Unwind on Central makes its debut

By Jack Johnson | Staff writer

Unwind on Central Avenue in downtown Augusta is a new business model founded by three Augusta University students that opened up last month. Donald Harrell, Drew Young and Jason Logan collaborated to create and operate the space.

Unwind functions as a collaborative space for students and small businesses, offering a peaceful and quiet environment for its patrons to collaborate on schoolwork, grab a quick bite to eat or even just socialize.

According to Logan, Unwind was founded because the three wanted to offer a different atmosphere that students can thrive in that contains a balance of all the good things found in the most common places students study.

“The libraries that AU has are often crowded and drab and any food or beverage is somewhat frowned upon. Coffee shops like Starbucks have a lot of distractions with people going in and out and constant noise from the employees and machines. Studying at home can be nice but offers a lot more distractions like sleep and TV. We want Unwind to be a happy median between these places with the food and beverage options that the coffee shops have, the resources that the libraries have, a minimal amount of noise and the peace and comfort of being at home,” Logan said. “We really just want Unwind to be the ultimate place to come and…unwind."

Unwind works on a “pay to use” basis in which customers can purchase different membership options ranging from daily, weekly, monthly and semester passes in which the price per day decreases based on the size of the membership package.

Each membership package also offers different perks which can be as small as free internet use and work up to bigger incentives such as 24-hour access, free database access and free food and beverage options.

Unwind also offers an extensive food and beverage menu that consists of prepackaged snacks such as cookies, granola and cheese and crackers with the beverages ranging from juice, water, coffee and tea.

“Our menu consists of prepackaged food and drinks and offers a wide range of options so that we can have something for everyone. We went with the prepackaged options because, by doing so, we avoid having to get a food license from the city which can be quite expensive,” Young said.

Young is a senior in Augusta’s dental school and works alongside Donald Harrell, who is a senior business administrative major. Jason Logan graduated from Augusta’s nursing school in the spring of 2020. According to Harrell, the three have been close friends since meeting in Augusta and share similar interests and opinions.

“We are the kind of people who like to keep ourselves busy with small projects. Drew sells his own brand of headphones online, Jason is a professional videographer, and I have an online business selling insulated cups,” Harrell said.

According to Logan, the three friends got the idea earlier in the spring of this year and decided to rent the building in early May.

“The hardest part by far was working on the building itself. When we first decided to rent the building, there was a lot of fixing that needed to be done. We had to completely gut the building of its flooring and electrical units before we could continue. The process took all summer and the warm weather certainly didn’t make things any easier,” Logan said.

Unwind is located at 2120 Central Ave. and uses the social media handle @unwindoncentral on Instagram where they can best reach out to their customers. The building is open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on weekdays and is operated by one of the three owners at all times.

According to Harrell, it is a personal goal of his to generate enough revenue so that Unwind can afford to hire a full-time staff which would free up the three friends to take on their next project together.

Note: Photo at top of page shows Unwind as a space where students can be productive and relax. (photo courtesy of Drew Young)

Contact Jack Johnson at jacjohnson@augusta.edu.