John Sparrow
Getting into the restaurant business is one tough nut to crack. Most start–up restaurants fail in the first few years, so most lenders shy away unless there is over–sized experience and even then some adequate collateral is needed to back it up. John Sparrow started The Oyster Bar Columbia in 2001 as a former part–time bartender and a former school textbook salesman. But he did have a great guide.
The Sunnyside Oyster Bar in Williamston, N.C., started in 1935, has always served raw oysters, steamed oysters, and steamed shrimp. That’s it. And that’s the beginning guide for John Sparrow’s Oyster Bar Columbia on Park Street next to Uncle Louie’s.
Sparrow was born in Richmond, Va., but his family moved to Williamston, N.C. just before he turned six and entered elementary school. Williamston is about 10 minutes north of Washington, or Little Washington, as it’s called in the area. His father was an insurance agent, while his mother sold school textbooks. Sparrow has an older sister, Mary, who is an artist in Shelby, N.C., although her degree at Chapel Hill was in journalism.
At Williamston High School, Sparrow made the varsity team in both basketball and football. His walkaround money came from running the trophy department at Miller’s Sporting Goods.
Immediately after high school graduation, Sparrow began boxing and shipping women’s swimsuits for Oscar de la Renta. For a year, Sparrow shipped 300 boxes a day, each containing about 10 swimsuits headed for Macy’s and the like.
The next summer, Sparrow’s mother dropped him off in Columbia to start classes at USC. After two years of a cafeteria–like course selection, Sparrow narrowed his interests to a major in retail in the School of Applied Professional Sciences. Since he was a bit late in choosing a major, it took Sparrow five years to earn his degree in retail. Upon graduation, though, he was deemed fit for service at Alpha Graphics on Gervais Street, now Apex Graphics, run by Jay Runy and his father John.
After a year with the Runys, Sparrow followed his mother’s lead and went into school textbook sales, covering all of South Carolina from his Columbia office. For eight years Sparrow sold five lines of books, mostly for the grades 6–12.
Sparrow met his wife Nickki while he was in high school in Williamston, but she was from Jamesville, N.C., about 10 miles east. Nickki has been a fitness instructor for 15 years, first with The Firm and now with Body Fit on Rosewood, heir to The Firm.
The couple has two children. Their daughter Manning, the artsy one, is in the ninth grade at A.C. Flora. She would like to finish her high school experience at the Governor’s School for the Visual and Performing Arts in Greenville. Son Jack is in the fourth grade at Satchel Ford. He plays football with the Capital City Chargers, basketball for St. Joseph’s, and baseball behind Hammond with the Palmetto Baseball League.
The Oyster Bar Columbia has perfected its own cocktail sauce to the point its ready to spin off as a profit center separate from the bar–and–food operation on Park Street. Labeled “Mother Shucker’s,” the first 2,000 bottles roll out next week in local stores including Piggly Wiggly. Meanwhile, as another profit center beyond the Vista building, Sparrow’s Steam- Stove is about to gain, hopefully, its patent after five years in development. Sparrow is presently negotiating for the manufacture of his SteamStove.
Besides oysters and shrimp, The Oyster Bar Columbia has a reputation for its scallops, clams, crab legs, and crawfish. The oysters come from farm beds in the Gulf of Mexico, a renewable resource. Once a week an 18–wheeler leaves Columbia on Monday night for the Gulf coast and returns on Tuesday, delivering 25 two–bushel bags of fresh oysters on its first stop at The Oyster Bar Columbia.
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