MYRTLE BEACH, SC (WMBF) - Business owners in Myrtle Beach's Five Points area aren't happy with preliminary plans for a new bar and grill called Insomnia, which is in the process of getting a business license.
If approved by the city's business licensing department, Insomnia would take the place of Groove Ultra Lounge at 637 Broadway Street. Representatives with the department say someone filed an application for a license in December.
Months ago, WMBF News reported extensively on several shootings, stabbings and fights at Groove Ultra Lounge, which finally closed down in the Five Points area. Now some business owners worry Insomnia could bring along with it similar problems.
"[The name] just makes me feel like it's going to be the same thing all over again and that scares me as a business owner because I take pride in what I'm doing," said Jacqueline Sarno, who owns CoCo Salon and Spa.
Sarno remembers trying to run her business with the after effects of a wild night at Groove Ultra Lounge.
"I would come in in the morning and at one point there was blood on the sidewalk. I heard that there was a stabbing, and I also heard of another accident where someone got shot," said Sarno.
Other people who work nearby say they're willing to give the new business a chance, despite its name.
"[If the owners] keep the interest of the building itself and the name of the place the way it's supposed to be and run it like a business then I'm OK with it," said Raymond Heverling, owner of McTailor's Alterations Boutique.
WMBF News was not able to get in touch with the man who filed for Insomnia's license.
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