StudioSax: A New Start After Hardship and Flood

Hi, my husband Robo and I are the very recent owners of The Studio, now StudioSax, the sole black owned storefront in Sax.

We spent three months building and sunk our entire retirement into our dream of opening a community space.

Five years ago, my husband was hit head-on by a drunk driver, taking several years for a full recovery. In an effort to get through retirement, after the strain of his recovery, we knew we would not have the funds needed to maintain our home and survive retirement.

We felt quite blessed when we heard of an upstairs apartment in a commercial building becoming available. We spent months and every cent we had to transform it into a community space offering a tea room, coffeehouse, and meeting room. We offered late hours with grab-and-go food, staying open, as Saxapahaw was a food desert after 9 pm nightly.

Though our spot is still standing, we have temporarily lost all of our neighboring businesses. We are dependent on these businesses for foot traffic. These businesses included kayaking and tubing, camping, and paper puppet making. With no trails to walk, no tubing or swimming, we sit alone. Though we work 12-14 hour days, we sometimes do not more than three or four customers, sometimes none.

We love our village and feel we are much needed as these other businesses re-build and re-open.

Your donations will help us keep our doors open, our rent and utilities paid, and keep a safe, air conditioned space for those doing construction.

Thank you in advance from Deborah and Robo Jones