Shop Talk: Buying into Grand Strand retail

Consignment store debuts on S.C. 707

Elena's Boutique & Consignments has opened on S.C. 707 in the Old Salem Shoppes near St. James High School.

The store accepts and sells a variety of items including clothes, jewelry, home decor, art, purses, shoes and accessories.

Owner Raissa Kvelidze said she's been wanting to open the shop for several years, and thought now would be a good time since people are pinching their pennies and looking for bargains.

Her daughter, Elena, owns the original store in New York, she said.

Hours are 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Thursday; 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Friday; and 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday.

J. Crew in, Geoffrey Beene out at Tanger

A J. Crew store is scheduled to open at the Tanger Outlet Center on U.S. 17 in late November, according to the shopping center's tenant services manager Nicole Tolbert.

The Geoffrey Beene store there will also likely see some changes, as its parent company, Phillips-Van Heusen Corp., has said it will not renew agreements to operate any of its Geoffrey Beene stores.

The retail chain was expected to be liquidated by the end of 2008, a company announcement said. Of 100 stores, 75 are to close and 25 will be converted into Calvin Klein outlet stores, a brand Phillips-Van Heusen ns.

Ghostly stores appear

Attention ghoul and goblin wannabes: seasonal Halloween stores have started popping up on the Grand Strand.

Halloween Express has set up shop on the Bass Pro Shops side of Myrtle Beach Mall, formerly Colonial Mall - Myrtle Beach, and Spirit Halloween opened for the fourth year at the former Waccamaw Factory Shoppes offU.S. 501.

Both sell a variety of spooky costumes and supplies and have plans to stay open until November.

Other area retailers have put out their Halloween merchandise. At Broadway at the Beach, the Disney Store has Disney character costumes for kids; Build-A-Bear Workshop has princess dresses and Halloween costumes for the bears; and Dept. 56 has Halloween-themed home decor, according to center spokeswoman Nancy Greene.

Florence computer shop expands into NMB

A computer retail and repair shop opened this week at 763 Main St. near the Kroger in North Myrtle Beach.

Grand Strand Computers focuses on repairing any brand of computers, but also sells custom-built computers and computer accessories, said owner Scott Earp.

Earp also owns Florence PC, which he opened in December 2001.

Now, one person staffs the store, but Earp hopes to hire a few technicians, he said.

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.

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.

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.