The Mardel Christian and Education Store held a ribbon-cutting and Grand Opening Monday morning.

The new business is in the West Side Plaza next to Hobby Lobby, 2305 Augusta Rd. West Columbia.

“It’s a great addition to the growing number of businesses in West Columbia,” said Richard Skipper, executive director of the Greater Cayce-West Columbia Chamber of Commerce.

Jay DePalmo is the CEO for Mardel.  He said Tthe West Columbia store is the first Mardel store in South Carolina and the first one on the East Coast.

It’s a Christian book store that sells Bibles, CDs, gifts, videos, home school and educational supplies, and more.

Click for the Mardel store’s website

The new store is 25,000-sq.-ft. DePalmo said it is the average size of a Mardel store.

Most of the stores are in the Texas and Oklahoma area of the country, DePalmo said.
The owners of Hobby Lobby also own the Mardel chain.