A Lexington County rock shop has expanded to offer new experiences to customers.

A&A Rock Shop opened a new building in October 2022, which houses new amenities like an indoor sluice machine, a rock mine, party space and a blacklight room.

Manager Kirstin McVeigh told the Chronicle that while the idea with the expansion was originally just to add the party space, the business hopes that growing inventory will help increase its customer base.

“We’ve been getting a lot of out of towners that they say they see our posts and on Facebook or they look at our Google reviews,” she said, noting recent visitors from Charlotte.

The new building, located on the same lot at 1614 W Main St. in Lexington, is adorned with an amethyst mural. Inside, guests are welcomed with a bunch of new inventory, much of it bought from gem shows like Quartzite and the Tucson Gem Show, both among the biggest in the world.

McVeigh said owner Ricky Taylor flies out to each to bring in new inventory.

“We’ve just got such a variety that’s different every time you come in here,” she said.

The biggest feature inside is an indoor mining cave that Taylor built himself. He told the Chronicle his father used to build houses, and he learned about the trade.

Guests who enter the mine will be dressed in a vest and mining hat to simulate the cave miner experience, inside they’ll have multiple dig locations to choose from running from dyed agates to stingray teeth.

One portion of the mining area requires guests to crawl on their hands and knees through a tunnel to mine for Fool’s Gold.

Other items guests may find on their adventure include natural tumbled stones, an assortment of raw forms, multiple different fossils, and raw quartz formations.

With the new expansion, the shop can now utilize a sluice machine year round, something it was unable to do before. The main building is equipped with a large outdoor sluice and mining machine that had to be closed down in the winter months.

This expansion comes roughly five years after Taylor opened up his main building. He told the Chronicle that the shop originally began at the Barnyard Flea Market, where it remained for about 13 years.

“You know, we got to the zoo, we got the museum, you got Frankie’s Fun park,” Taylor said. “In five years, you’ve done everything that’s in Lexington and Columbia to do and I wanted to do something different.”

Taylor is currently in the process of building an expansion for the deck to include a sluice machine for paneling minerals. He’s also working on adding more options for birthday packages, saying he purchased bouncy houses to put up in the backyard.

Taylor told the Chronicle that his favorite part about owning his gem shop is that it has allowed him to see things he never thought he would see, referencing the gem show in Tucson, Arizona, as well as the smiles on customers’ faces.

“I can hear the people going, ‘Ooooh ahhhh,’ and just hearing their excitement in their voices and seeing them thrilled and they buy something,” Taylor said.