Development continues at new location for The Swank Company
By Erin Colley | Staff writer
Augusta University graduate Rafy Bassali continues development on The Swank Company’s new location next to the Furys Ferry Road entrance to West Lake.
Bassali said his vision is to “build a high end, curated shopping center filled with primarily local businesses” to create a way for small businesses to better serve customers in the Evans area. When all phases of construction are complete, there will be 15 businesses centered by a roundabout.
In addition to The Swank Company and Posh Tots Children’s Boutique, two of Bassali’s own stores, these spaces will be filled by other local businesses tentatively including coffee shops, dinner and dessert spots, another women’s boutique, a pharmacy, spa, gym and more.
Bassali hopes to open the doors to the new Swank and Posh Tots locations in January 2024 with the other phases of development following.
According to Bassali, Swank has continually grown out of their storefront spaces which prompted him to break ground on this new development. In addition to needing more room for his own businesses, he believes this will be a great addition to the community.
“There’s not really a place to go here unless you go to Richmond County or different shopping strip centers, and I wanted something a little different,” stated Bassali. “It merges retail and real estate into one, which are the two things that I do.”
Bassali first began real estate while he was in college at the University of South Carolina with rental homes and flipping houses which later began a transition into commercial real estate. Obtaining his MBA at Augusta University brought him back to the area after his time in Columbia, S.C.
Bassali bought Swank in 2014 after the original owners were interested in selling their boutique. A week later, Le Lis Boutique asked Bassali if he wanted to purchase their boutique as well, which then became the second location of Swank on Furys Ferry Road.
In 2016, Bassali purchased Posh Tots from original owner Ann Morrison with the purchase of Escape Outdoors following in 2019. The third and fourth locations of Swank opened at SRP Park in 2020 and Riverwood in 2021 respectively.
Though his businesses were growing locally, Bassali utilized the pandemic to improve their online store which has continued to grow over the years. Bassali has also purchased a space for a headquarters location for all his retail stores to use.
“It’s offsite to kind of get everything under one roof,” Bassali added.
For development in Augusta, Bassali hopes it will continue to grow and expand.
“I think it’s a great place that fosters small business and people who want to pursue their passions. I think if Augusta can continue to improve some of the infrastructure and the amenities that it offers, it can continue to be a better place to foster business and in turn give residence more opportunities and things to do in the town,” Bassali concluded.
Bassali’s stores also collaborated with Augusta University to have university merch at all three stores. They have T-shirts, hats, sweatshirts, among other things, which have all sold out multiple times.
Contact Erin Colley at ecolley@augusta.edu.
