NORTH CHARLESTON — Twenty years in the past, the final grocery retailer within the metropolis’s south finish closed its doorways. Whereas makes an attempt have been made over time to lure a serious retailer with out success, metropolis officers are hopeful extra funding within the space will draw one there.
Over the past 20 years, residents in Chicora-Cherokee, Union Heights, Accabee and Dorchester Waylyn have been pressured to journey additional for recent meals or store at low cost supermarkets that do not supply quite a lot of choices.
Skip Mikell, president of Union Heights, stated no grocery shops exist inside a 5 to 10 minute drive. The closest full-service shops are both the Meals Lion on King Avenue in Charleston or the Walmart Supercenter close to the Tanger Shops in North Charleston. With out a automobile, transportation to those shops is troublesome. It’s normal to see rideshare drivers dropping off or selecting up individuals at Walmart, he stated.
Small comfort shops are scattered all through the neighborhoods. An alternative choice is Save A Lot off Rivers Avenue, however Mikell stated the low cost retailer “leaves so much to be desired” by way of recent meat and produce.
“We do not have a comparable grocery retailer proper in the neighborhood,” he stated. “Our need is to have it developed.”
Folks cycle out and in of Dames Market, a comfort retailer on Spruill Avenue that serves because the grocery retailer choice for a lot of residents within the space, Thursday, March 20, 2025, in North Charleston. North Charleston’s south finish at present lacks a full-time grocery retailer and qualifies as a meals desert, with comfort shops like this one bridging the hole for individuals needing meals.
The south finish neighborhoods are thought of a “meals desert,” a designation by the U.S. Division of Agriculture for areas that lack easy access to a grocery store. This a part of town has a decrease space median revenue than different areas within the metropolis. Inside a one-mile radius of the shuttered grocery retailer, the median family revenue is $32,968, based on knowledge from 2022 famous within the research.
“You’ll find a full-size grocery retailer all over the place inside town of North Charleston’s borders, besides within the southern a part of town,” Mayor Reggie Burgess stated. “For me, that is unacceptable.”
Future grocery retailer stays unsure
North Charleston’s south finish as soon as boasted a collection of grocery shops. Burgess, who grew up in Union Heights, named 5 shops he remembered within the space which have since shuttered. When the Naval Base closed in 1996, many companies left the realm, too.
In 2005, Winn-Dixie was the last supermarket to close. Since then, town has tried to draw main retailers. In 2017, town supplied Piggly Wiggly a $500,000 subsidy to open on the website, however the deal fell through.
Final 12 months, town initiated a research from a third-party agency that assessed 4 websites close to Rivers Avenue as potential places for a grocery retailer. The research recognized two places as one of the best choices: a vacant Kmart on Rivers and McMillan Avenues and a ten.5-acre piece of land close to the previous Navy Hospital on Rivers Avenue.
The huge car parking zone of a constructing that was beforehand a Kmart on Rivers Avenue, Thursday, March 20, 2025, in North Charleston. The situation is a possible spot for a grocery retailer in North Charleston, the south finish of which at present lacks a full-service grocery retailer and exists as a meals desert.
Burgess stated town has had discussions with main grocery retailers. He introduced civic membership presidents within the south finish neighborhoods into these conversations to share their views on the meals desert.
There are limitations on what town can do. “The town of North Charleston, we’re not within the enterprise of constructing shops,” Burgess stated. “We’re the recruiters of companies.”
He stated greater density and a better space median revenue is required to draw a full service grocery retailer. Grocery shops function with skinny revenue margins, round one to 3 p.c, so a retailer wants to achieve a weekly gross sales benchmark to maintain its doorways open.
However Burgess is hopeful progress within the space will immediate a grocery store to open. Over the past 5 years, residential progress within the south finish has elevated almost seven p.c with the addition of 1,200 new housing items, based on the research. The research predicts the realm will develop by almost two p.c annually for the following three years.
Inside Uncle Sam Mart, a comfort retailer on the nook of Reynolds and Spruill Ave, that gives a mess of grocery objects from pasta, soups, to a restricted collection of meats and dairy, Thursday, March 20, 2025, in North Charleston. North Charleston’s south finish at present lacks a full-time grocery retailer and qualifies as a meals desert, with comfort shops like this one bridging the hole for individuals needing groceries.
Future tasks within the south finish foreshadow continued progress. The Lowcountry Speedy Transit, a deliberate 20-mile bus rapid transit system, can be constructed alongside Rivers Avenue. Development is predicted to start out throughout the subsequent two to 4 years.
In the meantime, the redevelopment of the previous Naval Base consists of plans for added housing. Storehouse 9, a former Navy storehouse, was remodeled into 78 apartment units final summer season. Burgess stated the developer Jamestown additionally made efforts to carry a grocery retailer to that a part of city.
“I do not need them to attend whereas all these items is occurring,” Burgess stated. “I would like anyone to step up and say, ‘Hey, I am going to take an opportunity, I am going to take an opportunity on the neighborhood.'”
Dwelling in a meals desert
Within the meantime, nonprofits have explored different avenues to fill the hole for wholesome meals choices. Recent Future Farm is a sliding scale grocery retailer in Chicora that gives recent produce grown on-site and from native farms throughout the state.
Residents who’re dwelling on fastened revenue, coping with important debt or struggling to afford mounting prices can qualify a household for discounted groceries, stated Anik Corridor, the artistic director at Fresh Future Farm.
Neighborhood Grocery, a comfort retailer on Dover Avenue subsequent to residential houses, that gives a small lunch plate counter and grocery part, Thursday, March 20, 2025, in North Charleston.
Corridor stated there was a rise in residents making the most of the discounted meals as a consequence of inflation and higher costs at grocery stores. The farm is positioned in a residential space close to Navy Magnet Academy, so the aim is for residents to have the ability to stroll to get groceries, Corridor stated.
Mikell stated he hopes extra progressive options might be explored to search out out what different ways are being utilized in meals deserts to attract in grocery shops.
“Simply counting on the outdated strategies that haven’t labored previously, evidently, is just not going to unravel the issue,” Mikell stated. “And the proof is that we do not have a grocery retailer.”
