Oil Change in Mount Pleasant, SC

A longtime Mexican restaurant has closed the doors to its Mount Pleasant eatery after more than 20 years.

Señor Tequila shuttered its Moultrie Plaza location earlier this month after the landlord opted not to renew the lease, said Marcio Campos, manager and assistant to owner Poncho Flores.

The shopping center’s owner, Columbia-based Edens, confirmed that the lease had expired and that the business moved out. The company declined to comment on whether another tenant is lined up for the space or if it is currently available for lease.

The closure leaves another vacancy in the busy Coleman Boulevard retail center, where a corner space — previously occupied by Farm Haus and Carolina Butcher & Beer Garden since late 2023 — also has gone vacant.

No announcements have been made regarding future tenants for either space. Señor Tequila continues to operate two other locations, in West Ashley and Summerville.

Summerville stage is set

The Town of Summerville is moving forward with plans to enhance its historic downtown by transforming Short Central Street into a more vibrant pedestrian shopping corridor — complete with a new outdoor performance stage, expanded landscaping, improved lighting and more prominent crosswalks.

The project, led by local nonprofit Summerville DREAM, has been in the works for two years and involved the town council voting to accept ownership of W. 2nd South St. to make improvements.

Conceptual renderings for the initial phase, which comes with an estimated price tag of $500,000, show a large, modern, semi-circle stage facing Short Central at the corner of W. 2nd South St., a prominent new entrance sign and colorful landscaping filling out the triangular corner.

The diagonal street is currently lined with restaurants and shops.

The project will be funded through a grant acquired through the town’s parks and recreation department as well as grants and private donations channeled through Summerville DREAM, said Steve Doniger, executive director of the nonprofit.

“The performance area is one of the marquee things being brought in,” Doniger said.

The town recently closed the bidding process for the first phase layout and civil engineering services. The town did not immediately respond to an inquiry asking how many bids were submitted.

Doniger said construction of the stage on Short Central would be expected after the town’s busy fall event season, which includes the popular Sweet Tea Festival in September, holiday tree lighting and downtown shopping days along and near the corridor.

Once complete, the space will be managed by the town, with permits required for event use depending on the size and scope of the request, Doniger said. It’s the same process as the use of the stage at nearby Hutchinson Square.

The project is part of a broader Historic District Resiliency initiative by the town that also includes sidewalk and infrastructure improvements along West Richardson Avenue and on North Main Street from train tracks near Hutchinson Square to Hwy 78.

“A lot of new businesses have come over the past few years and this is the next natural evolution of downtown,” Doniger said.

From Down Under

A Charleston-born baby and toddler clothing brand has arrived on the shelves in South Carolina — even as its founder now calls Australia home.

Samantha Gold started Motette in March, just as she and her family made a sudden move to Sydney for her husband’s job. Despite the relocation, Gold continued to grow the Southern-inspired brand remotely, leveraging her local connections and entrepreneurial network.

Motette’s line of bamboo pajamas, as seen in Forbes, is now stocked at five children’s boutiques across South Carolina, including Pitt Street Kids in Mount Pleasant.

Cannonborough shopping spree

A collection of more than 10 locally owned shops in Charleston’s Cannonborough Elliotborough neighborhood are once again holding a mid-week shopping event, this time on July 10 with discounts, sips and a range of promotions.

Deals can be found at Taxidermy, The Paper Canopy and MOLA Body Piercing & Fine Jewelry. Bookstore Philosophers & Fools will have its biggest sale of the year with a selection of book and non-book items discounted between 20 and 50 percent off. Down the street, Charleston Candle Co. and Havens are offering 20 percent off.

In addition to discounts, The Tiny Tassel's after-party includes special pop-ups like tropical mocktails and a photo booth while Hermosa will host The Sparkle Bar Fairy Hair and complimentary drinks.

Some in-store deals continue through July 13 and July 14.

Coffee talk

Mount Pleasant residents have another coffee spot to fuel their day with the recent opening of Just Love Coffee at 1909 Highway 17 in the Sweetgrass Corner Shopping Center.

MOUNT PLEASANT — After nearly a half century, Royall Ace Hardware, the barn-shaped landmark at a busy Mount Pleasant intersection, is changing hands.

The switch, set to begin July 1, was prompted by the retirement of proprietor John Royall.

Builders and DIY’ers need not fear — the iconic store at 883 Ben Sawyer Blvd. will continue to operate as an Ace-affiliate under the stewardship of another longtime family-owned retailer from Tennessee.

The new name of the store will be changed to Elder’s Ace Hardware.

The Chattanooga-based buyer has about seven more years under its belt than Royall’s business, which opened in 1976 after its namesake bought Willard Hardware. Elder’s has grown to 38 location in Tennessee, Georgia and South Carolina, with three in Anderson and one in Florence, since its founding in 1969.

Elder’s will lease the 8,000-square-foot Mount Pleasant space from the Royalls and assume all of the inventory and assets. It will continue to stock a variety of tools, power tools, paint, nails, key-making services and an assortment of uniquely Lowcountry items, like oyster pots, local relishes and books of local interest.

Now nearing the cusp of its 50th anniversary, Royall Hardware Inc. has always been family-run under the leadership of Royall and wife Julia, along with their son William and John’s brother, Robert "Robbie" Royall. As one of the few locally owned hardware stores in Mount Pleasant, it sees more than 3,000 customers come through the doors each week.

The business became affiliated with the Illinois-based Ace retail cooperative by the mid-1980s and moved from its original smaller location into its existing site next-door in April 1990.

Customers still look forward to seeing the founder in the aisles, offering opinions in his trademark Lowcountry brogue on the right tool to handle any project.

It was that hospitality, in fact, that led to the sale of the business.

Royall said received a call from an old friend, Tom Glenn, who had taken over the Elder’s chain from his dad, whose first name was Elder. He asked Royall about a good place to stay in Charleston while on a trip with his wife.

“I got him lined up at the Doubletree at the foot of the bridge, told him to stop by the store after they had some breakfast at Page's (Okra Grill),” Royall recalled this week. “We were able to have a quick visit on a Saturday morning.”

About a week later, Glenn called back with a proposition.

“He expressed how much they enjoyed their visit to Charleston and also he wanted to buy Royall Hardware,” Royall said “Twenty-five or 30 years ago, when I first started working with Ace and going to shows, his dad, Elder Glenn, was the chairman of the board for Ace. We (saw) this as a great opportunity to sell to another very good Ace retailer."

Elder's is expected to retain all workers, saying on its website that many of its employees have been with the company for as long as 40 years, "and we believe the knowledge and experience that come with those years are important to our ability to create a shopping atmosphere centered around helping" customers.

The company added in a written statement Wednesday that it looks forward to expanding to the Charleston area.

"As we continue to grow, we remain committed to serving our communities ..." Elder's Ace said.

Royall's son William will continue to run the family's other Mount Pleasant retail venture, Sweetgrass Mercantile. Located at 3008 U.S. Highway 17, the onetime hardware store in the north end of town combines a cafe, garden center and 80-booth vendor market.

The Royalls also plan to continue to sell two enterprising products — their Carolina rice steamers and a fair-trade coffee brand called 43 Families that sources beans from growers in Nicaragua. Both items will continue to be available at the Ben Sawyer store after the sale is finalized.

“Tom and the Elder's hardware team are committed to honoring the culture and service model that make this store special," Royall said. "We look forward to the future and innovations they will bring.”

As for how the veteran Mount Pleasant hardware merchant will now spend his time, there are visits to New York to see his grandson and spending time in a family cabin in the mountains on the horizon.

But he still plans to make a few appearances at the store.

“When you’ve been doing something for 50 years, it’s definitely bittersweet to leave,” Royall said. “Over the years, I’ve enjoyed doing sharpening, of knives and lawnmower blades. There's a chance I might come back a couple times a week and do that kind of thing.”

MOUNT PLEASANT – A splash pad, exercise equipment and elements that nod to long-gone landmarks are features of the expanded Memorial Waterfront Park under the Arthur Ravenel Jr. Bridge.

Motorists can catch a glimpse of the park's basketball and pickleball courts when coming off the bridge into Mount Pleasant. For roughly two years, crews with Hill Construction worked to turn the swath of dirt and grass beneath the bridge into an extension of the "crown jewel of Mount Pleasant."

The area beneath the Ravenel Bridge on Harry Hallman Jr. Boulevard remained an undeveloped grass lot for years, primarily used for overflow parking during events like the Sweetgrass Basket Festival or the Blessing of the Fleet.

But on June 2, the park was almost finished as Special Projects Manager Steve Gergick walked through, chatting with construction crew members who fiddled with equipment and sealed light fixtures.

Save for a small field in the center blocked off with orange fencing to protect the sprouting new grass and four basketball backboards with no nets, the latest iteration of Memorial Waterfront Park appeared ready to welcome visitors.

After a series of permitting and construction delays, the $6.75 million expansion officially opened on June 4. Originally scheduled to open in 2024, the park expansion across from the pier and the Sweetgrass Cultural Arts Pavilion, will open the same day.

"We've been trying to cross that finish line for a long time," said Gergick. "We didn't want to open it up before it's in good condition for the public."

A piece of the Grace Memorial Bridge is on display at the front of the park, accompanied by a historical marker, a remnant of the Ravenel Bridge's predecessor that connected Mount Pleasant to Charleston. The Grace Memorial Bridge, along with the Pearman Bridge, were demolished in 2005.

MOUNT PLEASANT, S.C. (WCSC) - Resiliency is the Town of Mount Pleasant’s main focus when it comes to its long-term goals.

The town has released a draft of its Five-Year Comprehensive Plan and is asking for public feedback.

In 2020, the Long Range Plan was adopted, looking ahead to 2030. However, with a new requirement made by the state and the changes over the last five years, Mount Pleasant had to make some revisions.

SC Code §6-29-510 (D)(10) requires that a resiliency element be added to the list of planning elements, so that’s exactly what Town of Mount Pleasant Division Chief for Neighborhood Livability Liz Boyles said was their priority.

“Maybe it’s a pandemic, maybe it’s a storm, maybe it’s changing in the economy. How can we best be prepared to weather whatever that change is? That’s what the resilience element is about,” Boyles says.

As these additional revisions impact the community, one resident, Cathy Perry Nickles, says she started coming to Charleston in 1988, which was a different sight in comparison to today.

“Driving through Mount Pleasant was like driving through a barren town. There was hardly anything here. Now, it is just bursting at the seams, and it’s a great thing, but yes, I mean the town will have to accommodate that growth,” she says.

Boyles says the language is nearly the exact same as their 2020 adopted plan, but you may see some additional information, including a Hazard Mitigation Plan, a Hazard Vulnerability Analysis and a Community Forest Master Plan.

“Basically, bring it up to speed with the things that we have done since the plan was adopted five years ago,” Boyles said.

For example, they have now collected data from their “Public Input Matters” open houses in 2022 and 2023. With the surveys and the changes they’ve observed within the last five years, they made small edits throughout.

“That’s why it’s so important to bring in the whole conversation about the business community. If you’re talking about resilience, you know, sea level rise is one thing, but you know, having a healthy economy is a whole different thing,” Boyles says.

Boyles says that because this adopted long-range plan looks ahead to 2030, it can be a challenge with how often things could change in the Lowcountry. She says that’s why it is important to have input from those in the community.

For Nickles, she loves being part of that community and knows the town has to stay up to date with the constant changes.

“As anything in life happens, the bigger you get, the more revisions you have to make to accommodate that growth,” she says.

Below are the dates for the public meetings:

Boyles says the town’s planning commission will review the drafted plan on June 18.

For more details on the drafted plan, follow this link.

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