WISE COLUMN: New shop to offer Italian goods

A new downtown Charleston shop opens today, and all items will be imported from Italy. Located at 21 Burns Lane, The Hidden Countship is the product of Giulio Della Porta and wife Donatella Cappelletti, who live in Charleston.

Della Porta has 30 years of experience in interior design, and the shop offers handmade goods linked to antique traditions in the fields of furniture, ceramics, blown glass, marble, wrought iron, fabric and paper stamping.

Manager Deborah Landolfi said the shop also will carry silk ties, purses, hand-forged knives and Roman coins fashioned into jewelry.

Mind and body

Bella Forza, a Pilates/barre/full body studio, will open in mid-January at 730 Coleman Blvd., Unit F, in Mount Pleasant in the former Go Figure location. The 1,200-square-foot fitness studio is the product of owner Taylor Morris, a longtime fitness trainer who says she will focus on women's minds as well as their bodies in a spalike setting that's not too expensive.

Haul way

Meineke Car Care Center at 4896 Ashley Phosphate Road in North Charleston recently added U-Haul truck and trailer rentals to the full-service car-care business. The shop is owned by Clint and Christy Ferrell and is open Monday through Saturday.

The scoop

Charleston Creamery, the robotic ice cream shop formerly called Discovery Ice Cream at 1640 Palmetto Grande Drive in Mount Pleasant Towne Centre, says it is 100 percent owned by local residents Hubert and Robin Maughan.

Do you know of a business that is opening, closing or expanding? Reach Warren L. Wise at 937-5524, wwise@postandcourier.com or twitter.com/warrenlancewise.