine and liquor in the convenience channel.

In February, Savannah, Ga.-based Parker's debuted Parker’s Spirits, the company’s first-ever liquor-focused banner. The new store, adjacent to an existing Parker's convenience store in Pooler, Ga., stocks premier wines, craft beers, collectible bourbons, and other packaged beverages.

In April, Casey's General Stores Inc., headquartered in Ankeny, Iowa, developed a single barrel bourbon in partnership with Buffalo Trace Distillery. Available in 375-milliliter bottles, it is part of the retailer’s plan to innovate around its beer, wine and spirits offerings.

In mid-June, Irving, Texas-based 7?Eleven Inc. added to its private brands portfolio with the launch of Plot + Point chardonnay and pinot grigio, packaged in Tetra Pak containers. And just two months later, the company teamed up with Minibar Delivery to deliver beer and wine — national brands, as well as 7-Eleven’s own portfolio. The collaboration kicked off in Florida, Texas and Virginia, with plans to expand to additional markets later.

“Over the past year, wine and liquor have been strong categories for 7-Eleven stores,” Julie Trapp-Clark, director of alcohol for 7-Eleven, told Convenience Store News. “Ready-to-drink (RTD) beverages and innovative alcohol flavors are driving growth in the category and bringing new customers into our stores.”

While hard seltzers, beer and RTD malt beverages have been getting much buzz during the pandemic, wine and liquor have proven resilient in the convenience channel. According to the 2021 Convenience Store News Industry Report, average sales per store in the category increased by 32 percent in 2020. Wine and liquor’s share of overall in-store sales at U.S. convenience stores rose from 1.55 percent in 2019 to 1.97 percent in 2020.

A Promising Future

Industry insiders expect 2022 to bring more positive movement in liquor and wine sales.

“The future is bright,” predicts Herb Smith, vice president of customer development for E. & J. Gallo Winery. “This channel is only one of two channels where wine is outpacing grocery. The other is the dollar channel.”

Trapp-Clark has an equally positive outlook.

“We do not anticipate the customer demand for wine and liquor to decrease soon,” she says. “These continue to be extremely strong categories for us, and we are constantly working to expand our product assortment, with vendor partners and through our private brand portfolio.”

C-store operators that are already committed to wine and liquor and eager to profit from the rise in sales should focus first on communication.

“I realize beer sales may represent 65 to 85 percent of total alcohol sales in the store, but letting consumers know that you actually carry spirits is the first step,” stressed Jay Hornback, national account manager and convenience retail lead at Beam Suntory, producer of premium liquor brands such as Jim Bean. “Retailers also should do a better job of letting consumers know what they offer — whether through signage, their mobile app, or even a menu-type poster at the register.”

Operators also should not forget to fine-tune their wine and liquor displays.

“I have been in many stores where the product is partially hidden, hard to locate, or not well-lit from a distance,” said Hornback, pointing out that this can inhibit the kind of cross-shopping that will boost sales.

Case in point: A customer might come in for a 12-pack of beer, but could be tempted by a 200-milliter bottle of a spirit if they see it. “Those are extra sales retailers should try to pursue to increase their gross sales,” Hornback advises.

A wide selection of products can also help c-stores capture more purchases, notes Liz Paquette, head of consumer insights for online alcohol marketplace Drizly, a partner of c-stores.

“Typically, we see customers order from one retailer that has all the products they are looking for, rather than split their order across retailers,” she said. “By stocking top-sellers across all categories, convenience stores can become more competitive with other retailers in their area.”

A convenience store’s product mix should depend on the size of the store overall, and the space it has to promote wine and liquor specifically, according to Hornback.

“For traditional bottled spirits, leading with core selling brands is always the safest bet, as c-stores don’t have the space to satisfy the demand that large-format grocery and liquor stores have,” he explained. With spirit-based RTDs trending, he suggests also adding an associated branded spirit — a move that could mean a larger sale.

The tight, competitive cooler space resulting from the popularity of RTDs is another consideration. “I would look at creating dedicated space based on the size of the cooler to start promoting singles, four-packs and eight-packs,” he said. “Typically, the price is higher. But as we are currently seeing in the data, consumers are showing strong trial and repeat purchase, especially those who are loyal to the master spirit.”

On the wine side, Smith recommends making space for a 3-foot to 4-foot ambient wine department in a high-traffic location within the store, plus a full door of cold wine to capture “wine dollars” while customers are inside the store.

Like Hornback, Smith points to the popularity of RTD products and how that can inform a retailer’s decision on what to carry.

“While better-for-you wines are becoming more popular, the ready-to-drink category has really penetrated the c-store channel by offering consumers multiple formats,” Smith said. “Consumers often want to enjoy a single glass of wine, so the 750-milliliter package can sometimes be a barrier. Single-serve packaging formats — such as cans, 375-milliliter half-bottles, three-liter boxes, and RTD — are incredibly important as we look to win new friends for wine and provide consumers with more dynamic options.”

At 7-Eleven, single-serve wine products are up more than 20 percent, and they continue to grow in popularity, according to Trapp-Clark.

In select states, the retailer has added promotions and bonus offers on wine and liquor through its 7Rewards loyalty program in the 7-Eleven app. The initiative is ongoing, and producing positive results thus far.

“Giving customers the opportunity to rack up loyalty points or score discounts on their favorite wine and liquor products continues to drive brand loyalty and repeat trips,” Trapp-Clark said.