07/23/2026
The Downtown Florence revitalization is not slowing down. We are blessed and honored to be part of it. We want to thank God for his blessing with this opportunity, our clients, friends, family, and partners for their trust and support. We cannot wait to host your next event đ
âWeâre first generation Florentines, and we actually met on the set of Legally Blonde: the Musical at the Florence Little Theatre.
I went to see a play there and was impressed by the production quality, so I auditioned for a local improv group to be part of the community. I was born and raised in Nicaragua, but I always knew I wanted to make my life in the United States. I made my life here in Florence after attending Francis Marion University, and Florenceâs hospitality is what made me decide to stay here.
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My dad got transferred from Chicago to Florence in the early 90s. My connection to downtown started with the Florence Little Theatre where I worked for eleven years after graduating from Coker College. When the theatre transitioned their facility to downtown, I saw how the historic district was coming up, saw the interest from local people, and I thought, heyâI want to be downtown and be part of this, too.
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When the theatre bug bit me again, I tried out for Legally Blonde: the Musical, and Amy made fun of my singing during practice, and thatâs how we sparked our friendshipâI canât sing, but I got cast as Nico the pool boy in that production. We got married in 2015.
And in 2020, the entrepreneurial bug hit both of us.
Weâd been saying for a while that we wanted to have something we could leave behind for our kids and build something together. And we happened to be walking around downtown when there wasnât much to do on a Saturday morning, and we saw a For Rent sign on this building on West Evans, and Amy had a vision for a place for people to gather and create.
So we started a business in the middle of the pandemic, building something that followed all of the rules for pandemic health and we got it going.
We felt the energy of downtown redevelopment. People were starting to come here, and we wanted something big and open that would also have a workspace for us. At the time, we didnât know everything behind the walls, but we took a tour with the owners, and it fit every single need we had and things just aligned after that.
We rented for a few years, and when our lease was coming up for renewal, we felt called to do something bigger. We believe it was God ordained, and we woke up one morning, I looked at Amy and we both said we were thinking about buying this building, but we had no idea it could even be an option for us. We called the owners that morning and made our proposalâand whatâs funny is the owner said he was thinking about the same thing that morning, too.
Weâve never done anything like this before, and itâs a building that thereâs high demand for. We found out the owner wouldnât sell to anyone but us, and it wasnât just our space, but the whole buildingâtwo business spaces and an upstairs. Itâs a big undertaking. But we think what the owner liked about us when we sat down with him was that we shared our story, our love for downtown, our vision for the future, and our connection to this space.
The owner took a chance on us.
After we bought it, we had the freedom to make what we wanted and we transitioned away from the DIY Place and decided to create a gathering space, El Venue. We love to host people, and we wanted a flexible space where we could work cooperatively with other downtown businesses for catering, accommodations, services, and other things. We try to spread the love across downtown. We had a great team in place to bring the vision to life for El Venue.
The people of Florence have kept us here. They almost provide a shelter because you see whatâs happening across the country in the news, but here in Florence, itâs a reminder that those things arenât the norm. The real America is hospitable, loving, and kind. Neighbors love each other, and the people of Florence are special.
As an eighteen year-old foreigner with a strong accent, when I didnât know the English I know now, for me to feel welcome, loved, and that I belong here meant so much and it has been that way every year Iâve been here. The people here, for me, are my anchor and staying here is the opportunity for growth to be part of Florenceâs future.
We have a blended family and our kids have grown up with a community that shares the same people across our blended families. Some of my best friends go to the church our daughter attends, and some of Amyâs best friends go to the same church as our son, so itâs really cool that our kids are growing up seeing two separate families get along, share a community, share churches and businesses, and relationships.
They say thereâs seven levels of separation from other people, right? But Florence breaks that down. Everyone here is pretty connected. No matter where our kids go in the community, they see friends, everyone knows them, and they are surrounded by good, loving people. Itâs awesome to see that kind of community for our kids at a young age here.
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The community weâve built, the friends and people whoâve supported us, I canât imagine going to another place and starting over again. We donât have a lot of family here, but we have a lot of people who care about us, want to be there for us, support us, and see us grow our business and lives here.
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We make a great partnership. We understand there are moments to prioritize our business, our family, and our jobs. We havenât always gotten it right over the last decade, but we work very hard to communicate, be flexible, divide and conquer, and be accountable to one another. We trust each other, and we make compromises for each other.
âItâs not our jobâ isnât in our vocabulary."
- Cornelio and Aimee Monjarrez, owners of El Venue of Florence and 157-163 W. Evans Street
