Renovation work is underway to get a vacant Floyd Baker Boulevard restaurant reopened. Owners of Aegean Pizza, a fixture on West Cherokee Street for the past 11 years, hopes to move into the building by the end of January. Looking to take advantage of the increased traffic flow on Floyd Baker Boulevard, a longtime city business is pulling up roots and preparing to make the move across town.

Aegean Pizza on Cherokee Avenue is planning to start operating at a new location on West Floyd Baker Boulevard by the end of January, said business co-owner Stratos Tsiknias.

Renovation work at the restaurant's future home, a former Chinese restaurant located in front of the plaza containing the Lowe's Home Improvement and Belk stores, has been ongoing for the past few weeks. The Aegean Pizza sign just recently went up on the building's facade.

The new location is much larger, Tsiknias said. The current location is about 3,500 square feet while the new location is 5,500 square feet.

Since the location previously served as a restaurant with a full kitchen, renovation work primarily has centered on the dining room areas.

Aegean Pizza opened in Gaffney about 11 years ago. Tsiknias said he and his wife, Janet, decided the timing was right to move to a larger facility and a location where they could not only take advantage of the customer traffic on Highway 11, but also customer traffic from Interstate 85.

Tsiknias hopes that his regular customers at the Cherokee Avenue restaurant will come along, too.

While Pizza is in the name, Aegean Pizza also serves Greek and Italian dishes as well as cheese steaks and sandwiches.