Publix rebuild will leave Daniel Island without a supermarket for a spell (2024)

The only full-service grocery store on Daniel Island is a step closer to being demolished and replaced, leaving residents without a supermarket for an extended period.

Plans have been in the works to raze the Publix at 162 Seven Farms Drive and replace it with a larger, modernized 50,472-square-foot retail emporium and a "pocket park" in the same location.

The project cleared the Charleston Design Review Board in January, and it checked off one more step in the permitting process May 16 to move forward with the demolition. The next step for the company is to submit responses by mid-June to some minor comments from the Technical Review Committee and then obtain further city approvals.

No timeline has been set for when the bulldozers will be fired up, but the rebuild is expected to take at least a year. Employees will be reassigned to other locations in the interim, a worker said last week.

RefuelCEOMark Jordan, whose company operates a convenience store across the street, said he's already considering how he can prepare for customers looking for fresh sandwiches or that last-minute gallon of milk.

"We may carry a different product or two than Publix," he said, "but we're going to do our best to plan and serve the community."

Daniel Island resident Joy Kelly said she'll miss being without a nearby supermarket, but noted there are other places to shop for food close to home.

"We have a great deli and the butcher's store always has great selections, so we'll use all those places in the meantime," she said.

Mike Brown said he shops at Publix for convenience when he needs to grab a few small items, but typically he shops elsewhere for better deals.

"I'll go to the Harris Teeter on Clements Ferry," he said. "My girlfriend also works in Goose Creek, so she often does the shopping there."

As a busy mom, Tori Levene said she'll mostly miss running to Publix for freshly prepared meals.

"We'll often stop in for breakfast in the morning and my husband grabs sandwiches a couple times a week for lunch," she said.

But with a new deli opening soon on Daniel Island, other options will be on the table for shoppers. As for other nearby supermarkets, they include aHarris Teeteron Long Point Road in Mount Pleasant and a Publix off Clements Ferry Road.

All in the wrist?

The barcoded Sail & Sign cards that authorize purchases on Carnival Cruise Line ships— and often double as a souvenir— could soon be history.

John Heald, the company's brand ambassadorwhose closely followedFacebook page is often the first place where new policies are announced, floated the idea May 24 of replacing them with wristbands that can open cabin doors, provide identification and authorize drink and other purchases aboard ships like the Charleston-basedCarnival Sunshine. The technology is already in use at other cruise lines and tourist meccas like Disney World.

"Wristbands — more and more people asking for them to replace the Sail and Sign cards. Are you one of them?" Heald asked.

The response was overwhelming, with more than 9,400 cruisers weighing in with mixed opinions.

"I enjoy not having a wristband tan if I can prevent it!" said one person opposed to the idea. Another said he liked collecting the cards he gets on every voyage as a reminder of the trip.

"Many people, myself included, keep them as souvenirs, mementos, put them in scrapbooks or such because all of the information from your cruise is right there to spark the memories," another cruiser said.

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Others were more open to the change.

"Switch to the wristband," said one commenter. "It’s easier. The all-inclusive resorts already do it this way and it cuts way down on people losing their room keys."

Some advocated for different-colored wristbands that would indicate how many cruises a person has taken and what VIFP— Very Important Fun Person— status they've achieved, with platinum and gold the most coveted.

That prompted Heald to follow up with another post May 25 asking whether passengers who display their cards on a lanyard do it for convenience or as a sort of status symbol to show how many times they've cruised. That question received more than 7,000 comments in two hours.

"I add all my little pins on it to SHOW OFF how many times I’ve cruised," one person said. "That's what I do, you do YOU!!"

For the time being, Carnival hasn't announced whether it will toss the Sail & Sign cards overboard. But like many of the potential changes that Heald floats on Facebook, the switch to wristbands could be on the horizon.

Branching out

Beacon Community Bank is officially all in on a plan to expand to the Summerville market by opening its seventh branch.

Last week, a company affiliated with the Mount Pleasant-based lender's board chairman and chief organizer snapped up a former Circle K service station and convenience store at 527 N. Main St.

VCKH’s Magnolia LLC paid $800,000 for the half-acre corner property, according to public real estate records.

Beacon opened its sixth branch in five years in 2023 when it set up shop in North Charleston and bolstered its existing East Cooper presence by opening a new corporate headquarters and retail location along U.S. Highway 17 across from Boone Hall Farms. Beacon's other branches are in downtown Charleston, Mount Pleasant and on Daniel Island.

The Summerville expansion came to light in March when VCKH's Magnolia filed an environmental cleanup and land-reuse plan for the former Flowertown convenience store site with the S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control. The company is owned by local car dealer Tommy Baker, who also is Beacon's chairman and co-founder.

"The property was formerly a gas station. The past use of the property or adjoining properties may have caused environmental pollution on the property," according to the cleanup plan.

Beacon became South Carolina's first startup bank in years when it opened its doors in early 2018 on the peninsula after raising about $34 million from more than 320 local investors.

Family-focused

A newly launched Connecticut-based private equity firm includes a Charleston resident among its founding partners.

Kerem Bolukbasi previously worked in an array of senior management roles at middle-market firms backed by TPG Capital and BDT Capital Partners. Most recently, he was chief financial officer at Columbia-based fishing and sporting goods company Rather Outdoors.

The College of Charleston international business and logistics major, class of 2001, and two other partners have now formed Intitium Management, headquartered in Westport Conn. Their focus is on family- and founder-owned businesses.

“The firm is partnering with companies at critical inflection points, where the potential for growth is greatest,” according to a written statement.

Initium announced its public launch May 15, as well as its first investment.

The deal involved the so-called carve-out of a division ofYork, Pa.-basedBusiness Information Group into a standalone business. Wifinium specializes in internet connection infrastructure, and Bolukbasi will have a hands-on role as president.