Shop Talk: Buying into Grand Strand retail

Local Steve & Barry's to close

Steve & Barry's discount clothing retailer will close its store at Inlet Square Mall as the company restructures under new ownership, company spokeswoman Rachel Brenner said Thursday.

The chain, which debuted at Inlet Square Mall in November, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy after sluggish consumer spending and the credit squeeze hurt its growth plans, the Associated Press reported.

A U.S. Bankruptcy Court judge approved BHY S&B Holdings LLC's $163 million bid to buy the chain on  Aug. 22. BHY S&B Holdings, an affiliate of investment firms Bay Harbour Management and York Capital Management, announced at the time it would close some of the 276 Steve & Barry stores.

Brenner didn't have a closing date for the local store.

Gullyfield spot could get new life

Owners of the vacant Myrtle Beach tract where the longstanding Gullyfield Restaurant once was are ready to redevelop the property with restaurant, retail and office space.

Owners Deck and Caroline Dargan want to build a complex on the 2.4 acre parcel that will be called Lakeside Village. It would include an anchor restaurant in the front and shops and offices in the back, amounting to at least 22,000 square feet of leasable space, Deck Dargan said.

The stormwater permits are in place, but there isn't a master plan yet of what will go there, he said.

Much will depend on what anchor restaurant the complex's leasing agency Sperry Van Ness/Tradd Commercial can attract, Dargan said.

"We're pretty much in the preliminary stages of everything," he said. "We haven't submitted anything to the county yet. We don't know exactly who's going to come and what exactly they'll want."

He hopes to break ground on the complex in 2009.

Gullyfield Restaurant stood in that spot on U.S. 17 near Chestnut HIll Restaurant and Chesapeake House for more than 25 years before it was torn down in 2001, Dargan said.

Broadway launches redesigned site

Broadway at the Beach has revamped its Web site as part of its new marketing campaign.

The new site kept the complex's old slogan - "Shop, Dine, Dance, Play...Stay" - but put the events calendar, promotions and ticket packages on the main page and aims to draw a broader base of visitors with its new look that incorporates images of family fun, a night out with girlfriends and a weekend of shopping, according to Broadway at the Beach marketing director Rebecca Feagin.

It's part of a new campaign the complex is launching that includes new outdoor signs, print advertising and radio spots and the Web site redesign. The Web site has gotten about half a million visitors so far this year, averaging about 2,300 visitors a day, Feagin wrote in an e-mail.

The overhaul comes in the midst of a challenging retail environment across the nation and on the Grand Strand. Consumer confidence has taken a hit and local retail sales through May have been down from last year's levels.

Feagin, however, declined to say whether the down economy spurred the new efforts.

“We simply decided after more than four years of running the former creative campaign, it was time for a new, more sophisticated look,” she wrote.

Broadway at the Beach is a Myrtle Beach shopping and entertainment complex owned by Burroughs & Chapin Co. Inc.

Store openings at Market Common

Divine Prime restaurant, Rug Decor and Bag'n Baggage are all scheduled to open at The Market Common next week, the shopping center's general manager Sue Bonin wrote in an e-mail.

Other recent openings at the housing and retail complex on the former Myrtle Beach Air Force Base include jewelry and accessories store Fossil, which opened Monday, and The Big Tuna - which sells specialty gifts and home decor and has a pet photography studio - opened on Tuesday.

Francesca's Collections apparel and accessories store is slated to open Thursday afternoon next to Banana Republic.

Cooperative Bank is slated to open Sept. 15 and Dolce Lusso Salon & Spa on Oct. 1.

Retail sales down

Retail sales on the Grand Strand fell in May according to data recently released by the S.C. Department of Revenue and Taxation.

Gross sales fell from about $888.1 million in April to about $860.3 million in May, mirroring the statewide drop from $13.1 billion to $12.3 billion.

"We think it's the high gasoline prices taking income away from people,'' said Bill Gillespie, chief economist with the state's Board of Economic Advisors.

That brings Grand Strand retail sales to about $4.6 billion for the period December through May, down from $4.9 billion during the same period last year.

Lowes buys Piggly Wiggly store

Lowes Foods has bought the Piggly Wiggly grocery store at 925 Seaside Road in Ocean Isle Beach, N.C., Lowes spokeswoman Debbie Williams said.

After some quick renovations, the store has reopened as Lowes Foods and includes a deli, bakery, meat and floral departments and its "Lowes Foods To Go'' service where people can order groceries online or by phone to be picked up at the store, according to Lowes' Web site.

Lowes has been expanding on the Grand Strand and in Brunswick County, N.C., in recent years. It opened stores off S.C. 544 and in Little River last year, a store in Murrells Inlet in February and has one under construction at 82nd Avenue North in Myrtle Beach.

Another is scheduled to open in Ocean Isle Beach next year at the corner of N.C. 179 and Ocean Isle Beach Road. Population growth along the coast is prompting the chain to open so many stores in this area, Williams said.

Thee Coconut Tree debuts in Calabash

Thee Coconut Tree, a family-run shop that does embroidery and personalizes a variety of other items, has opened at 1295 Thomasboro Road in Calabash, N.C.

It sells items that owner Christy Bland can personalize such as cosmetic bags, piggy banks, backpacks and ornaments. It also sells gift baskets and wreaths.

It's the only location that Bland has opened. Hours are Monday through Saturday 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Dollar stores expand on Strand

Penny pinchers have two new dollar stores to peruse.

A Dollar General has opened at 9491 S.C. 707 near the road's intersection with Holmestown Road in Myrtle Beach. And a Family Dollar has opened at 2294 U.S. 501 in Conway.

Both chains have seen sales increase in recent months and are adding stores to their rosters.

Something new for sweet-toothed shoppers

It'Sugar candy store has opened at Broadway at the Beach.

The shop, a self-dubbed sweets "department store," is across from the Build-A-Bear Workshop and has more than 5,000 kinds of candy and fudge. It also lets customers create their own candy bars.

It'Sugar has four locations in the United States and one in the United Kingdom. It adds to the more than 100 specialty shops in Myrtle Beach's Broadway at the Beach shopping and entertainment center.

The Fresh Market coming to Pawleys Island

The Fresh Market upscale grocery store is on its way to Pawleys Island, according to store and county officials.

If approved, it would be the first one on the Grand Strand.

Plans for the store to be built on U.S. 17 just south of the Holiday Inn Express have been passed by the Georgetown County Planning Commission and are scheduled to go before County Council for a first reading on Tuesday, said county planning director Boyd Johnson.

It must go through three readings before the roughly 24,000-square-foot store can be built.

The plans also include a free-standing bank and a shopping center with a mix of specialty retail shops to be built on the same plot of land, Johnson said.

The Fresh Market has 80 stores in 18 states, including four in South Carolina and 13 in North Carolina.