'It don't mean a thing, if it ain't got that swing....'

From Staff Reports

Olive or Twist, an iconic downtown Asheville nightspot and arguably the most popular place in the center city for couples’ to kick up their heels with East Coast Swing, blues and a myriad of other dances, will hang up its boogie-shoes and close its doors forever ... at least at 81 Broadway St.

However, O/T’s owner Bill Devlin has announced that he will be moving to a building that formerly housed Two Guys Pizza & Ribs at 1307 7th Ave. East in downtown Hendersonville, with plans to reopen as a supper club — with dancing — in mid-January or so.

Following a New Year’s Eve party, and a New Year’s Day Recovery Party/Closing Night Dance, the venue will shut down on Jan. 2 — and possibly be used for retail after that.

On a related note, Karen Engle, who is a frequent attendee of O/T and has helped to organize dance lessons and parties there through the years, announced that, recently, she and some fellow dance enthusiasts have — as of Jan. 2 — “secured The Pillar Bar at the new Hilton Garden Inn” in downtown Asheville for three regular weekly dance features that had been popular at O/T. (The Pillar Rooftop Bar is on the sixth floor of the Hilton, located at 309 College St.)

Specifically, beginning Jan. 3, The Pillar has agreed to host “our dance family,” Engle noted — Tuesday nights (Blues Night), Wednesday nights featuring the band 3 Cool Cats and Saturday nights featuring the band The Crown Jewels. No cover charge will assessed and free parking is available in the Hilton’s basement parking garage. The Hilton Garden Inn opened on the site of the former T.K. Tripps at College and Charlotte streets in late 2016.

Meanwhile, in other Asheville-related business activities:

• Asheville’s oldest independent video retail store, Rosebud Video at 171 Charlotte St., announced it is closing at an undisclosed time after more than two decades.

Rosebud is one of two independent rental stores left in Asheville — the other being Orbit DVD (ope since 2003) in West Asheville.

• Karmasonics Music and Video, a two decade-plus downtown icon, announced in early December that it would close its doors permanently by the end of 2016.

• After nine years on the West Asheville late-night scene, The Admiral noted that it will cease hosting its popular Friday and Saturday night dance parties. Therefore, the New Year’s Eve party this year “will be the last dance party at The Admiral,” the venue announced on its Facebook page.

• The Southern Appalachian Highlands Conservancy announced recently that it will be moving from its Wall Street location to the former location of Dough, followed by Asheville Biscuitry, at 372 Merrimon Avenue.