SEO Company in Hilton Head Island, SC

Homesense, a national retailer that specializes in furniture and home decor, will fill the space left vacant when Stein Mart closed in Hilton Head Island’s Sea Turtle Marketplace.

Darrell Palasciano, a real estate broker with the Charlotte-based The Providence Group, said construction started in November, and Homesense is expected to open in the spring.

Homesense is a brand owned by TJX, which also owns T.J. Maxx, Marshall’s, Sierra and HomeGoods.

“It’s a newer brand,” Palasciano said. “We were excited when they indicated they had interest. ... They obviously like this market for their brands.”

There is already a HomeGoods and a T.J. Maxx on Hilton Head and a Marshall’s just over the bridge in the area around Tanger 2 outlet mall.

The Hilton Head Homesense will be the retailer’s first location in South Carolina. The store will be just over 29,000 square feet and take up the entire former Stein Mart space, Palasciano said.

How does Homesense differ from Home Goods, located in Northridge Plaza across U.S. 278 from Sea Turtle Marketplace?

A 2022 article on the House Digest website explains that Homesense sells more furniture, such as full-sized couches and dining room sets. Homesense also sells hardware such as doorknobs and pedestal sinks, has an extensive lighting section and features rugs, wallpaper, office supplies and coffee table books. Alternately, while HomeGoods does sell some furniture and rugs, it focuses more on decor items, accessories, cookware and dishware, along with bed and bath products.

The anchor location at Sea Turtle Marketplace has been vacant since 2020, when Stein Mart filed Chapter 11 reorganization and went out of business.

However, now Sea Turtle Marketplace appears to be making a comeback.

Construction of the shopping center at the site of the aging and dated Pineland Station Mall stalled several times between 2015 and 2018. In May 2019, the center’s owner filed for bankruptcy. During the time the center was owned by the lender, the anchor spots sat vacant.

Current owner Greenberg Gibbons purchased the 100,000-square-foot shopping center in 2022.

Then, earlier this year, Golf Galaxy opened as anchor on the opposite end of the shopping center from the future Homesense.

Only two smaller spaces remain unoccupied in Sea Turtle Marketplace, one between West Marine and PetSmart and another across the parking lot in a row with Jersey Mike’s, Orange Theory and local Italian restaurant Gusto Ristorante, among other businesses.

Palasciano said he hopes to have tenants for those open spaces early next year.

On Aug. 7, the agenda for a Town of Hilton Head pre-application meeting included discussion about a new Aldi location proposed at Sea Turtle Marketplace.

The pre-application meeting is a voluntary part of Hilton Head’s development and design review process. At the meetings, town staff will answer a developer’s questions and offer feedback about a project’s plans, any possible zoning issues or the timeline, for example.

Andrew Davis, spokesperson for the Town of Hilton Head, confirmed Aldi’s attendance at the pre-application meeting but said no formal application had been submitted by the retailer.

Palasciano said he could not speak in detail about further plans for the shopping center, though an announcement could be made in the next couple of months if a deal is finalized.

“What I can confirm is that we are negotiating with a national retailer to build on the three-acre parcel adjacent to Golf Galaxy,” he said. “I’m not in a position to confirm or deny what retailer it is.”

This story was originally published December 6, 2023, 1:02 PM.

Treasure hunters, mark your calendars. A popular Hilton Head community yard sale is making a comeback.

“The World’s Largest Yard Sale” is scheduled for 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Feb. 24 in the parking lot of Hilton Head Island High School. The sale will be held rain or shine.

Admission for shoppers is free, and a space to sell (the size of one parking spot) is available for $50.

Once an annual event, the sale hasn’t been held since 2018 due to changes in principals at the school and COVID-related school closings.

“We wanted to bring it back a couple years ago,” said Daisy Dianne Morgan, office manager and administrative assistant at the high school.

Proceeds from the sale will go into a fund administered by principal Steve Schidrich.

“It’s a faculty- and staff-run fundraiser, and so because we don’t have students involved, that allows us to use the money for anything that the faculty and staff have needs for,” Morgan said.

As one example, she said sometimes teachers need supplies for classroom projects, and those could be funded from the money raised.

The sale was first held in 2000 in the parking lot of The Island Packet’s former location on Buck Island Road in Bluffton, but two years later it was moved to Hilton Head High School’s parking lot.

“It grew quickly, and it was more popular than we thought,” said Beth Patton, the Packet’s former vice president of marketing who was the original organizer of the sale 23 years ago. “We quickly realized we didn’t have enough space.”

With so many people living in gated communities where yard sales are prohibited, sellers were eager to participate, and parking became an issue at the Bluffton location.

Patton said people would park along U.S. 278 and try to walk with strollers along the busy highway.

In 2022, the sale moved to Hilton Head Island High’s parking lot. Over the years, the school took on more and more responsibility for the organization of the event, and it became a fundraiser for student groups.

Fans of the sale can expect it to be largely the same as it has been in past years.

“The only difference is that the athletic department used to do coffee in the morning and hot dogs and hamburgers,” Morgan said. “We won’t have a concession stand this time.”

Hilton Head Island High School is located at 70 Wilborn Road.

Those interested in reserving a space to sell may email bookkeeper Nina Cortese at [email protected].

Has it been too cold on Hilton Head Island for a family beach day or a brisk swim in the ocean?

No need to worry! There are plenty of activities that Hilton Head has to offer if outdoor temperatures are not ideal.

Here are six activities to try on the island if temperatures are a little too cool for your liking.

Need a creative outlet? Head to The Art Cafe near Coligny Plaza to paint your own pottery. The establishment creates fun for all ages regardless of the weather and has “hundreds of items to choose from,” according to its website, which vary in price and style.

The Art Cafe is open daily and can be found at 5 Lagoon Road. For more information, call 843-785-5525.

Are you at least 21 years old? Hilton Head Distillery, the island’s only craft distillery, offers a unique experience for adult guests. The distillery offers a wide variety of activities and gives patrons the opportunity to engage in a hands-on mixology experience, behind-the-scenes tours, tastings, signature cocktail classes and a cocktail bar. Options given by the distillery are a much-talked-about affair among adults and ranked as a ‘must-do’ for many adult parties or gatherings.

The distillery is open Monday through Saturday from noon to 6:30 p.m. and can be found at 14 Cardinal Road, Hilton Head Island, SC 29926. For more information, Hilton Head Distillery can be contacted at 843-686-4443.

The Coastal Discovery Museum is a “must-do” on the island for family and friends of all ages and offers select experiences to enjoy both indoor and outdoor activities.

The museum has several children’s exhibits, seasonal programs, tours, markets and more.

The Hilton Head attraction can be found on the island’s north end at 70 Honey Horn Drive and encompasses a 70-acre property, exhibits, Lowcountry history, live animals, free grounds admission, tours, a museum and more.

The Escape Room on Hilton Head is a perfect activity for any adventurous or problem-solving family. Featuring several different rooms to choose from, Hilton Head Escape Room is open daily from 1-9 p.m. and advertises a rate of $34.95 for anyone over 6 years old, who get in free. The establishment can be found at 10 Executive Park Drive Suite 102, Hilton Head Island, SC 29928 toward the south end of the island. For more information, they can be reached at 843-681-7529.

Hilton Head Helicopter Tours is an incredible experience offered ‘on’ the island that allows guests to view Hilton Head from a completely different perspective. The tours let flyers view the island’s Lowcountry beauty from the sky and take in the sights and colors from an entirely different vantage point. Advertised as “perfect for families, couples, and friends,” the company offers several different tours for guests.

Hilton Head Island’s Gullah Heritage Trail Tours was founded in 1996 by a Gullah Family Partnership on Hilton Head Island. Since then, the “family has been involved in preserving Gullah cultural heritage, blending Gullah cultural values in the SC-GA Low Country, for more than 40 years,” states the company’s website.

Based on the island, Gullah Heritage Trail Tours aims to cater to visitors and locals in the Lowcountry who have an interest in learning more about the history of Gullah culture in the surrounding area. This company allows guests to learn more about the rich history and add an important learning element to their vacation or aid a curiosity in the deeper history of the Lowcountry. The pick-up location for tours can be found at 70 Honey Horn Drive, Hilton Head Island, SC on the north end of the island.

Despite Hurricane Idalia making landfall near Florida’s Big Bend region as a Category 3 storm, spinning across and arriving in South Carolina bringing record high tides bolstered by a blue super moon, Hilton Head and the Lowcountry were spared the worst of the storm’s wrath.

Having weakened to a tropical storm by the time it tracked into Beaufort and Jasper Counties, Idalia’s mild passing was more conducive to hurricane parties and cocktails than an evacuation. Even a “mild” tropical storm brings wind gusts nearing 80 mph, however, and not everyone on Hilton Head was lucky enough to escape unscathed.

Much of the damage that was done came at the hands of powerful wind gusts toppling old, weakened trees or ripping away large branches. According to Hilton Head Island Building Official Christopher Yates, $135,000 of damage was caused by trees and limbs alone.

Power lines downed by trees and detached branches left 33,000 in the Lowcountry without power at one point.

The town recorded five homes across the island damaged by fallen trees. The severity of the damage varied, from one falling onto an islander’s front porch — a roughly $5,000 repair — to another smashing through a home’s roof, a repair estimated to cost $70,000.

Three other homes had trees fall onto their roofs without breaking through, still causing enough damage to necessitate $20,000 each in repairs.

Hilton Head Fire Rescue responded to 33 Idalia-related calls as the storm pushed across the island and back into the Atlantic. Of those 33, 31 were “tree down related incidents.”

That number pales in comparison to the estimated 120,000 trees that were downed by 2016’s Hurricane Matthew, and the 80 claimed by Hurricane Dorian in 2019. Fire personnel were busier during Dorian as well, taking over 100 calls related to the storm according to data provided by Battalion Chief Christopher Osterman.

The island largely escaped Idalia, but residents may not have much time to catch their breath. Meteorologists have warned residents not to let their guard down with Hurricane Lee intensifying near the Caribbean.

It has already become a Category 1 hurricane, and is expected to grow into an “extremely dangerous” Category 4 storm by the weekend. Its path is still uncertain, but the storm could approach Hilton Head from the Atlantic or spin up the coast, tracking northeast and dissipating at sea.

Most current models of the hurricane’s predicted path lean toward the latter, with Lee curving northeast toward Bermuda.

This story was originally published September 7, 2023, 11:16 AM.

Three weeks have passed since Idalia swiped the Lowcountry as a tropical storm and since then, the area has dodged other threats swirling in the Atlantic. But on Wednesday, meteorologists were watching two systems, one of which that will unequivocally impact South Carolina’s coast, a local weather official said.

While Hurricane Nigel will come “nowhere near” the state, Severe Weather Liaison Frank Strait said, ocean swells from the storm could kick up the surf and increase the risk of rip currents beginning Thursday.

A tropical wave located off the west coast of Africa has environmental conditions that look as though it could form into a tropical depression late this week as it moves westward across the eastern and central tropical Atlantic between 10 and 15 mph, according to the National Weather Service’s Charleston Office. The chance of formation within the next week is 70%.

“Models seem to agree on eventual development of this feature but not on where it goes,” Strait said. “The longer it takes to get its act together, the further west it gets. It seems more likely to develop and move north out of the tropics early like Nigel did, but we’ll watch it.”

However, a stationary front near Florida is the one to watch.

Meteorologists predict a storm will form east of Florida on Thursday and move north. While the brewing system “looks to be” non-tropical, Strait said it may become semi or fully tropical as it spins over waters that are 3 to 4 degrees warmer than normal.

“Whether it’s a non-tropical gale or a tropical storm, it will affect SC,” Strait wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter.

While it’s unclear how strong or how far inland the storm will become, the state’s coast will “at minimum” get dangerous surf, high rip current risks and hazardous marine conditions, Frank said Wednesday.

The NWS Charleston Office said those impacts could be seen for portions of the Southeast and Mid-Atlantic United States late this week and into this weekend. On Wednesday, formation chance of the system was 30% within the next seven days.

Strait shared one silver lining among the looming uncertainties: astronomical tides are going to be low this weekend.

Unlike the clash between the supermoon and Tropical Storm Idalia that made tides rise even higher and exacerbated flooding in the Lowcountry.

Earlier this week Strait reminded that September’s weather pattern is particularly precarious and is “ripe for sneak attacks” from tropical cyclones.

“The weather pattern for the rest of September will feature cold fronts pushing through the southeastern states and becoming stationary over the warm waters of the Gulf of Mexico and southwestern Atlantic Ocean,” Strait said Monday. “Also, we’re coming to the time of year when weak low-pressure areas forming over Central America can spawn tropical cyclones; those can also spin up fast because waters are always very warm over the western Caribbean Sea.”

If the systems formed, the next two storm names on the list are Ophelia and Philippe.

This story was originally published September 20, 2023, 10:44 AM.