The PopCulteer
February 21, 2025
This week’s PopCulteer is pretty much a local-focus column.
Starting next Wednesday, a plethora of events tied to Charleston’s Celtic Calling begins. It’s always a fun time, and aside from the nifty graphic below, we’re going to share highlights of their schedule for you here.
This is just the tip of the iceberg. For the full schedule, visit www.celticcalling.org for updates and more details.
Wednesday, February 26th
9AM to 7:30 PM Children’s Story Walk and Make and Take Craft activities start today and continue everyday throughout the gathering. – 4th Floor, Kanawha County Public Library, 123 Capitol Street – FREE
6 to 8 PM: Acoustic Music Session/Jam- regular weekly music gathering with a celtic twist – The Bears Den, 405 Capitol Street – FREE ( 2025 -T- shirt sales)
7.30 PM: Film: ‘Kneecap at Celtic Calling – ‘Kneecap’, responsible for raising interest in Irish Gaeilge amongst young people, it chronicles the story of a hip hop group in Northern Ireland. Floralee Hark Cohen Cinema by WVIFF, 230 Capitol Street — Admission – $12 Adults, $7 Students. Tickets in advance at: https://wviff.org/movies/kneecap/ ( 2025 -T- shirt sales)
Thursday, February 27th
7 to 9 PM: The Charleston Rogues Music Session – Wandering Wind Meadery, 422 Washington St W, Charleston, WV 25302 – FREE ( 2025 -T- shirt sales)
Friday, February 28th
5 to 7 PM: Swingstein and Robin – Celtic jazz, swing and song. ‘Irish Road Bowler Stout’ and ‘Barney Fife Irish Red Ale’ available this evening and all weekend – Fife Street Brewing 180 Summers Street, Charleston – FREE
7 PM: The Charleston Rogues, acoustic set : Short Story Brewing Charleston, 186 Summers St, Charleston – FREE ( 2025 -T- shirt sales)
7 to 10 PM: Celtic Ceilidh for all ages – Music by the Mudlarks from Morgantown presented by FOOTMAD . Kanawha United Presbyterian Church, Fellowship Hall, in rear of Church, 1009 Virginia Street East, or enter adjacent Parking from Kanawha Boulevard – Admission – $10 Children under 10 Free. ( 2025 -T- shirt sales)
7 30 to 9 30 PM: Poetry Open Mic: Share Your Inner Bard with The Rustic Mechanicals. Cozy book nook with celtic authors and craft beers, coffee – Taylor Books, 226 Capitol St, Charleston, WV 25301 – FREE
Saturday March 1st – Happy St Davids Day (Welsh National Holiday)
9am: Celtic Calling 5K Kilt Run and 2K Walk. to benefit Friends of Spring Hill Cemetery Park and Arboretum, 1555 Farnsworth Drive, Charleston, WV 25301. Sign up: https://runsignup.com/…/CelticCallingFriendsOfSpringHil…
Downtown Charleston Venues: All Events FREE unless indicated:
10am- 3 45pm: Celtic Village – Music and Dance Stage at Charleston City Center, Slack Plaza, 169, Summers Street.
Main Stage, music and dance:
10.30- Tim and Maggie Pipes (https://www.timandmaggie.net/)
10.45- Lincoln County Cloggers
11.30 – Tim and Maggie (Tunes) with Vaughan Gold(Vocal)
12.30 – Savanna Brown Scottish Dance with Kanawha Valley Pipes and Drums
1pm: Celtic Calling Pageant to select the Chieftains Court wear your best Celtic Attire – cash prizes and more.
1.30pm: Lincoln County Cloggers
2 pm: Celtic Calling Dog Show celtic and all breeds, incl. fancy dress.
2:30: Children’s Tug O War in front of Main Stage.
2. 45pm: Faire May (Wheeling), hi tempo exciting young band, playing from large repertoire of tunes and songs.
Games Field: Children’s mini–Highland Games with prizes and demonstrations by Rutherford Academy of Celtic Arms
11am: Celtic Arms Demonstration (sword and shillelagh)
11.30am: Sheaf Toss
12.30am: Celtic Arms Demonstration (sword and shillelagh)
1:30pm: Caber Toss
In the Park and on the street: Clan Tents, Over 20 Crafter’s and Civic Organizations, food vendors set up on Summers Street.There will also be roaming musicians, reenactors, chilrden’s crafts, bellydancing, face painting and Highland Games (not to be confused with Highlander Games. Nobody will be beheaded during Celtic Calling).
4pm: Celtic Calling Parade – Lee Street Triangle to Kanawha Blvd Kanawha Valley Pipes And Drums, Beni Kedem Highlanders, West Virginia Highlanders, Coomhola Wren Boys Whistle Band, St Albans High School Art Class, Dancers, Puppets, Civic Organizations, Unicorns, Clans – Its not to late,
7 30pm: FOOTMAD Presents: The Jeremiahs from Dublin Ireland in Concert. Capitol Theater / Resurrection Church,123 Summers St, Charleston, WV 25301, Ticket information: FOOTMAD.org or Info: 304-729-4382
7:30-9:30pm: Tim and Maggie Music – (https://www.timandmaggie.net/), multi instrumentalists in the cozy confines of Taylor Books, 226 Capitol Street, Charleston, WV 25301 – FREE
10 pm: Traditional Celtic Music Session, host Garrett Maner – The ‘craic’ is always mighty, a great place for a pint of Guinness and late night food – Adelphia Sports Bar & Grille, 218 Capitol St. -FREE
Sunday March 2nd
11 30-2pm: Legendary Celtic Brunch – Menu changes yearly, but a place to possibly grab a Scotch Egg, bangers and mash, Guinness stew – Sam’s Uptown Cafe, 28 Capitol Street
Kanawha County Main Library , 123 Capitol Street – FREE
Noon – 4pm: Children’s Story Walk and Make and Take Craft activities and Make Irish Badges
2 30pm: Mountain Thyme with special guest fiddler Jenny Allinder. All women group Mountain Thyme have been playing celtic and appalachian traditional music together for over 35 years. Folklore Music Exchange – 91 Summers St, Charleston, WV, United States, West Virginia – FREE
4pm: Celtic Theatre—5 Plays—Short Story Brewing incl. a bonus play read by local thespians. Thanks to Tip Jar Theatre for c0-ordinating – Short Story Brewing Charleston, 186 Summers St – FREE
What’s Coming To Park Place?
Up front, let me answer that…I don’t know. This piece is mostly speculation.
First off, if you’re late to the game, Park Place is the (allegedly) upscale shopping center that has been under development in South Charleston (right across MacCorkle Avenue from Riverwalk Plaza) for what seems like an eternity.
The hold up has been sufficiently preparing the land, which used to be the site of a fly ash pond, and having been to a shopping center in Pennsylvania that was built on insufficiently prepared land before, I assure you that the delays have been quite prudent. When completed, Park Place is expected to have 20 stores or restaurants.
The Starbucks and Chik-Fil-A are already open (Starbucks, I believe, is on unrelated but adjacent property). We know that, at some point, a Menards will take up a big chunk of that land as one of the anchor stores. It has also been confirmed that the Kroger in Riverwalk will expand dramatically and move across to the new shopping center. I’m guessing here, but I think they’ll leave the Kroger gas station right where it is, but it does appear to be in a new location on the architect’s rendering. We also know that the national restaurant chain, Mission BBQ, will have a location there.
At this point, I need to mention that, one thing that gets on my nerves as a blogger is the habit some folks have of jumping down your throat if you dare to even mention a national restaurant chain. I mentioned Crumbl Cookie coming to Charleston a while back, and the reaction on social media ranged from people wanting me hanged to people wanting to cut down my body and defile it, all because I didn’t list the thirty or forty local places that sell fresh-baked cookies and say that they were infinitely better.
So let me clarify something. I support shopping local and supporting local businesses. I’m the “Support Your Local Scene” guy, remember? But that doesn’t mean that I think it’s a mortal sin to eat at a national restaurant chain once in a while. If you’re going to pick that hill to die on, please hurry up and do it, because I’m going to suggest some national retail and food chains that might be a good fit for Park Place. A huge retail development filled with nothing but local merchants is a ghost mall waiting to happen. And Charleston already has one of those.
Does that mean I’m going to eat at Mission BBQ?
Hell no. The smell of pork cooking nauseates me. I know there are already all kinds of local BBQ places. I know this because I go out of my way to not drive near them, because they smell is so bad to me.
But, if that’s what you want to eat, go ahead and enjoy it. You can have my share.
Back to the speculation. here’s a list of a dozen retail/food chains that might just be a good fit in Park Place. These are purely my guesses. I have no inside information. Feel free to make your own guess in the comments. I am choosing stores that seem to be in expansion mode, and don’t currently have locations in the area. So I’m going to skip mentioning Five Below or Dollar Tree, or any of the five or six stores remaining in the Town Center that might move.
Old Navy
The closest Old Navy location to Charleston is in the Huntington Mall. They have never had a presence in Charleston. This division of The Gap, Inc, offers women’s and men’s clothing, with up-to-date styles, and prices that aren’t bad. It’s more upscale than a discount chain, but it’s not a luxury brand either. It’s on my radar because it’s one of Mel’s favorite places to shop.
Barnes & Noble
Charleston does not have a decent magazine rack. Taylor’s is at the mercy of the local distributors and Books A Million went from having one of the best selections of magazines in the country to one of the worst. The Dudley Farms location offers less than one-sixth the selection they used to. Some of this is because the entire magazine industry has contracted, but when we’re travelling and I go into a Barnes & Nobel store, they still have hundreds more magazines than I can find locally. In addition, they have a sizable toy department and their book selection is pretty incredible.
Denny’s
Charleston has needed a Denny’s for decades, preferably a 24-hour version. I really like Denny’s and even did a painting based on one recently. Park Place will need a family-style restaurant that serves “American cuisine,” so why can’t they go with Denny’s? Granted, it might be the final nail in the coffin for our local Shoney’s restaurants, but at this point that’d be a mercy killing.
LUSH
Mel loves the products of this company, which includes bath bombs, salves and cosmetics and to be honest, I’ve never set foot in one. I can’t stand fragrances that strong. But they have a loyal following and they are considered a luxury brand, so it’d make sense to bring them in. If we had one locally, I’d sit in the car while Mel goes in.
Half Price Books
If they can’t attract Barnes & Noble, then the bookish crowd would still be satisfied with Half Price Books. Primarily selling used books and remaindered volumes, they also sell vinyl, CDs, action figures, video games and other cool and sundry items. I always try to stop in when I’m in Pittsburgh or Lexington.
Freddy’s Frozen Custard & Steakburgers
This is a modestly-priced sit-down restaurant that offers frozen custard along with hamburgers, hot dogs and really thin shoe-string fries. Every shopping center ought to have a good, inexpensive place to grab a burger and ice cream. Freddy’s would fit the bill perfectly.
Culver’s
Everything I said about Freddy’s, (except for the thin fries) also applies to Culver’s. They have a wider selection of stuff on their menu, but their drive-thru is painfully slow. Still good food, though.
Potbelly
Potbelly, (named after the stove) is a fast-casual sandwich chain that is sort of like Jimmy John’s, if Jimmy John’s had edible food. They’re all over Chicago and they are in expansion mode. Their food is more than just edible (unlike Jimmy John’s), it’s downright tasty. And if they screw up your order, not only do they make it right, they also give you coupons for free stuff on your next visit.
Pop Mart
This one’s a long shot. This designer toy store, based in China but with a couple dozen locations in the US, offers cool, totally unnecessary toys based on Anime, Kawaii and a few licensed properties. Prices range from extremely high to certifiably insane, but they are a luxury brand, so maybe they’d come here.
Miniso
A more plausible possibility is Miniso. We already have one in the Huntington Mall. Their offerings are like Pop Mart, only priced to be affordable to normal humans. They have a wide range of their own brand of cool toys, some featuring licensed characters, as figures, building sets, charms, and all sorts of fine knick-knackery.
Box Lunch
The socially-conscious sibling of Hot Topic, Box Lunch sells pretty much the same stuff, only they have a different assortment of it. If that makes any sense. They carrry a lot of LoungeFly items and other stuff that Mrs. PopCulteer really, really likes. The nearest store is in the Huntington Mall, and it’s one reason we head down that way as much as we do.
Panda Express
This is more of a personal wish-list item for me. I’d love it if there were a handy, drive-thru, Asian restaurant in town. Sadly, almost every Asian restaurant locally is a buffet, now that Taste of Asia has tasted oblivion. It’s a dining option that is underserved in this market, and it’d be a nice change of pace from all the Mexican food and breweries that spring up like weeds.
That’s a dozen possibilities for Park Place. All of those are guesses. Hopefully in a year or three we’ll find out how good I did guessing.
And having stirred the pot of speculation, that is this week’s PopCulteer. Check back for fresh content every day, and all our regular features.
The PopCulteer
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